Tell Congress Video Games Do Not Cause Real Life Violence

DOOMHAMMA said:
I come to [H] for the generally mature crowd that is focused on technology and games, not to be insulted with dickery.
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If you are not an organized religion, I see no reason why you would be insulted. He makes a fair point.
 
kirbyrj said:
Just some fuel for the fire from a peer reviewed journal :D

Smith, S.L., Lachlan, K.A., & Tamborini, R. (2003). Popular Video Games: Quantifying the Presentation of Violence and its Context. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 47 (1).

  • Boys aged 8 – 18 surveyed in this research spent 40 minutes a day playing computer or video games. The number of violent interactions in a 10-minute play period ranged from 2 to 124.
  • Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month.
  • In 98 percent of the games surveyed, aggression went unpunished. In fact, in more than half the video games the perpetrators were rewarded for their aggressive actions.
  • The basic prototype for aggression in Mature-rated video games involves human perpetrators who engage in repeated acts of “justified” violence involving weapons.
  • 78 percent of all violent interactions in the first ten minutes of game play featured lethal violence.
  • In almost a quarter of the violent interaction in mature games, players perceived themselves as stalkers.
  • 78 percent of the violent action was shown up close.
  • Almost half of all violent video game segments featured humor.
  • Only 10 percent of all video game perpetrators possessed “good” or “prosocial” qualities.
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pardon the block of text

ahhh nice to see. are you a psych major? i like me some violence in my media but im not violent in the least. however there has been some research that shows a causal link between the two. i believe that it mostly depends on the person involved with the violent media and actual aggression however there does seem to be a desensitization to violence with prolonged and constant viewing of such media. i dont believe in a full 1.0 positive correlation between the two but there does seem to be a correlation.

from "This is your brain on violent video games: Neural desensitization to violence predicts increased aggression following violent video game exposure". Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Volume 47, Issue 5, September 2011, Pages 1033–1036. Christopher R. Engelhardt et all. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.


"In the present experiment, participants played a violent or nonviolent video game, viewed violent and nonviolent photos while their brain activity was measured, and then gave an ostensible opponent unpleasant noise blasts. Participants low in previous exposure to video game violence who played a violent (relative to a nonviolent) game showed a reduction in the P3 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) to violent images (indicating physiological desensitization), and this brain response mediated the effect of video game content on subsequent aggressive behavior. These data provide the first experimental evidence linking violence desensitization with increased aggression, and show that a neural marker of this process can at least partially account for the causal link between violent game exposure and aggression."

i dont believe all video games need that label as there are quite a few that dont have violence in them at all. its over kill to say the least. this is where parenting comes into play. parenting skills have greatly diminished and the tv is the new babysitter in most households unfortunately. the whole "pink slime" scandal is clear evidence that people, especially parents, are out of touch with what they consume or allow their kids to consume, be it food or media.

im all for letting the idiots of this planet perish especially bad parents, coming from particularly bad infant years, but this isnt about those people who have the means to think and act on their own accord its for the kids. we cant take the kids away from bad parents so apparently we have to protect the kids with stuff like this. it isnt about the adults its about the kids. i dont like kids at all but i wholeheartedly believe in protecting them from as much harm as we can and if the parents are to inept or lazy to do it themselves apparently well have to do it for them

but thats my take on it. feel free to disagree. interested to hear from those with kids as social psych and parenting development are two of my favorite areas in the field
 
I want a warning label put on everything related to politicians saying "Warning, there has been a strong link between politican aspirations and spewing large piles of steaming horseshit out of your mouth!"
 
kirbyrj said:
Just some fuel for the fire from a peer reviewed journal :D

Smith, S.L., Lachlan, K.A., & Tamborini, R. (2003). Popular Video Games: Quantifying the Presentation of Violence and its Context. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 47 (1).

  • Boys aged 8 – 18 surveyed in this research spent 40 minutes a day playing computer or video games. The number of violent interactions in a 10-minute play period ranged from 2 to 124.
  • Boys who play Teen or Mature-rated games for a minimum of 40 minutes a day may witness over 180 incidents of aggression per day, or 5,400 incidents per month.
  • In 98 percent of the games surveyed, aggression went unpunished. In fact, in more than half the video games the perpetrators were rewarded for their aggressive actions.
  • The basic prototype for aggression in Mature-rated video games involves human perpetrators who engage in repeated acts of “justified” violence involving weapons.
  • 78 percent of all violent interactions in the first ten minutes of game play featured lethal violence.
  • In almost a quarter of the violent interaction in mature games, players perceived themselves as stalkers.
  • 78 percent of the violent action was shown up close.
  • Almost half of all violent video game segments featured humor.
  • Only 10 percent of all video game perpetrators possessed “good” or “prosocial” qualities.
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...and? These are just subjective observations.
 
I know those E rated games frustrate me so much that I throw the controller against the wall.

;)
 
unLucky17 said:
i dont like kids at all but i wholeheartedly believe in protecting them from as much harm as we can and if the parents are to inept or lazy to do it themselves apparently well have to do it for them
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We already do. It's called the ESRB. The games industry in the U.S. is functionally self-regulated and does not require governmental intervention.
 
Signed. BRB, going to beat up a few more people to get them to sign this also.
 
wonderfield said:
We already do. It's called the ESRB. The games industry in the U.S. is functionally self-regulated and does not require governmental intervention.
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good call on that one. being over the age for getting carded i totally forgot about the whole ESRB thing. just to be a pain in the ass, look where self regulation got the banking industry. but i agree that govt shouldnt be sticking its nose in everything. and from what ive seen and understand, so far the gaming industry has been decent on rating their games but like i previously said i dont keep up with the ratings so much.

my response was mostly about the correlation between violent media and violence in real life. no one can say out right whether is does or doesnt, but a steady dose of it, and all thats associated with it (laziness, detriment to eye development for kids, etc), isnt healthy
 
Ever since I played Mario Kart everytime I drive I have an irresistable urge to throw turtles at cars ahead of me!
 
everyone knows Mario Kart makes kids road rage as young teenage drivers. That is why the E rated games also need the warning :)
 
KatalDT said:
God, these stupid laws make me so damn angry. I'm THIS close to going on a violent rampage to get my point across!
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Exactly. It's just another case of someone trying to control something that they don't understand and therefore fear.
 
What really grinds my gears about this shit is that they want to blame video games but yet don't give a shit about what's on TV.

Just look at your daily news, something violent is reported (often with graphic pictures or video) EVERY damn day. Not to mention cartoons that portray violent "comic mischief" such as Sponge Bob or any other cartoons for that matter.

Now look, I'm not some concerned over the top parent or politician, but I think that violence in video games is the very least of our problems to say the least. How about they make laws that ban wars and blowing innocent people up? Or laws that ban spending 100's of billions of dollars on the shit used to blow people up.

I just find it all kind of funny and ironic that the people in power that want to stop video game violence are the same people who vote on bills calling for more tax money to build more weapons of mass destruction.
 
NKDietrich said:
Video games don't cause violence, stupid politicians do.
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That and s#!t parenting skills "mum can I buy this, Sure honey", without even looking at the box let alone the massive R/18+/17/15/PG rating slapped on every side of the box, my cousin was playing GTA San Andreas before he had even turned 7 years old, his mum got it for Christmas:rolleyes:
 
Video games cause all kinds of violence!

Just today I walked outside, stole a car, ran from the police, hid in a garage, then called in an airstrike to destroy a few city blocks.
 
I'm not an expert in what causes violence in children or not, so like the politicians, my opinion should have no value. So IMHO, telling congress my un-scientific views on the linking of violence in children to video games should be completely ignored. All this petition/action will do is just ensure that the educated voices get drowned out by opinionated blow hards.

However, stating that one is against drafting legislation based on non-scientific conclusions would be a much more valid and effective complaint to congress.
 
If you're a parent and you're buying/allowing your child to play violent video gamesor you let them watch violent movies, violent shows on TV, sporting events (player being paid to take an opponent out of the game?) and you never talk to them or pay attention to them - they're out of your hair, right? And you're not taking the time to give them a) a time limit for any of the above; b) sitting and talking to them, reminding them that it's make-believe and that there are consequences to RL violence; c) teaching your child(ren) common courtesy, respect and consideration as well as leading by example and being a good, loving, caring parent - if children aren't learning these things at home it more than likely makes no difference if they're playing a video game or glued to the TV or internet or hanging out with their buddies.

Sooner or later if there's no moral compass at home something's probably going to happen - whether the child ends up on the receiving end or the giving out end of bullying/violence.

Instead we've got a culture of "not my child" or "well, the teacher shouldn't have disrespected my child" when said child is caught setting trashcans at school on fire for "fun" or a teacher ends up in the hospital with a skull fracture from a student beating the crap out of him for taking an ipod away for the remainder of the class. Yes, we've had that and more around here.

We don't need more laws, rules and regulations from the government. We need parents to be responsible to and for their children and maybe even sometimes say NO, you can't have that game or you can't watch that movie/show, you're too young/it's too violent - whatever.
 
Outamyhead said:
That and s#!t parenting skills "mum can I buy this, Sure honey", without even looking at the box let alone the massive R/18+/17/15/PG rating slapped on every side of the box, my cousin was playing GTA San Andreas before he had even turned 7 years old, his mum got it for Christmas:rolleyes:
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Yea, my son asked if he could play that, and I think my answer was "HELL NO!". I wouldn't let my 12 year old play it or many of the other violent games.
 
`WARNING: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior.'

Actually, there is a study under scrutiny right now showing this to be the case. Remember, this isn't claiming *violent* behavior, but aggressive behavior. How many have you have stewed with rage when you were interrupted while playing games? I'd wager a fair few.

Regardless, there is some interesting bits of scientific evidence to back this claim up - people playing call of duty for 10 hours a week versus those who did not exhibited increased activity in the areas of the brain linked with aggression *after they were done playing*.

Now, keep in mind, this could just be because Call of Duty is console trash and they were annoyed they were forced to play such garbage, but that's the study this is probably linked to.

It's good to note, however, that this study has not been peer reviewed (to my knowledge) yet, so it could be nothing!

Either way, this label is typical of politicians putting their hands where they don't belong and trying to fix something that isn't broken, but the label's claim appears to be true (for now).
 
So if violent video games turn people into murdering psychopaths, does watching porn turn people into rapists? ;)
 
Sorry it's true.The military has figured this out and even have them on video war games to desensitize our front line combat troops. Just because it's true however doesnt mean you should support it. First Amendment precludes their nanny state BS.
 
ZoNe said:
Sorry it's true.The military has figured this out and even have them on video war games to desensitize our front line combat troops. Just because it's true however doesnt mean you should support it. First Amendment precludes their nanny state BS.
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Desensitizing doesn't necessarily mean you're more inclined to do something, just that it doesn't affect you as severely.
 
KatalDT said:
Desensitizing doesn't necessarily mean you're more inclined to do something, just that it doesn't affect you as severely.
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Sure it does. These kids start as little narcissistic carebear pussified wimps raised and educated by communist idealist hippy washouts with no grip on reality and are turned into killers with these games.
 
ZoNe said:
Sorry it's true.The military has figured this out and even have them on video war games to desensitize our front line combat troops. Just because it's true however doesnt mean you should support it. First Amendment precludes their nanny state BS.
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Dude, i've been playing fps since doom and while it's true I don't get as grossed out on carnage I still have no inclination to violence. In fact I find I'm the only one that stays calm and doesn't let emotion take over at the sight of a little blood. That's what desensitizing does.
 
ZoNe said:
Sure it does. These kids start as little narcissistic carebear pussified wimps raised and educated by communist idealist hippy washouts with no grip on reality and are turned into killers with these games.
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They turn into killers when they kill. By definition. Not before.
 
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