Lethal recreations: computer games afecting teenage brains?

I'm no parent myself, but I do work a lot with children, and in my belief there is hardly any action that can be done to drive persons to do certain things then forbidding them to do those things.
Just look at what happened in the USA when it became illegal to consume alcoholic beverages.

IMO Computer games, like films, like music, like television, like peer groups, like events happening around them, like parenting all impact in some way on, not just children but human beings per se.
Watch "Grand Theft Auto", judge if it is a positive influence (personally I think not). Swear and be violent to your partner in front of your child!, judge for yourself. In extremis allow your child access to snuff movies and explicit porn over the internet, a child, in particular, forms their views on the world via what they see. See disturbing things, be disturbed! Chidrens "disturbances" contribute to problems. There is very seldom a "trail" in these things. It's a "milleu" (sp) we're talking about.

Hi Chris, WELCOME to A2K. Agree with your rationale for child influences. c.i.

IMHO, computer games are in fact a substitute for violence in real life. On the early stages of evolution males were hunters and warriors, and violence was instrumental for their individual and tribal survival. Modern reality does not require this, on the contrary, violence in the everyday life is both undesirable and illegal, but the genetic memory of males requires it. And people find different substitutes: martial arts, sportive games and hunting, and computer games. This enables us (I am a male as well) to realize psychophisiologic attitutde for violence without actually harming anyone.

steissd, I've never killed anyone, but I've heard that for many soldiers, the killing of the first enemy is the hardest, and it gets easier with each added kill. Same with doctors; they faint or throw up after they see their first dead body carved up. It gets easier after the first one. Sensibilities are moderated by experience. c.i.

Have the violent comics in Japan turned that country into a nation of violence? Doesn't seem to corrolate.

Hmm, IMHO, this varies in different people. I did not have any problems with this while being a Soviet soldier in Afghanistan (I do not say that I liked the process either, but I had no problems with it). And many of the soldiers I knew, did not have any problems of the kind either. Some of them, surely, had, but later the majority got accustomed to the war routine that included killing the enemies.

roger, Here's a link with some info on violence in Japan. http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1997/April/erapril.21/4_21_97JapanComics.html
c.i.

I fail to see any correlation between virtual and real violence, however. The fact that some delinquent teenager used to play violent games does not prove anything: many of his age peers played the same games, but they have never attempted doing anything illegal. I want to repeat the example I have provided in another thread: almost 100 percent people having died of AIDS ate cucumbers while being alive; but this does not mean that cucumbers cause AIDS. Virtual violence reflects violence that is a component of the real life, it may substitute it, but it is very dubious that it could trigger it.

steissd,

I liked the AIDS/cucumbers line, but disagree with the noion that this can't be a trigger. I think violent games etc can be a trigger but in people with predisposition toward violence.

IMO it's a mixture of circumstantial and predetermined factors.

AIDS/cucumbers is a classic example of a wrong post hoc argumentation. Of course, some psychopats may be triggered by virtual violence, but these constitute the small minority of the players. The effect of such games, IMHO, is tantamount to this of porn: majority of spectators quietly masturbates in privacy of their homes, while there always are some jerks that rape under influence of some porn clip.

I suspect it is a bit like the dark, suicidal music/suicide thing.

If your kid is depressed AND they listen to a lot of the dark music it IS a concerning sign, and correlates to some degree with attempting/completing suicide - if they are otherwise ok, the correlation does not seem to exist.

I suspect some of the more troubled kids are drawn to playing the violent games obsessively - as some of the more troubled kids are drawn to the darkest music.

A lot of 'em are fine, though - they just like dark stuff.


Heehee - speaking of the comic moral panic - as a weelowan, in the sixties, I had to sneak around to all the boys' places to stash my comics, and read them there with the guys, cos my parents wouldn't let me have them. AND, I was reading lots of fine literature too, and waaay top of my class in English Lit. - it drove me demented!

That is what I wanted to underline. There are several people that can get harmed or harm others under conditions that do not affect the majority. Unlike this of drugs or alcohol, influence of the video games cannot be described unambiguously. IMHO, majority of players (BTW, I am not a fan of such games) remain loyal citizens.

And thats where the problem comes regarding violent games, lyrics, etc and the restrictions, laws, finger pointing, etc.
yes, it is a possibility, but like dlown says, if your child is off in one way, has other influences from another way, it certainly isnt just one thing that would set that child off, and many more children dont have problems...as soon as one delves into something less like reality fingers are pointed at one source, or a combination of sources that others dont agree with.
There are a great many things I dont agree with however, if someone has problems, Im not going to point a fingersaying this one thing in their life did them in and it should be removed, banned, desensitized, etc. Certainly though, I agree that parental discretion is needed and all that....
however, yep...the more something has that 'I shouldnt have this' labeling to it, most likely, the kids not only will want it more, they'll find a way to get it.
I love heavy metal, action and horror movies, and have played some pretty interesting computer games....and although Im a bit twisted, Im certainly normal, quiet, and generally non violent <I do however drive in Boston, I dont think that counts though>.

Its all in the person, really....I guess some are lucky not to be twisted before all this 'dark' stuff is an interest in their life.

IMHO, responses to violent video games somewhat resemble allergic response. Some people may develop an attack as a result of contact with chocolate or strawberries; the majority tolerates these foods and enjoys them. The adverse reaction of the part of the people to the mentioned stuff does not justify its prohibition or "censoring".

Seems that we agree on "predisposition + circumstance".

I do, you too, I wonder whether Mr. Hinteler that initiated the thread does.

yes I do i believe thats true most games now are really good but they mess us up.

I find it absolutely laughable and ludicrous that people can liken a recreational hobby to violent behaviour inherant in todays society...it's a culture of blame, did noone ever think that it is the parents poor upbringing or a stressful/ abuseful childhood that might be responsible for such behaviour and not the escapes that the child will use? Clearly not.

As I said, it is a culture of blame that specifies that the tools we use must be at fault and not those using them...but as the saying goes...only a bad craftsman blames his tools.

If parents actually took the time to teach their children properly then things just might be alot different in regards to attitude.

[size=7]Ps. I apologize if this is thread necromancy....it's just aggrivating.[/size]

They said the same things about violence & cartoons. Think how much violence is in the average cartoon with Tom & Jerry, Roadrunner etc? And those things have been on the telly & film since the 20's. Maybe they were to blame for WW2? Obviously not, but some people in authority try to find excuses for bad parenting or poor schooling or non-treatment of kids with mental problems & a propensity for violence, and blaming games is their current get-out clause.