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Looking at Video Games and Violence

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the things-to-think-about dept.

rootrider writes "Mark Rahner of the Seattle Times has written a great article discussing the recent trend here in the US to outlaw the purchase of violent video games by minors. I'm sure articles have been written in the past that refute the idea that video games lead to violence, but this is the first mainstream article I've seen that details the issue and does it well." The trend isn't really that new. In the past, Ozzy Osbourne and Dungeons and Dragons have been favorite scapegoats, and when I was in high school it was gangsta rap music. I can't wait until we can attribute violence to the nightly news.

4 of 383 comments (clear)

  1. Wrote a paper about this by zerOnIne · · Score: 2, Informative

    I wrote a paper about this topic for my Intro to Communication Theory class, available for download in pdf ... note, the pdf is actually crappy quality compared to the original cwk file, since i couldn't track down a decent distiller program

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  2. OK, the truth. by Unknown+Poltroon · · Score: 4, Informative

    Half life and counterstrike didnt make me violent. I was a sick evil fuck long before that. ALl the antisocial dangerous stuff i know and think i learned the old fashoned way, From reading dead tree paper books. Yes folks, there was dangerous thoughts around before the internet.

    What violent games have done is allwed me an amazingly simple venting system to get rid of stress. Get home from work, and go kill virtual people. Works wonders for relaxation. Exercise would probably work, but hey, im lazy. THey can have my video games over several dead bodies.

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  3. Bowling for Columbine by Peter_Pork · · Score: 5, Informative
    I can't wait until we can attribute violence to the nightly news.
    Bowling for Columbine is certainly making that point. US citizens are constanly bombarded with news from the wars and violent conflicts in which the US is involved. The idea is that this sort of news, and in general, this type of government policy, constantly shows that violence and killing are acceptable solutions. Iraq is a great example of this. I do think this is an important point, but it is much easier to blame videogames than government policy. Furthermore, government policy has an impact in the way everybody thinks, while videogames only affect those that play violent games (if it affects them at all).
    1. Re:Bowling for Columbine by blibbleblobble · · Score: 2, Informative

      Obligatory dose of clue for columbine historians.