La Pierre, old white guy stuck in the past

[shooter58]

I believe there is a connection. Not from the fact that the games are violent but more from the fact that parents use them as a full time babysitter rather then taking time with their kids and doing things with them. Rather then taking little Timmy outside and playing ball with them, mom and dad are flopping on the couch themselves after a long day and letting the kids sit in their rooms surf the net and play the games.

But that in itself stems from the high price of housing, cars and basic essentials. Mom and dad both have to work to just make ends meet. And I think at the end of the day, they are simply too worn out to take an active role in anything. It's been an ongoing issue that I think has been slowly building over the last couple of generations.

We make the assumption that these same parents are even capable of any sort of actual parenting. Some weak parents are not capable of offering any kind of perspective to their kids lives and experiences. Kids are left to come to their own conclusions about right and wrong based on the 5 or 6 hours they spend playing such games or sitting in front of the TV. We talk about protecting our kids from “strangers” but invite them into the living room to teach those same kids anything that pleases them.

 

[JVK]

If it weren't for those pesky first amendment rights <insert something that sounds really stupid here>

-Right?

More regulation! More government! More Laws!

These damn flash games are causing people to kill each other!!

THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

 

[206thsense]

I believe there is a connection. Not from the fact that the games are violent but more from the fact that parents use them as a full time babysitter rather then taking time with their kids and doing things with them. Rather then taking little Timmy outside and playing ball with them, mom and dad are flopping on the couch themselves after a long day and letting the kids sit in their rooms surf the net and play the games.

But that in itself stems from the high price of housing, cars and basic essentials. Mom and dad both have to work to just make ends meet. And I think at the end of the day, they are simply too worn out to take an active role in anything. It's been an ongoing issue that I think has been slowly building over the last couple of generations.

Well said Tangent... I was going to write a similar reply to Blitz and Gunfixx.

My perspective on video games is the same as for movies, books, music, and other media: some content is for consumption by adults, or at least kids mature enough to handle it. Other content is definitely NOT for kids.

I work in education (public elementary school), and while I love my job and my students, I frequently run into the problems Tangent mentioned. Some parents don't know how to be the parent and turn off the video games, much less screen what their kid wants to play. Other parents have the mistaken impression that all video games are "kid stuff" and that anything is OK for a kid to play. I've met kindergarteners who enthusiastically tell me how much they love "Gears of Wars", a game totally inappropriate for that age level (graphic violence, cussing, etc.)

As far as the research goes, while there have been extensive studies showing the potentially harmful effects of too much TV exposure, the research on video games has been largely inconclusive.

 

[Diamondback]

Hey, when I was a kid I played my share of DOOM, and never harmed a fly IRL. That's BECAUSE I maintained perspective: it was a quick outlet to blow off steam--and I STILL use Team Deathmatch games to refine my snap-decisionmaking about "Shoot/No-Shoot".

The REAL problem is people being unable to separate entertainment from reality... just like when prior generations played Cowboys and Indians, they for the most part DIDN'T translate that to planting REAL arrows in each other's backs or taking potshots at one another, because they HAD that distinction, which was largely fostered by PARENTAL involvement.

 

[Flash]

It's the persons condition and the affect that a game has on certain medical conditions that may be a problem.
Just the flashing of the screen can set some people off with certain conditions. The mother said to the baby sitter not to turn her back on him, because she thought he could be dangerous. She showed poor judgment letting him play games but maybe she was in some denial. We will not know as I have heard that the police will not come out with the full report until June after the gun control laws go in to effect. The report may contain things that would hamper the push for gun control. Don't know why it should take 6 month to make out a report unless they are hiding something. There are many unanswered questions! In most healthy people, I personally don't think games will have a bad effect.

 

[206thsense]

Hey, when I was a kid I played my share of DOOM, and never harmed a fly IRL. That's BECAUSE I maintained perspective: it was a quick outlet to blow off steam--and I STILL use Team Deathmatch games to refine my snap-decisionmaking about "Shoot/No-Shoot".

The REAL problem is people being unable to separate entertainment from reality... just like when prior generations played Cowboys and Indians, they for the most part DIDN'T translate that to planting REAL arrows in each other's backs or taking potshots at one another, because they HAD that distinction, which was largely fostered by PARENTAL involvement.

Yep. An entire generation of kids from the 80s and 90s played Mario. They didn't grow up and become serial murderers of turtles or rampant mushroom abusers.

We especially as gun owners need to be careful how to define causation of certain objects, guns and video games included.

Do guns turn people into criminal killers? Of course not.
Do many criminals use guns? Yes.

Do violent games turn kids into violent killers? I don't think so.
Do many violent killers like Lanza play violent video games? Yes... but Lanza also was an avid World of Warcraf player as well, and didn't go out slashing people with a sword.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

So Bloomberg is the old, white guy looking to the future? That thought is truly horrible. I have no desire to live in Bloomberg's vision of America.

The firefly reference is very appropriate.

I do believe that Bloomberg is a jewish supremacist