Whaddya know, more articles.

[amadeupname]

This article is about violent video games and their effects (or lack thereof) on teens. I now love this person.

"To be fair, there have been about 300 studies on the effects of violent media, about 30 of which have been about video games. Most have found little to no connection, although some studies found a small, casual correlation between aggressive people and violent media.

Even if true, this does not necessarily mean violent media has created aggressive people. It is more likely that aggressive people are attracted to violent media. Blaming violent media would be like going to the opera, noticing that most people there are rich, and concluding that opera makes people rich. (Classical opera, by the way, is chock full of lust, incest, murder, suicide, and revenge.)"

Yeah, that's like saying that Shakespeare causes violence in English majors (have you read Hamlet?), or that all white, middle-class males are possible serial killers and should be treated as such. Just because there is, supposedly, a "common factor" in a series of crimes, it does not mean that that factor is the only reason those crimes happened.

"Gaming is also a new medium, one that has recently become wildly successful. Young people play them and old folks don’t understand, so they must be bad. Don’t forget that in the 1950’s, rock and roll was linked to youth violence in the same way. The hedonistic, tribal rhythms were going to turn America’s youth into a bunch of violent maniacs. Rock and roll was banned and censored all over the country. A bill was even put before Congress in 1955 to ban rock and roll altogether."

Yeah, I don't get why video games are so OMGWTFEVUL!!!, when there have been various forms of entertainment that have been just as bad, if not worse, than GTA. The Romans and the Colluseum and crucifixion, Shakespeare (again, read Hamlet!), the Crusades... There are plenty of books with detailed rape and/or gore scenes that were written long before video games, or even movies. And jeez, people act like nothing bad ever happened before pixel became so much damn fun. Because Jack the Ripper was all in our heads, right? Those silly prostitutes just tripped on a butcher knife and managed to kill themselves, removing organs only a person knowledgeable in anatomy would be able to.

Okay, done with the rant.

Comments

[amethyst-mind.livejournal.com]

I think people just pin the blame on whatever's most convenient. Your kid beat someone up for his lunch money? Hm, must be because he always plays video games/is always online/plays computer games, etc. Whatever parents can pin the blame on other than themselves - that's what gets a bad rap.