Parents and the Media VS Video Games

It's pretty easy to use your common sense as a parent recongize a game that looks inappropriate. I mean...Grand Theft Auto! What else do you think the game is about!? Hell, if you look at the cover at GTA III there are men who look like gangsters and a gun. What other clues does it take for a parents to take a hint on what the game is about!? Not to mention the M at the corner. What else could the M mean!? Of course, parents recongize when a movie is rated R or not. In game commercials they mention: "This game is rated M for Mature." Also in Game stores for M rated games you have to read the list of reason why it's rated M.

The media just loves to blow thing out of proportion. With Manhunt 2, the media has been making it a huge deal about it. (Of course, the media isn't making a big deal about very violent, graphic movies but whatever.) The fact is the media is creating a huge deal about Manhunt 2 is actually helping sell Manhunt 2. The hype is increasing sales. Overall, Manhunt 2 isn't even that great of a game.
 
It's when parents that buy games for underage children is when the parents are at fault, they see the classification but they really don't understand why they have those ratings to begin with. But in a lot of cases they get the game to keep their child happy, it's no excuse of course but I'd imagine that they still widely look upon gaming as a silly hobby when they do this without knowing what the content of most games are.

It's only when the press have one of their moral crusades against the likes of GTA and Manhunt that they usually actually see for the first time what the hell they are about to begin with. And of course the controversy only adds to more sales but with Manhunt 2 being a prime example some of this negative is having an impression now although only Take Two seem to be at the receiving end of it.
 
do you think that video game, movie, music contribute to a violent society?

Do you think the type of video game we play, movies we see, and the music we hear can influence how we behave, how we talk, how we think?

becuse many people thinks that our behavur changes due to a video game or a movie or a music or even stories.

my opinion is that it is up to us weather thay influence our behaveur or not.

becuse most of my friends like shooting games. when thay were kids thay always buy gun toys such as water gun, paint gun, sound gun, light gun and all the games that thay play is shooting.
after thay finished high school thay entered the military. the military gave them VR training and my friends were the best thay never got shoot and thay always aim at the head.
but when the military putthem in a real battlefield training with paint guns my friends were the worst thay couldn't shoot at anyone.
 
Last edited:
Of course they're going to influence us. It is society that shapes who we become, and society includes the television and games we're exposed to. I think to a certain degree, many children have been completely desensitized to violence. Does that mean they're all eager to go out and shoot people? I don't think so. Most people (I hope) can differentiate between make-believe and reality. Movies are just movies, and video games are just video games. If children are raised correctly, they understand that violence is wrong, and while it can be entertaining in a movie or a video game, it should not be imitated in real life. To say that violent video games, movies, and music don't at all contribute to a violent society is really ignorant. Of course such factors are going to contribute.
 
Firstly, paint guns are highly inaccurate, due to the fact paintballs are, you know balls, meaning they spin and therefore do not travel straight when shot.
However that's not the point.

Also it's perfectly normal for children to want to play with guns etc.
Violence is part of life, and it's an aphrodisiac. Although they are children, they are to a certain extent effected by that part of it. However it doesn't manifest itself sexually.

Like Erythritol said; TV, movies, music etc have an effect on people's attitudes.
However it doesn't mean they go out and murder people just because they have played GTA.
It's how people are raised which contributes to the way they react to stimuli such as TV.
Also some people are likely to be more susceptible than others, ie children with mental illnesses( I'm assuming children can have mental illnesses)
 
I think video games/movies/music can influence society, but not as a whole. For instance, back when I watched wrestling, I would always see those commercials of "don't try this at home" accompanied by videos of kids throwing each other through tables and all that, obviously motivated by WWE or ECW or whatever. The media always influences the decisions of some percentage of the audience, but that's not to say that everyone will be getting in fist fights or shooting people or judo kicking their grandmother after watching some action thriller.

I think it's important for parents to make sure their children know that it's important to know what's reality and what's fantasy. Kinda like mah username. :D
 
the TV people must cancel these kind of commercials like the one that Reality.Fantasy mantioned or like the cigarette commercials. thay tell you that there is a new kind of cigarette and in the end of the commercial thay put a warning : the cigarettes are not good to your health. i mean come on people if the cigarettes are bad for us why do you put a commercial about it.
 
Last edited:
-Threads Merged-

And yes, I do believe that to a certain degree, video games do influence society, and sadly there have been unfortunate cases where it has contributed to violence. But are video games to blame for these shameful behaviors? Not at all. Some people let themselves be corrupted - it is their own thoughts and actions that counts at the end of the day.

And really, It's pretty common sense that people draw the line between reality and fantasy, but then again, not all people have common sense and some choose to act violently despite their high sanity level. That's just the way humanity runs, video games or not. I suppose video games is just one of those things that can be an influence to society, good or bad.
 
There's nothing particularly wrong with violent video games--except that they're violent.

Well, the labels on the video games are really clear though--if they're labelled M, don't buy them for your kids. If it has 17+ on it, don't buy them either. And don't make excuses like your kid bought it without you knowing; you should be a responsible parent and deal with it. The people that produce the video games can't be responsible for the people who watch it; they only made these video games for the sake of entertainment; not for the sake of turning kids into mass murderers or violent assholes.

But alas, that's society today. They like to blame everything and take just about almost no responsibility as parents.
 
everyone cares about himself no one cares about the rest. everyone thinks that he is above all the people.
 
old snake said:
the TV people must cancel these kind of commercials like the one that Reality.Fantasy mantioned or like the cigarette commercials. thay tell you that there is a new kind of cigarette and in the end of the commercial thay put a warning : the cigarettes are not good to your health. i mean come on people if the cigarettes are bad for us why do you put a commercial about it.
Click to expand...
Cigarettes aren't video games.
Of course they are going advertise if they can. In my country it's illegal for cigarettes to be advertised on TV or Radio or whatever. But if those regulations don't exist, of course they are going to advertise, they may be relatively Inelastic in terms of promotional elasticity of demand, but their sales are still likely to increase.
Also it's quite probable that it's the law that cigarettes ads have to have health warnings.

Video games are to an extent being made scapegoats, but that doesn't absolve them from blame alltogether. It's the parent's fault for buying the game, but it is impossible to shield children from violence.
 
Well, this is also related to the idea of censorship--sure, there are certain things that kids probably shouldn't be seeing, but you can't control their curiosity of it, and keeping them away from it only makes it worse. If they need to see it, then make sure you're there to know what they see so that you can guide them through it. That's one of the best things a parent could do if they couldn't stop a kid from buying or playing the video game.

But this doesn't just apply to video games; there are other forms of media that may be considered unsuitable for children.
 
Dick Cavett said:
There's so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the streets?
Click to expand...

That's pretty much my view on violence in...any form of media really...Just because someone sees something that doesn't mean they'll automatically do what they see. We may (or may not, but that's for another topic, right? lol) have come from them, but we are not monkeys now.

If you're raised with a decent amount of morals & ethics, it doesn't matter what video game you play or what movie you watch...you're still the same person you were before. If you're a stupid moron, then you'll do stupid moron things regardless of what media you've recently been exposed to. Simple as that.
 
I don't think I can add much to what has really been said but the media really does blow things out of proportion massively, they give all these supposed facts on the news on how parents hate their children playing videogames and how it affects their lives etc, but I've yet to see a reliable source to back that up. Naturally, parents want to keep their children safe and never want them to leave their site but they knows it not possible and they learn to live with that but I don't think the whole 'Parents hate videogames' is as bad as it is made out to be.

The only thing I've personally experienced about videogames and reality is having a conversation and a laugh about them, like GTAIV for example, most people who have a major console (its more between PS3 owners to be honest) GTAIV is the big 'videogame' talk at the moment and is hugely being hyped up but that doesn't neccissarily mean anyone is going to 're-live' the events in real life, which is why my dad doesn't mind getting me GTA for the pure fact I've never sounded or looked like the game has had an influence on me.
 
V_Translanka said:
That's pretty much my view on violence in...any form of media really...Just because someone sees something that doesn't mean they'll automatically do what they see. We may (or may not, but that's for another topic, right? lol) have come from them, but we are not monkeys now.

If you're raised with a decent amount of morals & ethics, it doesn't matter what video game you play or what movie you watch...you're still the same person you were before. If you're a stupid moron, then you'll do stupid moron things regardless of what media you've recently been exposed to. Simple as that.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking. If you were born and raised in a nasty household or neighborhood, and violence is all you know, it doesn't matter what you play; you're still going to have something that tops video games - real life. Real life will influence you more than a video game will. If you are a country-club happy-go-lucky always-do-well, it's still the same story. So you kill a few prostitutes, a few white people, and a few black people. You're not going to instantly develop a hatred towards people who sell their body for money and you're not going to develop a hatred towards the white or black race. I think your personal life is where it's at. If people want less violence in the world, raise your kids right. It's got a whole hell of a lot more to do with it than video games.
 
My dad let me play Silent Hill when I was 11. I told him I bought it, and he is like "WTF...go ahead." (he of course did not say WTF though lol. Manhunt 2 is banned in the UK im pretty sure, and I can believe that. I think it was because it mainly focused on "brutal slaying" as the brits say. (I am not being racist here, hopefully that didn't offend anyone.) I personally think grand theft auto and such are a little too over the limit. Too much. It's really a waste of time.
 
hmmm i heared that in the UK

Anime such as Ghost in the Shell, WitchBlade, and the likes of Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de, would all be on the forbidden list. As well as manga such as Psychic Academy, Eden, Yubisaki Milk Tea, WitchBlade, DearS, and a slew of others would all be illegal as well. Games such as Bible Black, Discipline, Meow Meow, Shuffle!, H2O, and others would also be on the hate list.

Normal movies, such as almost all of the James Bond movies, and a lot of the ones doing the rounds at the cinema at the moment would be illegal as well.
 
Hmmm... I'll try to take a balanced view on this.

I think the main issue is that parents and conservative elements see video games as corrupting to society, and especially children, in several ways. To some extent, I see where they're coming from. Exposing immature and developing kids to potentially disturbing and mature material can harm their development. It's especially problematic when kids aren't mature enough to tell "right" from "wrong", or at least what will and won't get them into trouble. Though I doubt alot of "disturbing" material in video games causes normal, healthy kids to go out and commit crimes.
I think it's mostly the same highly vulnerable, disturbed, and already violent kids who can't distinguish fiction from reality in the first place, the same ones who copy from horror movies, who are most likely to copy from films and games.
There was, no doubt, the same uproar about particularly brutal horror films in the 70s and 80s, as there is now about violent video games.

I don't doubt, however, that the outcry is more serious than ever due to the fact that you don't just watch, you participate in violent acts. It is often accused that violent games effectively train kids, teenagers, and adults to be violent.
I think though, that violent games rather help people to vent anger and worry. Instead of going out and punching a wall, people can release anger by playing a first person shooter.

It may have negative effects on younger kids, though. I have noticed that pre-pubescent kids who say that they play violent video games tend to be more aggressive. Certain things suggest that exposure to mature violence before a certain developmental point can make children quite aggressive. Whilst they do not look like murderers, they don't look like violent video games are doing them any good. It may perhaps affect the development of their personality.
Not to mention swearing. If you learn a habit early, it might stay with you for the rest of your life. The same thing is true with habitual swearing. Kids pick up nasty cuss words, because they seem "cool", from the playground at a young age, it's disgusting. No doubt alot of parents have trouble protecting their children from that. Obscene language is not cool, and it doesn't sound at all pleasant. Kids are too young to understand that. Yes, it happens in real life, no, kids shouldn't be exposed to it more than is preventable. I know, because I used to be a kid, taught that swearing was horrible, and never picked it up as a habit, whereas the kids who were exposed to it more, and had parents who swore frequently, picked it up as a lifetime habit.

Kids still don't really understand obscene language, mature themes and gore-heavy games, and shouldn't be exposed to it. So, there should be a clear ratings system, and parents and guardians should be more pro-active in choosing what is appropriate for their kids. Sadly though, not much can be expected if the parents are already irresponsible and negligent. It really depends on maturity, not age. Though the two clearly correlate with each other.

I don't think censoring video games is the answer, rather more active enforcement of age ratings, especially by parents. It seems logical that the mental development of kids is protected as a precautionary measure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top