Position Paper: Video Games

There are vast canvases of opportunities for us to distress our minds. But some people would rather resort to their tiny screens where they can crash kill get into ridiculous gunfights, die, and then start over. Violent role playing games would activate the nervous system’s underlying addiction and reward, resulting in the attraction to more violent activity. Evidently, entertainment in the 21st century has been altered, and no doubt will come with consequences.

Some say that role playing games helps teens improve their problem solving skills, relieve stress and provide motivation by providing quick reward for winning. This in only the case if video games are played in moderation. According to an article written by Forbes Studies have shown that video games increase aggression, while others show the opposite. If one is constantly engaged in violent activity, the traitorous games can lead to teens living lives with disrupted routines which eventually impacts their health, makes it harder for them to concentrate and might engrave negative values into their minds.

A source from Vanderbilt University calculated that “an average 13-18 year old games for about 14 hours or more per week.” Playing these violent role playing games frequently would make a teen constantly think of ways to advance within the game, or in other words be addicted to it. This addiction might often lead to stress because of the inability to balance their priorities.

With a disrupted routine comes health consequences. “Students who have played a violent video game had a higher heart rates, reported more dizziness and nausea, and exhibited more aggressive thoughts as to those who played a nonviolent game.” states an article from Vanderbilt university. These gamers would get so engrossed into their game that they would forget the lives that lie outside their screens. Making them neglect their health, and forget their responsibilities.

Most may argue that gamers are allowed to communicate within the game, enabling them to work on their collaboration skills, and to become friends with people. Gamers pick up foul language as well as rough behaviour within the walls of this game. Like the saying when in Rome, you do as the Romans do. Additionally, most gamers lack social skills because their interactions with people face to face are limited to a minimum or to zero.

The distinction between fiction and reality are often challenging to separate for some who spend majority of their daily routine glued to screens. Violent role playing games have detrimental effects on their users. as they engrave fake morals into their minds. Causing destruction and killing are glorified and rewarded. Forbes rightly said “You are what you eat is an adage that applies equally well to the images and experiences we code into our brains”

Many game content might also not be age appropriate and given the lack of control around them are readily available for being download by anyone. In multiple games, women are portrayed as weaker characters or that they are helpless, while some professionals spend all their time talking about gender equality.

However there are games, which while played in moderation can have a positive effect on teens. Scientists have claimed that certain games can help the brain in numerous ways some like boosting intelligence and improving memory. In some games the player manages to learn to manage resources and work on decision making skills. It also trains the players brains to think of creative ways to solve puzzles and other problems.

Therefore, I am not taking a stance on saying that any role playing games are bad or should be avoided. It is pretty much unavoidable because of the presence of technology in this modern environment. The point that I am trying to enforce is that certain violent role playing games promote killing, stabbing and shooting to resolve a conflict. The instant gratification of progress through the game as the gamer kills more enemies encourages kids to become more violent. This cannot be a good thing. Additionally, playing many of these games would make teens addicted to the game causing them to lead a disrupted lifestyle. We should stop our society from imploding and educating teens and making them aware of some of the consequences from gaming for too long, too often.


By Manini 

The Perilious Impact of Video Games

“I withdraw my consent from reality. I deny it my assistance. I dedicate myself to the temptations of escapism, and throw myself wholeheartedly into the endlessness of unreality.” This quote from the book, Erebos, expresses how video games manipulate children into thinking real life is parallel to what’s shown on the screen in front of them. Do we want our children to grow up only to confuse reality and fiction? A survey polled by ABC news concluded that 2/3 of the children living in America play video games. As a society, we accept it and think that it is normal, when in reality it shouldn’t be. It’s like telling your children that running around with guns and walking into strip clubs is alright. Though all video games aren’t bad, most children play violent video games and do it often, making it part of their daily lives. Violent video games increase aggression in people and reduce social interactions. Parents, I would hope that after reading this, you might reconsider your position and understand what I am trying to convey.

One of the main concerns when playing violent video games around the world pertains to the increased aggression in players and the affect it has on children from a young age. According to a scientific study held by ‘Anderson and Bushman,’ those who play violent video games are more likely to “have increased aggression in thoughts, feeling or/ and behaviours.” Children are awarded for being violent in most games, and are more likely to do the same in the real world, like the Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who were both known to be active members in the community of the violent video game called Doom. A question many ask is whether playing video games would result to their child becoming a mass murderer. If this was the case, then neighbours, friends, etc would all be killers. While this may be true, we cannot deny that playing violent video games are a harmless form of entertainment.

Another significant problems is that violent video games also contain very stereotypical and biased characters. It seems to me that the message they are trying to give us is controversial to the one we are trying to resolve. In most video games, women are very sexualised, and have very minor roles to portray them as weak characters. As a world, do we want to progress or regress? As of today, we are still unable to achieve a balance between the two genders everywhere around the world. And as a community, we need supporters, not opposers.

A Stanford psychologist Albert Bandura concluded that “social scripts presented on screen will guide children's behaviour in real life.” As a society, I think that we are losing the ability to empathise and communicate. Before this era of gaming on laptops and on mobile phones, humans would spend their free time reading, understanding and taking values from books. This is significant because young people these days prefer directing their energy and time online playing video games, learning and being awarded for violent behaviour, vengeance etc.  rather than have face-to-face conversations  or do something more productive, like reading.

Parents, I have experienced this myself. 4 years ago, I went to a friends house, where we all stayed up playing board games and interacting with each other. A week ago I went to another friends house, where everyone was either on their device playing a game or watching Call of Duty being played on the T.V screen by the host. This is how quickly we have evolved as human species. How do we know if we are going the right way?

I understand that when we play video games we do not fully comprehend its effect. Absent minded teenagers play for some form of entertainment, allowing their minds to be influenced by the screen in front of them, causing them to become more aggressive and have less social interactions. Therefore, I think violent video games should be banned, and as parents, you should engage your child in face-to-face conversations than one with an anonymous user.

By Ananya

The Good, Bad and Beautiful of Violent Video Games

Violent RPG’s have a diverting impact on players as both good and bad come out playing them. Killer (...) a controlled game, creates a disparate dimension for isolated kids, as they become the Julius Caesar’s of their own world. They constitute the rules and are compelled to think out of the box in order to breakout from their boring school life. Hunting targets into public places like airports and then administering traps for the unsuspecting victims is how these kids discover their environment in their Lilliputian virtual bubble. They conduct themselves well enough in order to conceive a set of rules that (...) dictate the flowing of procedures in a manner that keeps everything from crumbling into chaos......

In many instances, these contentious games can (...) manipulate vulnerable teens into being socially awkward. Games like these can curtail self-control one has over themselves as they play such synthetic games with simulated violence. along with lesser self-control, they act with more aggression and incline towards audacious conduct (...) They can be provoked with considerable ease into violent acts. Also, (...) devious games like Grand Theft Auto advocate violence and this leads up to insecure teens taking it upon themselves, to solve petty issues using violence and social abuse. Furthermore, sandbox games like GTA are (...) never ending. They manage to draw the player in until he/she is addicted to it. According to the New York Times, violent games (...) can make players rude few minutes after playing. This can deter both inflicter and victim.

Besides (...) games like Killer can get people conversing about it. Even if it is online, the passionate players engage in robust discussions and debates of their opinions on the game. Conducive multiplayer games have also validated that keen players, vastly improve their teamwork and team building skills. Squads work smoothly together in order to win the esteemed game and achieve the prestige that comes along with victory. Teamwork is a significant skill that you use throughout your life, whether it be in offices or marriages. It also compels the players to leave their homes into the real world for better or for worse.

Although these shrewd games provide numerous opportunities for players to reinforce valuable skills, they can also inculcate reprehensible (...) or unethical values. Quite a few video games these days characterize women, as creatures, who are coerced to do anything you wish. They also have a hefty impression on what the troubled players think of the act of killing and what it really means. In the games, they get a simulated involvement of homicide and death which can taint the player's brain. Along with that, as the player kills, the weightage of killing slowly decreases. Killing an enemy player suddenly doesn't seem as remarkable as it was a few weeks ago.

Given that, RPG’s teach kids imperative lessons and skills like perseverance. In Killer, one has to stand firm in order to shatter through the target's defense and defeat the victim. When one endeavour fails, they remain motivated (...) and consider other methods. The plights that they face while contending buoys brain activity and matures them into problem solvers as well as critical thinkers. They make brisk and decisive decisions so that they can stay alive. Players also learn to manage and be conscious of themselves and their surroundings. In a study, researchers discovered that a player’s reflexes are broadly upgraded while playing such games. These are all skills that can be utilised in future life and playing sophisticated games is exactly what will galvanise this thinking.

RPG’s bring forth many great skills and advantages and are overall good for the players. In order for there to be control, there needs to be a balance that keeps players from being whitewashed and pulling off a Columbine. In the end, it’s not what content the game has, but the attitude that influences players.

“Play it with sorrow and you will feel hate. Play it with anger and you will feel vengeful. Play it with paranoia and you will feel confusion. Play it with empathy and you will feel compassion. play it with love and you will feel flattery. play it with hope and you will feel positive. play it with humor and you will feel joy. play it with God and you will feel the truth. play it without bias and you will feel peace. Don't play it at all and you will not feel a thing.” Inspired by Shannon Alder

By Kunal Daga

Harit's Position Paper on Video Games

It’s 11 pm, on a school night, but Thomas doesn’t care, why would he? He is moments away from slaughtering the beast that is Elvarg, the demonic boss in the MMORPG Runescape. He can barely hear his mum, screeching at him to go to bed, but as Richard climbs down the volcano, into the dragon’s lair, he’s in a world of his own, and nothing can stop him, not even the unfinished math homework, lying beside his bed, forgotten. You might be facing a similar predicament, your child is stuck to their computer, playing the latest virtual role playing game or first-person shooter but no matter how hard you try, it’s like there is industrial grade super glue between your child and their console. But today, I’m going to shed light on how video games are perilous for kids and how you can melt that super glue between your youngster and their electronic device.

As stated earlier, it is clearly obvious that video games can be hazardous towards kids, whether it’s distracting them from remaining focussed on certain tasks or making them more aggressive, one such negative aspect of playing violent games extensively is that your child can be subjected to sexual harassment or insult other’s sexually themselves. And this harassment can greatly affect teens who play games. A 2013 study from Ohio University showed that when a female player in Halo 3 greeted other players with an innocuous phrase like “Hi Everyone”, she faced insults like “Shut up you whore!” Consequently, a rallying cry of “alright team let’s do this” earned her the response, “Shut up you slut.” Furthermore, this type of harassment not only exists in Halo 3; there are countless other games where I myself have seen teens torment fellow gamers with extremely vulgar language. For example, Call of Duty games allow teammates to communicate with each other so that they have a better chance to win the game. Some may say that this actually helps adolescents to collaborate and convey their thoughts to others which is a really important skill for any human being to learn, but in actuality, group chats like these are in the end mostly used to tyrannise other teammates. Take Jenny Haniver for instance, who is an avid Call of Duty player. She uses her free time after college classes to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. But how can someone enjoy a game when they’re repeatedly faced with negative comments such as "Get back in the kitchen and take your goddamn hands off a video game controller." Another especially revolting memory of Jenny’s was when an enemy player backed out of the middle of the match just to send Jenny a voice message about how he hoped she would be raped and she and her family killed. Amazingly, situations like these aren’t uncommon at all. Fatuglyorslutty.com is a website that depicts hundreds of similar horrendous messages from video gamers online. You can go check out the website yourself and you too will be revolted by the posts you witness. But all in all, it is obvious that sexual harassment in video games is an enormous crisis that needs to be fixed.

Another imminent problem due to addictive gaming is the low level of school achievement that correlates to it. According to one study done on 1500 American adolescents, aged 10 to 19, teens who played video games compared to teens who didn’t, spent 32% less time doing homework and other education related activities (Cummings & Vandewater 2007). From this study, it is indisputable that there is a strong correlation between addictive gaming and neglect of school responsibilities. This result is most probably due to students getting used to the fast pace of violent games and consequently, when they try and focus on slow paced activities like reading and homework, they are unable to concentrate on them due to their addiction. Another explanation for the correlation could simply because of a student’s addiction’s. Once they put down the game, reality literally slaps them in the face and they don't feel like doing anything but delving into more games, I’m sure many of your son’s or daughter’s have experienced. On the contrary, it could be reasonably contended that video games are in fact helpful to students as they can be a major stress reliever. However, even if video games are a major stress reliever for them, students who play them can lose track of their sense of time easily due to their addiction as video games are like a sponge except instead of water, they suck up time, time that could’ve been used for more useful and urgent things.

The final problem I want to address to you parents today is that video games can cause your teenagers to make unreasonable choices just to feed their addiction. For instance, take a look at Guy Martin’s article, “High-Jinks: Shoot Out”. It elucidates the game ,“Killer”, which is the “last-man-standing game of water-pistol ambush(Martin, 1)”, has become an important end-of-year ritual in multiple New York City high schools. At St. Ann’s, a private school in Brooklyn Heights, the game is taken tremendously seriously. So seriously, that some competitors bribe cab drivers and stalk other people and camp outside their house just because they wanted a better chance to receive the winner’s jackpot. Furthermore, even though Killer isn’t a video game, the same moral can be taken from it and applied to popular first person shooters or role playing games. I’m sure that many of your children have made imbecilic choices just to feed their addiction of video games, heck, I actually know people in 8JRa that have lied to their parents about money and thrown it away on video games solely for getting an “achievement” or a legendary champion skin. And if you realise how grave this situation is, I’m talking about one of your sons or daughters who’s in this room right now! And don’t give me any rubbish on how spending on video games help adolescents boost their cognitive skills because there’s no benefit in playing video games to increase analysing and reaction skills if the teens who play them are stealing from their parents, lying about money and in all, making stupid choices!

Now, how can you fix this? I’m sure you all agree that there’s no point in me informing you of these problem’s if I’m not telling you how you can fix them. For a start, You can try to find alternative activities that compliment your child’s personality and his interests. In addition you can set a limit on how much time your child can spend on electronics per day. Many health care professionals and development specialists recommend that the time children spend in front of a television or computer screen be no more than 2 hours per day so take this into account when setting a time for them. In addition, I propose to you that you set up your child’s video game system in a family room where your child is always supervised when playing their video game so that you can make sure that your teenager doesn’t exceed their time limit. Finally, I suggest you all to familiarise yourself with the warning signs of video game addiction in children, these include noticing your child sneaking in extra playing time after the time limit or that he is lying to you about playing when he is not supposed to as therefore, you can tell if your child is getting addicted and contact a health care professional if you notice any troublesome symptoms as we can all agree, excessive video gaming is harmful for kids.

Thank you for your time.

By Harit

Are Games Good Or Bad?

Role playing games (RPG) with simulated violence both online and offline are perilous for kids. The games can cause a kid to lose focus in their school work which will lead to a decrease in academic grades, which also leads to the person not getting a qualification, in worse case scenario this may even affect their career. Not only that but there maybe a slim chance that the kid will become a killer.

In an article related to symptoms of playing Games “Do Video Games Lower Academic Performance?” written by publishers at “Education.com” have stated that video games can decrease the grade, but it also doesn’t. The negative impact of gaming on kids is that it can cause a decrease in time spent on studying and an increase in time spent on playing games, as a result of a medical condition called an addiction. An addicted person may spend as short as one hour to as long as a day playing games. Games are designed to keep things interesting that will hold the gamers interests and attention. The time that should be spent on studying would have gone to waste. Too much gaming will also leave a person with no time to go for his/her other activities. There are some fast-pace games e.g.call of duty whereby it can cause a person to have a short attention span and have no patience and it will eventually lead to difficulties in reading a long dense book, engaging in group social actitives and playing a game of monopoly.

The impact of gaming will not just stop at childhood. When a child grows up and becomes an adult, gaming can also have an adverse impact on their life and career. In the related article “Two Years Later, Sleep Researchers Now Say Gaming Before Bed Is Bad” written by Owen Good, researchers have shown that gaming before bed is bad because it will shortened Rapid Eye Movements (REMs) state. The REMs State is a time for the brain to process what it has learnt that day, so it is ready to learn new things the following day. By decreasing the REMs state time, the brain has less time to process all this information, causing the brain to work two times as hard. For adult with game addiction, time will be spent on gaming rather than sleeping. As a result, these adults will be more prone to make mistakes and will be less productive.

Another adverse impact of gaming is that it can influence a person into thinking that bloodshed is the right thing to do when they played too much of violent game. In the article “High-Jinx: Shoot-Out” written by Guy Martin, the students were constantly thinking about killing their prey, which were the opposition with their water pistols. When the kids have continuous exposure to such games, their minds will be influenced to accept violence as their normal life. Similarly, there are some online games that prey on the same concept of violence. Research like “Do Games Like ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Cause Real World Violence” Written by Erik Kain, has shown that over 40 people per capita that spend money on violent video games in the US, has led to over 300,000 people in the US committing gun related murder. This may eventually lead to them to go onto a gun rampage. Another piece of evidence to support my point is that on “Shooting In The Dark” written by Benedict Carey, states that after playing a lot of video games, two people went on a gun rampage to kill innocent people at Columbine High School and a cinema in Aurora, Colorado. These massacres were the cause of two video gamers, which was most likely influenced by the games.

Gaming may not be all bad as there are pros too. Some benefits are that it increases a person's awareness, hand-eye coordination, strategy, reflexes and helps relieving stress. The important point to note is that having self-control, practicing moderation and keeping a clear line between reality and virtual will lead to benefits of gaming. Once too many people cross the over the line of reality and the virtual world there will only be two types of people in this world the Predator and the Prey.

By Dylan

Why Violent Games are Perilous for Many Young Teens

Curtains are closed, doors are shut. Not a single light is shining but the screen, flashing with blood marks all over the place. You aren’t aware of the time but you know that your drowsiness is kicking in. You’ve got to finish the last wave of zombies before your mom comes breaking open your locked door and maniacally screaming in your ears. The sweat from your palms that drip down the controller. Your brain is dominated by the tension and stress of this game. Forget all the homework your teacher assigned. Your brain rotting every second you play that game. It’s already 1 a.m. and you’ve gone miles off your bed time limits. Let me ask you, are you facing those times when you just can’t turn off your gaming device? Is your mind full of the disturbing thoughts from your violent game? Well unfortunately, those thoughts will slowly start to sneakily crawl up your brain without you even realizing what they are capable of doing. Addiction to violent video games are able to lead you to many harmful consequences either it’s physical or mental.

Furthermore, violent simulation video games have also been dominating many children’s lives. It is able to make many young kids be more aggressive physically and change the behaviours of them. Most parents agree that violent games can reveal the more aggressive side of their children which leads them to disallow their kids to play violent video games. According to the The Guardian (Peter Etchell and Chris Chambers), through research between many different groups (parents, media psychologists, communication scientists, paediatricians) they have realized that many agree that violent games help the kid’s aggression to kick in more often than usual. “Averaging across all four groups of people, 66% agree with the statement whereas 19% don’t and 15% are on the fence…” Personally, I’m not a fan of many shooter games and my parents aren’t as well. They believe that shooter games are able to make kids think very dark and also very violent. This clearly portrays that many people, especially parents think that violent games are possibly the reason behind the production of aggression in many kids.

Relating to what was stated before, a game called “Killer” has become very popular around the New York High schools as stated in the New Yorker article, “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin. The game “Killer” is an annual event that happens every end of the year. Students are made to assassinate specific targets to conquer for victory. This game has a lot of potential of exerting influence of violence. “I’m looking for some good massacres early,”.... Just imagine how violent and gory this sounds. People, especially kids, shouldn’t be looking forward to massacres. There were many people who lost their loved ones as one decided that spraying bullets at innocent people was a good idea. This also illustrates that the kids are very amused by the killing part of the game and not really the teamwork, communication, etc… This could possibly influence kids to become murderers and criminals due to poor decision making, later on in the future. Although, others might believe that most students that are able to play video games like this would be educated as they would assume that they are able to go to school. In my opinion, even though kids are educated about these things, their brains are still in the state of developing, which means that their decision makings aren’t the best currently. Not only have I read many articles online about the violence of video games; as a gamer myself, I’ve also realized how violent some of the games might be. For example, I was playing Call of Duty: Ghosts about an year ago and the story mode was incredibly disturbing and to aid the prevention of addiction and influence of violence, I’ve stopped playing those kinds of games and moved on to other games which are more, I guess, “safer” to play.

Adding on to what was said before, these kinds of violent games are able to promote the use of dangerous weaponry such as guns and knives. This is a possible segway to murdering and many other sinful crimes. Violent video games will be nothing without the use of malignant weapons. The main reason behind the violence in the game is always weapons such as guns, swords, bows, etc… It has been revealed that one of the leading game making company have had a promotional deal with a gun selling company, McMillan Group and Magpul, to promote the sales of their guns in a game called Medal of Honor. Around thousands of people are currently playing this game. Although it might not sound as logical for videogames to make people buy guns but, it is still a chance that many younger fans of the game who still have a blurry vision of where the line between real life and virtual life is at can be very fascinated about the topic of guns and weapons. Not only has Medal of Honor promote the use of guns, other FPS games such as Call of Duty has also boosted the use of weaponry. In 2010, a Norwegian person, Anders Breivik has gone on a rampage after he claimed to have “trained” himself by playing Call of Duty. This

Many ponder on the idea of how violent games can impact the behaviours and thoughts of many teens and kids. As we get more fixated onto the fantasies of many violent games, we are able to grow on the fact that violence is amusing which will later on lead to many detrimental punishments. People who favour violent games over many other hobbies should learn to balance out their lives and also control the amount of time they spend on sheer entertainment. As others might not be affected as much by playing violent games, it’s still a possibility for many others and should keep in mind that violent games can actually affect your behaviours and thoughts.

By Youngchan

The Computer; Good or Bad?

You walk up the stairs from the bus bay. Go straight. It seems to be that every morning you hear the endless chatter of Middle School students sitting on the benches near the Nurses office gossiping about the latest gadget. Even on a gloomy Monday morning, you hear the tip tap sounds of the keyboard, students talking about who won the latest cricket match while watching highlights on their computers.

Technology impacts all of us. There is no denial about that. We use it for work, school and for leisure at home. The computer is for sure one of the most used gadgets ever. Since the time that the computer was invented, no ones life has stayed the same. Take Apple for instance, they sell their products for ridiculous prices but we still have the ‘need’ to buy the latest thing. That ‘need’ is what drastically changed us all.

UWCSEA has its own views of technology. For homework, students use purely their laptops, as that is a way to advance into a 100% tech school. However, there is a downside. Students get highly distracted with their laptops in front of them. It seems to be that there is no real way to get rid of the distraction.

Roshan Arun Kumar, a grade 8 student was interviewed by this reporter about distractions and ‘gaming’ on the laptops in the Middle School. Roshan claims that he spends the same amount of time gaming as he spends on a social media website. He said, ‘ Every week, I spend about 2-3 hours on social media, same with the amount of time I game a week. I obviously spend more time doing work on my laptop than gaming and social media combined as we use our laptops on a daily basis. A computer seems to be such a big part of all of our lives, I probably couldn’t last too long without one.’

Research has shown us that technology has both a positive and a negative effect on our lives. On the positive side, it is easier to access things and you can do so much more than what you could do on pen and paper. On the negative side, it opens up a world of distractions which is easily accessible with just a few taps of the keyboard. Also, by 2010, 97% of all schools in America had access to Internet Connectivity. This means that the 97% of schools in America believed that technology is the way to go.

All in all, technology has by far helped our lives in ways that were not imaginable before the invention of the first computer. The matter of addiction to our laptops isn’t manageable by others, in the end, it comes down to you. It’s all about self-control.

Written by Arjun