Position Paper Bend II

3 Tampines Street 73

Singapore 528705

(+65) 810 44 029

Mr. Declan MacFadden

Chair of The UWCSEA Foundation




Dear Mr. Declan MacFadden,


           My name is Sewen Thy, I am one of the many Cambodian scholars that started at United World College of South-East Asia(UWCSEA) as a profound result of The Foundation effort. As of now, the Grade 8 students at UWCSEA are discussing child soldiers and as you may be aware almost 19 million children around the world are ex-soldiers. Some are receiving the rehabilitation they deserve but some are not. UWCSEA is a really wonderful, and loving school that can become a really effective and powerful rehabilitation centre that will transform a fierce soldier into a loving educated child. Thus I propose to the Foundation to take in scholars that were child soldiers and rehabilitate them here as they deserve the rehabilitation.

           I think you should know that these children do not know what they are doing. Each time a war is started, they don’t even have a choice whether to join or not. They are being forcefully recruited. If you’ve read Ishmael Beah’s “A Long Way Gone” you wouldn’t miss his description of how the rebels are recruiting him. They have patrols all over the area and when they find children, they would pick some of them to recruit and initiate them by killing those who weren’t chosen as their reason would be “We are going to initiate all of you by killing these people in front of you. We have to do this to show you blood and make you strong. You’ll never see any of these people again, unless you believe in life after death.” (excerpt from page 34). This clearly suggests that they have to go through a traumatic experience already before they are even recruited. Since they’ve already have a taste of killing and believe the rebels persuasion that there are no consequences of doing so but there will be consequences if they don’t do it; they will make a forceful and uneducated choice to join the force.

           It’s easy to think that every child soldier knows what they are doing, opposing to my first argument, as there are examples such as Omar Khadr, who is “the Al-Qaeda child soldier” and Ishmael was also promoted to a squad leader or “junior lieutenant” that suggest that they start innocently but then later become more knowledgeable but still continue in what they were doing and becoming a higher rank officer. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t miss the point that Ishmael stated in his book, implicitly, after being rehabilitated that he regretted it and when the war hit Freetown city, “Mohamed[his friend] and I[Ishmael] looked at each other: “Not again.” (excerpt from page 202) which clearly indicates that he never wants to go to war again. Khadr has never been rehabilitated either so how can we know if he won’t become like Ishmael? To be fair, according to rescue.org, “Since 1999, the IRC's Child Protection Program in Sierra Leone has helped facilitate disarmament and demobilization of some 2,000 child combatants, and provided them with emergency aid in our Interim Care Centers.To date, we have successfully traced and reunified 1,157 of these children and adolescents with their families and helped them with the difficult process of adjusting to life in their communities.” This also clearly suggest that at least half of the child soldiers are rehabilitated and being sent back to civilization with their family. It’s just a matter of giving them the opportunity and time to be rehabilitated.

           Subsequently, most people argue that not all of the child soldiers are being forcefully recruited or just don’t have a choice. While it might be true that many child soldiers have other reasons to join the army. To be fair even the UNICEF factsheet reveals that some children join the military in order to, “seek revenge for violence enacted against them or their families.” There is a point to be made that there are a lot of other factors involving the children choosing process, as the UNICEF factsheet also explained that “others are driven to join by poverty, abuse and discrimination.” This evidence suggest that not only they are living in dangerous situation just because of gunshots but they are in poverty so if they don’t join the force they’ll starve to death, and not just the rebels are involved in recruiting children, governments are too, thus if the rebels discriminated against them, or hurt their family, who wouldn’t want to join the government to stop the rebels? They think they are doing it for a good cause and you can’t blame a child brian to pick that choice as according to my first argument.

           On top of that, when it is peaceful, we all talk a lot about the abuse of children, child abuser or child labour recruiters, etc... are to face trial; even here in UWCSEA no teachers will ever hurt a student either physically or mentally, but why are we not considering that fact when it is wartime, children are being forced to serve the military, force to kill their own family, drugged them... these are forms of abuses,physically and mentally, and labour of children during wartime and yet we are only focusing on the part where they are killing because they have to for their own survival. On the contrary, people often argue that we should not look at it that way, they are killers, whether they are forced or not, imagine if you are the victim and that child just killed your whole family and burn down your house, everything you’ve ever worked for gone at the hand of a child, wouldn’t you want justice for yourself, would you just let that person go just because it’s a child? While this maybe true, but when you look at this who is the victim here? Just the your family or is it both your family and the child? Who is the perpetrator here? The child or the commander? Would the child face death if he/she didn’t kill your family? They never had a choice.

           After seeing all of my reasoning, I hope that you will understand that child soldiers can be and should be rehabilitated, their conscience is hard to change but it can be changed by meeting the right person and that right person is us. Therefore, I ask you to give them a chance to change back from a fierce soldier to loving child of a society that accept them and doesn’t discriminate against them.


Thank you,

Sincerely,
Sewen Thy

Violent Video Games and Their Impact on Teenagers

These days, many kids are playing violent video games, and most often, against their disapproving parents. While many think that video games have negative impacts, they are only dangerous when taken past a certain extent. However, when played in consideration, video games can relieve stress, improve teamwork, creative thinking and intellectual strength. Violent video games are often thought of as harmful, but in reality, they are extremely beneficial to young adults.

Exams, homework and parental expectations can cause immense stress for teenagers. This stress could be relieved through multiple dangerous mediums such as drugs or alcohol, but a safer way to reduce this stress is by playing video games. According to an article written by Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson, a professor at Texas A&M International University, young adults who play violent video games handle stress better that non-playing adults. “The results suggest that violent video games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players,” Dr. Ferguson explains. The amount of concentration needed to play these games mean that the kids aren’t able to focus on their work, which gives them a break and some time for their minds to recharge. By giving themselves some rest, they are able to relax, removing some of their stress, which can result in teenagers being happier and stress-free.

Additionally, playing violent video games can improve a player’s ability to work in a team. In many games, the player is required to communicate with others, which provides an opportunity to learn social skills by focusing on cooperation. “Research has shown that playing violent video games in groups reduces feelings of hostility better than playing such games alone,” explains Dr. Vitelli, the author of a published article on Psychology Today. “There seems to be a strong potential value of cooperative play in developing social behaviour and curbing anti-social thoughts and behaviours,” implying that video games improve the ability to collaborate with others, a valuable life skill.

These video games are generally very competitive, and to increase chances of winning, kids are forced to think outside the box. A study by professors at Queen Mary University and UCL suggest that action video and strategic games can promote the ability to think quickly. “Our paper shows that cognitive thinking [...] can be trained and improved by fun tools like gaming” states Professor Brad Lowe. Creative problem solving and outside-the-box thinking requires cognitive flexibility, which is vastly increased by playing graphic video games. This will, no doubt, be a very valuable skill for the young players in the future.

One might argue that video games have negative impacts. A common argument is that playing video games results in physical aggression. Many have stated that there is a link between playing violent video games and violent behaviour, however, according to an article published on Forbes, there has not been any study that has shown that violent video games result directly in actual violence. And while many mass murderers have been described as being extremely addicted to video games, in the USA, as violent video games have become more popular, violent crime rates have fallen. In the article, “when it comes to video games, the loudest voices are rarely gamers [...] this creates a hollow sort of analysis,” and enforces the claim that graphic video games are not harmful.

Furthermore, playing violent video games can possibly strengthen a player intellectually, especially if they are young. A study by the American Psychological association reveals that playing video games can actually strengthen a range of cognitive skills, such as memory and perception, amongst others, which is particularly true for the players of more violent games. While most opinions are are that video games have many negative impacts, “This has critical implications for education and career development,” states Isabela Granic, a professor in developmental psychology (and a contributor to a highly regarded review in the journal American Psychologist). Other studies have also shown that the skills improved by playing violent video games, such as spatial navigation, enables achievements in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Overall, it is shown that amongst a wide range of benefits that playing video games allows, it also improves mental health, and in the future, could even be used as a form of therapy for aggressive behaviour in adolescents.

Violent video games and the impact of playing them on kids is the subject of much controversy, with many arguing for both the positive and the negative sides of the subject. These video games have benefits for their players, but only to a certain extent. Past that point, when the player becomes obsessive, the violence and dangerous examples can be threatening to their mental health and perilous for those around them. Given all these points, however, when played with caution, violent video games provide many benefits and will improve an adolescent’s future positively.

By Kelly

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

The Dangerous, Dark Side of Video Games

Think about it. On a Wednesday night you come home from a long day’s work and you find your 13 year old son, sitting on the couch with a controller in his hands and using vulgar language to people online. This is what violent video games can possibly do to you if you do not control your video-game-playing-world. Americans spend around 23.5 billion dollars on video games annually, and most of that money comes from violent video games such as the Call of Duty series, the GTA series, so on and so forth. All games have a sticker on them which says the age rating and most violent games are 16+. However, there are young kids from the age of four years old who play these games on a day to day basis. These kids develop a mindset that is very violence centered. Role playing games with simulated violence can be perilous to kids because it can corrupt their mind into doing things they normally wouldn’t do.

A primary reason why these games can be perilous to kids is because they put kids in places they normally wouldn’t be in. Guy Martin, an author for the New Yorker states that these upperclassmen “[...] staked outside of Cohen’s house in a blue minivan.” Not one teenager would actually wait outside someone’s house if it weren’t for the game. Adding on to that, they weren’t even sleeping in their own houses for the past few nights but in fact sleeping on futons borrowed from their parents in one of the parents minivans, just to ambush the young ninth grader when he was not expecting it. Furthermore, these upperclassmen were planning on doing the exact same stakeout on three other kids. This is just a game and the upperclassmen might be taking it a bit too seriously.

These games can push kids into doing illegal things. In an article “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out”, the upperclassmen changed their caller id’s to the id of one of Cohen’s teammates so they could track Cohen down. Understandably, some may say that this shows great problem solving and critical thinking skills but, changing a caller id is illegal and this is just for a game. Furthermore, the upperclassmen went on and stalked one of the ninth graders through New York, New Jersey and as far as Connecticut. Arguably, these ninth graders did sign up for this in the first place, but in some people’s perspective, the upperclassmen may have taken this slightly overboard. According to Erik Kain, a contributor to the Forbes Magazine states in his article, ‘Do games like GTA V cause real world violence?’ reveals that these games make teenagers act and behave differently when they are hooked onto such games.

Another reason to why role playing games like Killer and Mafia are perilous to kids is that these games can influence and change the mindsets of teenagers to a mindset of a criminal. In the article, “High Jinks: Shoot Out” the older upperclassmen sneak and smuggle water guns into an airport. In a more serious, criminal situation, the criminal would actually be sneaking real guns into an airport but either way, the actions are similar, just that water guns are low key. Once again, these games are pushing kids into doing the extreme.

People may argue that all these acts are just developing the mindsets of kids and teens into being more problem solving, critical thinking, resilience and creativity. All these factors are fair because the kids are trying to come up with creative ways to eliminate the opponent. While this may be true, there is a boundary to these games and as the article ‘High-Jinks: Shoot Out’ has showed us, these teenagers have really taken this game to an extreme and really crossed the boundaries.

In conclusion, RPG are arguably perilous for kids. They can make kids behave and act in dangerous ways and clearly that is not what we want. They can also make us end up in places that we really do not want to be in. Think about it, if you were a parent, you would definitely not want your kid to do such extreme things like camping outside of someone’s house, stalking a younger kid through three different states and also acting like a criminal, right? I believe that such games should be allowed for kids and teens but they must play the games in moderation, not too much, but a little bit.

By Arjun

Parents these days commonly frown upon children sitting in a dark room, eyes locked on their screen, backs hunched and thumbs consistently slamming against a clicker playing video games as they believe that it is a waste of time. A sight that would make any parent worried especially when the games promotes cruel behaviour. There are also cases where parents absolutely isolate their children from any sort of violence as they feel like it is a bad influence on their kids, but does the violence in games contribute to youths violence? Although lots of parents disagree with video games, there is always two sides to a story.

As has been mentioned, playing video games do come with a price. Studies have shown that too much gaming can be linked to addiction, depression and more acts of violent behaviour. The players learn to associate violence with pleasure like in the “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out”, winning by shooting people. This undermines moral sensitivity. These games also influence players to behave like a criminal and to intentionally hurt others, as the players practise these violent behaviour hundreds and thousands a time.

Similarly to anything, their are also pros. Yes, video games do have a light at the end of a tunnel. Video games aren’t all that bad for adolescents in fact, it is shown that games can be brain-training tools which can improve skills of critical thinking, problem solving, quick thinking, multi-tasking, collaboration, task switching, accuracy and memory. An example of collaboration and creative thinking is in the “High-Jinks: Shoot-out” by Guy Martin, a group of innovative seniors, with “Walgreens-Issue water pistols”, waited outside of their opponents house, with the help of teamwork, used a cell phone to pretend to be one of his teammates. This was a way for them trick him in coming out of the house so they can shoot him in order to win the game. Unintentionally, when playing games, it is often a frustrating learning experience that requires you to repeatedly problem solve learn new strategies in games. James Paul Gee, an author who wrote about the impact of video games, suggests that you even learn “the scientific method” through the necessary trail and error of figuring out how to meet goals in the game. Believe it or not, even the kind of controller, whether being Wii remote, X-box remote, keyboard or mouse, it helps with multi-tasking and hand-eye coordination. The use of having to keep eyes on the screen while using the remote to control the game with accuracy, helps children learn how to use both hands and eyes cooperatively. It is also said that surgeons were faster and more efficient at an operation- like surgery tests after playing video games. On top of that, studies have shown that video games help improve reflexes and quick thinking as players are repeatedly on a lookout for something attacking them.

Contrary to popular belief violent video games are not the cause of the increase in violence in the world. As a matter of fact, from 1990 to 2008 studies have shown that while violent video games sales increased, violence around the world has decreased. Violent video games make up about 11.7 of the world’s economy, if people were to ban video games, it would put about 32,000 people out of jobs.

Playing games with a friend, may be better then playing alone. The positive from teamwork, is that multiplayer games is likely to counterbalance some of the negative effects of virtual violence. To avoid negative effects cause by gaming from happening, it is advised for children to have a balanced life with real-life face to face interaction with people in a good environment. The violence in games doesn’t have to influence kids, as long as children have a balance of game time and having real life interaction being able to use the positive skills they learn from video games. We don’t want kids to develop a “game brain” where all they associate life with are games. 

Due to the popularity of video games, completely eliminating them from your child’s life might be difficult. However, you can decrease the negative impact that they could have on your child, like knowing the rating of the game, not installing video game equipment in his or hers bedroom and supervising the amount of game time a child spends. 

Banning violent video games as a way to “protect”kids, would not make a difference. Violent videos have actually decreased crime rates and are teaching kids skills such as problem solving. Banning violent video games would put thousands out of work. It may seems like a good idea, but it wouldn’t shield children from violence. Many parents blame the video game manufacturers for violence, but it’s actually the parents responsibility to monitor.

By Elizabeth

The Perilous Impact of Violent Role Playing Games: Position Paper

Violence is everywhere. In movies, TV shows, books. The abundance of gruesome content surrounding the moldable youth of today, removes the intended impact any form of a gun should have when seen out in public. When this is added on top of the allowed “killings" and “massacres” of their fellow classmates, one can’t help but wonder if these students are not participating in a game, but are actually being trained to kill. Role-playing games with simulated violence are perilous for the society, as it desensitizes them to everyday cruelty, and makes kids prone to be the cause of it.

As more and more of these simulated role playing games take place, the absence of any sort of violent recreational activities in a child’s life becomes unusual. Take a “killing” simulation game for example.“[...] on a Wednesday, three of the four seniors [attended a New York high school], armed with [...] water pistols, staked out at [a fellow student] Cohen’s house.” Although, Cohen and his family were probably aware that they were in no genuine danger, the other residents of that community were probably scared and confused. Games like this can confuse citizens on whether or not someone with any sort of weapon is dangerous, or just playing a game. Eventually, society may start to assume that any child with a weapon, is “just playing around”, and does not have cruel intentions. Sadly, this is not always the case. Imagine if a real gunmen, who wanted to hurt and maim townsmen was spotted, but the large number of the children who were “just playing around” has removed society’s caution around weapons, as they no longer know when the weapon is meant to kill. This could lead to real death and gore, that could otherwise be prevented.

Children in high schools across America, and parts of the world, are sometimes forced to interact with one another in these aggressive and deceitful ways. The students, instead of learning about who their classmates are as people, get together to discuss how they can trick, capture and eventually “murder” each other. On top of this, when actually following through with their schemes, these affected students learn to plan how exactly they can sneak in “weapons” and how to remain under the radar. Both of these things allowing them to successfully follow through with a crime, simulated or not. “[...] as he paced Pierrepont Street, three water guns shoved inside the pocket of a hoodie.” While playing a simulated water gun “killing” game, that young boy was able to sneak in three weapons, without being caught. Do we really want children learning to hide guns in their clothing? Learning to stake out someone’s house in order to attack them without them knowing? Children learning these skills is not normal and should not be encouraged.

Many may argue that simulated violence in no way relates to real violent tendencies, using the commonality of games that simulate violence (such as video games) to prove that the few who act on those violent urges are a rarity, acting as though the triggered violent thoughts, and possible actions, have to be as extreme as a school shooting. Craig A. Anderson, the director of psychology at “the University of Iowa” agrees that video games do have some impact on violent urges. “there are many factors, including feeling socially isolated, being bullied, and so on, [when it comes to the cause of someone young wanting to hurt others]”. States the professor. He then goes on to add that “[he] thinks it’s clear that violent media is one factor. It’s not the largest factor, but it’s also not the smallest.” Considering that violent simulation games have any sort of impact on the actions of the youth, why are they still made as violent as they are? Even if not playing these crude games only reduces the rate of violence by 0.1%, do we really want to take that chance?

I hope that it is evident that in continuing the play of these games, these students are not being looked out for and that what is best for the student body is not being adhered to. Easily impressionable minds should not be constantly exposed to dangerous situations, simulated or not, as it makes them believe these situations are ordinary. Participating in these games is even worse, as they almost act as a training ground for real assassins, teaching them to plan and follow through with a “kill”. We could have students playing much more well thought out simulation games, ones that do not promote violent behaviours. These students are worth more than that.

By Akanksha

From Shallow Thoughts to Critical Thinking

Hiding. Thinking. Analyzing. Strategizing. Ambushing. Killing. Don’t we all do that nowaday? Everyone play video games. From “Call of Duty” to “Leauge of Legends”, hundreds of brilliant developers are piling up these video games on the market. However, just playing it virtually doesn’t seem to fit our need, thus comes the creation of LARP(Live Action Role Playing Game): Laser Tag, Paintball, Slap game, etc… These games simulated violence into the real world but in a physically non-harmful way. However, since it’s a video game simulated event, competitiveness are also being simulated; therefore, everyone want to stay alive and win thus diverting them from the shallow, depthless thought into a more critical, analytical thinking, that can make them a winner.

According to “The New Yorker” article, a strategical role-playing game called “Killer” has been an important end of year ritual for a school: St. Ann’s. “Initially, each team… the school becomes a souk of intelligence-gathering and disinformation.” By having this complicated information from each source, it’s really hard for any player to distinguished from the reliable information; thus, in order to acquire the legitimate details, each players must think critically about their sources and therefore, helping them to hone their skill.

In addition, one of the prospective participants, Willis Cohen, had taken his critical thinking and analyzing skills to the next level. The prodigious team that tried to kill Cohen came up with a strategy “The idea was to use a cell phone to call the Cohen’s landline… using Dominic’s [his teammate] Caller I.D. … The call went through. But Cohen’s mom … had been tipped off.” This suggests that Cohen had brilliantly analyzed his enemy team, made an educated guess of their next move, and came up with a backup strategy before they could strike and slipped through his enemy undetected.

“[Willis Cohen] (he) woke up and, as usual, hopped a neighbor’s fence and exited through a neighbor’s house. He caught a livery cab on Amity Street and headed north to Heights. He knew that he was in trouble when his driver refused to raise the windows.” Likewise, this indicate that the Gaisford team had nit-pickingly studied and analyzed their prey habit. They knew exactly what time Cohen will catch a cab thus they cooperated with a cab driver and got the opportunity to take down Cohen. It would take high level of intelligence and critically thinking skill for anybody to develop such a plan and execute it well like they did.

Now some might argue that this is the kind of training that sociopath/psychopath need as it is violent and they can hone their critical thinking skill which undoubtedly will cause trouble for us in the future and if they went into committing the “dark digital fantasy” they would indeed be shallow thinker because they allegedly think that they can run from the police. While this maybe true, there is no real proof that the police found anything relating to the connection between criminal and video game. Plus, when being splashed, shot by paintball or tagged with laser, most people just laugh it off thus psychopath may actually lose taste in killing.

As can be seen, the positive distraction that characterized game provide for young adults can really benefit them. Critical thinking and analyzing skill, let alone making our world safer, are only parts of the benefit. It’s a game after all, 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 without bias and you will feel peace, don't play it at all and you will not feel a thing.

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By Sewen