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
Showing posts with label Violent Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Violent Games. Show all posts
May 21, 2015
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.
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
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
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
The Hidden Side of Violent Games
Games have affected our lives in one way or another, ranging from the game of tag that you played when you were young, to the friendly game of billiards you had with Joe. As the games developed, the favorite amongst all ages, particularly teen is ‘Role Playing games’ (more commonly referred to as RPGs). RPGs can range from the classics of ‘Mario’ and ‘Galaga’ all the way to the modern day favorites such as the Call of duty franchise. Role playing games with simulated violence have however become a substantial topic of controversy. While many hold an animosity against the games like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and GTA, many fail to see the benefits from these games. Many parents have found these games to be so detrimental to their child’s health, that they have banned the genre all together. This policy invites the question, should role playing games with simulated violence be banned?
In this essay I will argue that games in this genre provide benefits for a child which are highly beneficial, and unique to these games. The essay will attempt to state and defend two claims: first, banning these games can harm your child, as these games develop their cognitive skills; and second, violent role playing games teach children independence.
With the difficulty of acquiring a job rapidly increasing, every skill and technique will help a child to acquire a job. Role playing games with simulated violence, provide a benefit which is unique to them. These games improves the cognitive skills of children. Recent studies by the American Psychology Association (APA) state that games with simulated violence, improve the spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception of a child.
These qualities, which can be applied anywhere, have been found to be particularly helpful in the S.T.E.M field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Adam Zartin, an IB student at the International School of Manila, states that “As an avid gamer, I have had first hand experience with the benefits of gaming. I’ve seen how my friends skills in areas such as problem solving has increased, after introducing them to my favorite games; CS GO and Dota” For those unaware CS GO is an acronym for the game Counter-Strike Global Offensive which is a leading competitor in the First Person Shooter market. DOTA, or Defense of The Ancients, is the second most played Massive Online Battle Arena type game. These are both games which simulate violence, and as shown they have both improved students results in their school life. Adam also talk about the possibility of becoming a professional gamer, and his aspiration to join this multi-billion dollar industry.
While I grant that many may argue, that these skills can be acquired through other means, if not games without violence may provide the sames skills. This while a good argument is incorrect. Meta-analysis done by the APA, shows that not only is the cognitive growth unique to games with violence, the growth is much greater than formal courses which are designed to enhance the same quality. Given these statistics, parents should reconsider prohibiting the play of games in this genre, as doing so will only cause more harm to their child’s future, than the potential harm which they are trying to prevent.
To sum up, I affirm that prohibiting role playing games with simulated violence, is unjust to the child, as doing so will put them at a level below the children who do play these games.
A common argument for banning games in this genre, is that these games teach children the wrong morals, and gives the wrong mentality on violence, which leads them to have no emotional response on crime, and see crime as an acceptable action. However prohibiting access to these games, will only bring more harm to the children. These games teach them a skill which is not easily taught by other sources. RPG’s with simulated violence teach them about independence. As show on Guy Martin’s article on NY times ‘High Jinks: Shootout’, students at times had to take their life in their own hands, and make important decisions by themselves. One student portrayed this, by his action of planning ahead, and making sure that he was given the go with his plan, to eliminate his target. This game also builds the students independence, by teaching students, to be wise when choosing who they trust, and be cunning when making their plans.
Additionally, I will also grant a statistically proven premise. While it does seem that the Norwegian shootout is related to game Call of duty, Recent studies by the APA, show that the crime rate in adolescents has decreased, as the sales of video games with violence increase. To sum up, I affirm that prohibiting role playing games with simulated violence, harms the child by withholding useful benefits which help them with every action they perform.
In the modern world, violent games are seen as a threat to society...as something which need to be exterminated from society. However taking this mentality will be detrimental to your child’s growth. Many have argued that these games should be banned and kept away from children. In this speech, I have tried to defend the tolerance of this genre of games. I have argued that these games arm the child with improved cognitive skills, and teach them about the valuable skill of independence. A natural objection is that these games lead to more crimes, but I have offered reasons why this may be untrue. Role play games with simulated violence should not be banned, as they provide many benefits for a child. Parents, act now, bring back these games from your locker, think twice before saying no when your child asks for a game.
In this essay I will argue that games in this genre provide benefits for a child which are highly beneficial, and unique to these games. The essay will attempt to state and defend two claims: first, banning these games can harm your child, as these games develop their cognitive skills; and second, violent role playing games teach children independence.
With the difficulty of acquiring a job rapidly increasing, every skill and technique will help a child to acquire a job. Role playing games with simulated violence, provide a benefit which is unique to them. These games improves the cognitive skills of children. Recent studies by the American Psychology Association (APA) state that games with simulated violence, improve the spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception of a child.
These qualities, which can be applied anywhere, have been found to be particularly helpful in the S.T.E.M field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). Adam Zartin, an IB student at the International School of Manila, states that “As an avid gamer, I have had first hand experience with the benefits of gaming. I’ve seen how my friends skills in areas such as problem solving has increased, after introducing them to my favorite games; CS GO and Dota” For those unaware CS GO is an acronym for the game Counter-Strike Global Offensive which is a leading competitor in the First Person Shooter market. DOTA, or Defense of The Ancients, is the second most played Massive Online Battle Arena type game. These are both games which simulate violence, and as shown they have both improved students results in their school life. Adam also talk about the possibility of becoming a professional gamer, and his aspiration to join this multi-billion dollar industry.
While I grant that many may argue, that these skills can be acquired through other means, if not games without violence may provide the sames skills. This while a good argument is incorrect. Meta-analysis done by the APA, shows that not only is the cognitive growth unique to games with violence, the growth is much greater than formal courses which are designed to enhance the same quality. Given these statistics, parents should reconsider prohibiting the play of games in this genre, as doing so will only cause more harm to their child’s future, than the potential harm which they are trying to prevent.
To sum up, I affirm that prohibiting role playing games with simulated violence, is unjust to the child, as doing so will put them at a level below the children who do play these games.
A common argument for banning games in this genre, is that these games teach children the wrong morals, and gives the wrong mentality on violence, which leads them to have no emotional response on crime, and see crime as an acceptable action. However prohibiting access to these games, will only bring more harm to the children. These games teach them a skill which is not easily taught by other sources. RPG’s with simulated violence teach them about independence. As show on Guy Martin’s article on NY times ‘High Jinks: Shootout’, students at times had to take their life in their own hands, and make important decisions by themselves. One student portrayed this, by his action of planning ahead, and making sure that he was given the go with his plan, to eliminate his target. This game also builds the students independence, by teaching students, to be wise when choosing who they trust, and be cunning when making their plans.
Additionally, I will also grant a statistically proven premise. While it does seem that the Norwegian shootout is related to game Call of duty, Recent studies by the APA, show that the crime rate in adolescents has decreased, as the sales of video games with violence increase. To sum up, I affirm that prohibiting role playing games with simulated violence, harms the child by withholding useful benefits which help them with every action they perform.
In the modern world, violent games are seen as a threat to society...as something which need to be exterminated from society. However taking this mentality will be detrimental to your child’s growth. Many have argued that these games should be banned and kept away from children. In this speech, I have tried to defend the tolerance of this genre of games. I have argued that these games arm the child with improved cognitive skills, and teach them about the valuable skill of independence. A natural objection is that these games lead to more crimes, but I have offered reasons why this may be untrue. Role play games with simulated violence should not be banned, as they provide many benefits for a child. Parents, act now, bring back these games from your locker, think twice before saying no when your child asks for a game.
By Roshan
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
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
Negative Impacts of Violent Games on Kids
As you all know that I am a student myself, so I do understand that sometimes study could be a little bit stressful. You can not just study all the time, right? You got ta get some time off and relaxed, get yourself sorted out with some entertainment, like music, TV or probably video games. Well, video games are not all bad, however, parents should know that the right choice of video games is very important for your kids. Especially you should keep your eyes on the violence games. And if you ask me why, I would like to tell you that these violent games could influence your kids in many negative ways.
First of all, video games could divert kids perspectives about the world in a repugnant way. For example, a role-playing game like Killer. It plays when squads have assign the “PIE-CHART DEATH” . And the one who has killed all the hit lists in the chart wins. In the text of “ High Jinks: Shoot-out” by Guy Martin, one of the player, Willis Cohen, has been killed by his own friends. Martin describes this event like, “ Cohen was finally killed through no fault of his own. He woke up and, as usual, hoped a neighbor’s fence and exited through a neighbour’s house.” This indicates that he doesn’t really expect it at all that he was going to get killed and obviously not by his own hand of his friend. Therefore, in this game basically it actually promotes people not to trust anybody except yourself. While this somehow sounds logical, however, where is the value of friendship gone? Friends are supposed to be people that you could go and rely on.We could not just live by our own, could we? If we want someone to trust us, we have to trust them back. It changes the world from bright and hopeful to a dark place with full of monsters that you should look for. It is kind of the idea of a psychopath, who always care about themselves and nothing else around them.
These games destroy all of this perspectives and lead alone the dark impression that could affect kids in their real life on trust of friend.
While some people might interpret Killer that it could help teach the kids to problem-solving, you might be right. However, I would like to add on to that, it actually teaches children to choose violence to help solving their problems instead of just talking. Killer, could give a higher pressure on the kids heads and lessons on real life-savage. to dto every part of it, was kind of dark, scary, and full of vicious. There are only two choices in this game, you kill others and and your life goes on. If you don’t, someone would kill you. That aspect would definitely reflects on the kids mindset. Next time, problems come, their solution will be choosing violence instead of just words. WHY? Because of the aspect: “ If I don’t kill you, you would kill me.”
The last point is that it gives a person mentally- killing satisfying. The more they kill someone, the more chances that they could win. It is well known that rewarding behavior increases its frequency. Ask yourself, wouldn’t you want to organise your stuffs again if your teacher admires you?
A visual example in this text it says that, “ When the Lowther team won, with twenty-one kills. They celebrated with a spaghetti dinner.” This proves that they are very satisfying for what they’ve done, which that could have an effect in real life. Kids couldn’t understand separately between in games and in real-life. They would get another sense of killing and death is a kind of game instead of a real serious problems.
With these three solid reasons, dear parents, your child is in your hand, you are the one who would make the decision for your child. I would strongly recommend you not to let them play all of these games. With only just problems giving out, there’s not exactly any advantages moving in. Therefore, you should make the right from now on, your kids are like white paper, if you put bad colours in their minds, it is hard to wash them all up again. Isn’t it just risky to risk your child’s mind? Remember that protection is much better than treatment.
First of all, video games could divert kids perspectives about the world in a repugnant way. For example, a role-playing game like Killer. It plays when squads have assign the “PIE-CHART DEATH” . And the one who has killed all the hit lists in the chart wins. In the text of “ High Jinks: Shoot-out” by Guy Martin, one of the player, Willis Cohen, has been killed by his own friends. Martin describes this event like, “ Cohen was finally killed through no fault of his own. He woke up and, as usual, hoped a neighbor’s fence and exited through a neighbour’s house.” This indicates that he doesn’t really expect it at all that he was going to get killed and obviously not by his own hand of his friend. Therefore, in this game basically it actually promotes people not to trust anybody except yourself. While this somehow sounds logical, however, where is the value of friendship gone? Friends are supposed to be people that you could go and rely on.We could not just live by our own, could we? If we want someone to trust us, we have to trust them back. It changes the world from bright and hopeful to a dark place with full of monsters that you should look for. It is kind of the idea of a psychopath, who always care about themselves and nothing else around them.
These games destroy all of this perspectives and lead alone the dark impression that could affect kids in their real life on trust of friend.
While some people might interpret Killer that it could help teach the kids to problem-solving, you might be right. However, I would like to add on to that, it actually teaches children to choose violence to help solving their problems instead of just talking. Killer, could give a higher pressure on the kids heads and lessons on real life-savage. to dto every part of it, was kind of dark, scary, and full of vicious. There are only two choices in this game, you kill others and and your life goes on. If you don’t, someone would kill you. That aspect would definitely reflects on the kids mindset. Next time, problems come, their solution will be choosing violence instead of just words. WHY? Because of the aspect: “ If I don’t kill you, you would kill me.”
The last point is that it gives a person mentally- killing satisfying. The more they kill someone, the more chances that they could win. It is well known that rewarding behavior increases its frequency. Ask yourself, wouldn’t you want to organise your stuffs again if your teacher admires you?
A visual example in this text it says that, “ When the Lowther team won, with twenty-one kills. They celebrated with a spaghetti dinner.” This proves that they are very satisfying for what they’ve done, which that could have an effect in real life. Kids couldn’t understand separately between in games and in real-life. They would get another sense of killing and death is a kind of game instead of a real serious problems.
With these three solid reasons, dear parents, your child is in your hand, you are the one who would make the decision for your child. I would strongly recommend you not to let them play all of these games. With only just problems giving out, there’s not exactly any advantages moving in. Therefore, you should make the right from now on, your kids are like white paper, if you put bad colours in their minds, it is hard to wash them all up again. Isn’t it just risky to risk your child’s mind? Remember that protection is much better than treatment.
By Khantey
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