Press ‘RESET’ and do it all again!!
The topic of video games has the potential to be highly controversial. Many adults remember the days when the games were simple, the pixels were low, and there was very little reality involved. Games were actually good for developing eye-hand coordination. The good news is that today’s games still help to develop eye-hand coordination. Unfortunately, there is little else good to say about the most popular games of our time. There are a couple schools of thought when it comes to today’s video games. Some say the violence in the games leads our kids to become desensitized to violence and respond as perceiving life as menial. Others say that the violence in the games is a great way for kids to get out their frustrations on a video screen and not in real life—a kind of cathartic therapy. If they can do it on the screen, they won’t do it in real life. Hundreds of studies have clearly shown that the latter way of thinking is absolutely wrong! Violence breeds violence, and those who say otherwise are just trying to justify themselves—or trying to avoid a potential conflict with their kids.
Practice Makes Perfect
Can some people play violent video games and not act on the violence they are inputting into their mind? Of course! But not all. The one scenario that sticks in my mind was presented by Col. David Grossman at The Canadian National Youth Leadership Conference, in Toronto, Ontario. He stated that there was a well-known shooting in the United States where a student gunman entered his school and shot numerous students who were sitting in a circle. He went on to say that the gunman killed each student with one shot each from a respectable distance. According to Grossman, this is a feat that is rare for a trained military marksman! Apparently, this boy learned how to aim and shoot from excessive play of a video game that involved just that. Now, the U.S. military uses one of these games to train recruits! It makes sense. If you want to get good at hitting a golf ball or playing the drums, you must practice. I tried to learn how to play drums in high school, and while I was right into it, I thought about it, went over beats in my head, and drummed on desktops and books. Similarly, kids (and adults) who play violent video games think about the violence and it becomes part of their thought processes. The expert himself explains the direct correlation much better. Check out Col. Grossman’s book, Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill (Crown Books 1999). It is extremely eye-opening.
What They are Learning
Children are starting to play violent video games at younger and younger ages. As it is, children do not understand the permanence of death until about age 6. When playing a video game, they can kill someone and then press reset and the person is there –alive and ready to be killed again. This blurs the idea of death for a child. Some children act out some form of violence that they see in games without really considering the long-term effects to themselves or their victims. It is so easy to press reset or power off, that this becomes the mentality of many children.
Sex in Video Games?
Yes, nothing is sacred in some games. “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” had to be re-rated after some sex scenes were found. Even in some seemingly innocent games, it is difficult not to notice how the female characters dress. They are always either scantily clad or impossibly thin, but usually both. While this is not blatant sex, it is certainly sex appeal. Teenagers have a hard enough time with raging hormones to be faced with this, too!
Like other media images, girls feel the need to resemble these characters in body shape because the guys like it. Would a “tomb raider” (as Lara Croft is) really dress in almost nothing to ‘raid tombs’? For the girls who occasionally play games, the guys are not usually without their exaggerated muscles. What’s real? The kids will be confused—you explain it to them!
They are Just Games
Like many negative influences out there, you cannot control everything your child sees or does. There are other parents who allow these games and your child may play them at their friend’s house. You can, however, control what is at your house. If you allow sexual, violent games in your house, you are condoning the actions within these games. Kids will argue that “they are just games.” Do your emotions get heightened when you play golf or another sport? Why? They are “just games”, too. Keep the damaging stuff out of your house by being a father first…friend second.
The topic of video games has the potential to be highly controversial. Many adults remember the days when the games were simple, the pixels were low, and there was very little reality involved. Games were actually good for developing eye-hand coordination. The good news is that today’s games still help to develop eye-hand coordination. Unfortunately, there is little else good to say about the most popular games of our time. There are a couple schools of thought when it comes to today’s video games. Some say the violence in the games leads our kids to become desensitized to violence and respond as perceiving life as menial. Others say that the violence in the games is a great way for kids to get out their frustrations on a video screen and not in real life—a kind of cathartic therapy. If they can do it on the screen, they won’t do it in real life. Hundreds of studies have clearly shown that the latter way of thinking is absolutely wrong! Violence breeds violence, and those who say otherwise are just trying to justify themselves—or trying to avoid a potential conflict with their kids.
Practice Makes Perfect
Can some people play violent video games and not act on the violence they are inputting into their mind? Of course! But not all. The one scenario that sticks in my mind was presented by Col. David Grossman at The Canadian National Youth Leadership Conference, in Toronto, Ontario. He stated that there was a well-known shooting in the United States where a student gunman entered his school and shot numerous students who were sitting in a circle. He went on to say that the gunman killed each student with one shot each from a respectable distance. According to Grossman, this is a feat that is rare for a trained military marksman! Apparently, this boy learned how to aim and shoot from excessive play of a video game that involved just that. Now, the U.S. military uses one of these games to train recruits! It makes sense. If you want to get good at hitting a golf ball or playing the drums, you must practice. I tried to learn how to play drums in high school, and while I was right into it, I thought about it, went over beats in my head, and drummed on desktops and books. Similarly, kids (and adults) who play violent video games think about the violence and it becomes part of their thought processes. The expert himself explains the direct correlation much better. Check out Col. Grossman’s book, Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill (Crown Books 1999). It is extremely eye-opening.
What They are Learning
Children are starting to play violent video games at younger and younger ages. As it is, children do not understand the permanence of death until about age 6. When playing a video game, they can kill someone and then press reset and the person is there –alive and ready to be killed again. This blurs the idea of death for a child. Some children act out some form of violence that they see in games without really considering the long-term effects to themselves or their victims. It is so easy to press reset or power off, that this becomes the mentality of many children.
Sex in Video Games?
Yes, nothing is sacred in some games. “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” had to be re-rated after some sex scenes were found. Even in some seemingly innocent games, it is difficult not to notice how the female characters dress. They are always either scantily clad or impossibly thin, but usually both. While this is not blatant sex, it is certainly sex appeal. Teenagers have a hard enough time with raging hormones to be faced with this, too!
Like other media images, girls feel the need to resemble these characters in body shape because the guys like it. Would a “tomb raider” (as Lara Croft is) really dress in almost nothing to ‘raid tombs’? For the girls who occasionally play games, the guys are not usually without their exaggerated muscles. What’s real? The kids will be confused—you explain it to them!
They are Just Games
Like many negative influences out there, you cannot control everything your child sees or does. There are other parents who allow these games and your child may play them at their friend’s house. You can, however, control what is at your house. If you allow sexual, violent games in your house, you are condoning the actions within these games. Kids will argue that “they are just games.” Do your emotions get heightened when you play golf or another sport? Why? They are “just games”, too. Keep the damaging stuff out of your house by being a father first…friend second.