Quote:
Originally Posted by hunnychile
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Either is murder. These games are the reason 11 year old kids can find guns and kill adults sleeping in their beds.
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Um, please back that up. I am sick and tired of videogames being demonized, with no serious research proving that they are at all a cause of increased violence. There has been no proof of violent behaviour being induced by violent games.
Yes, some people with violent tendencies play violent video games, but it's not
why they're violent.
Now, if Baraka's figures are accurate, and assuming that Japan is a nation with the highest (or one of the highest) presence of rape in their entertainment media (anime, manga, video games), if we go by your logic, why is Japan so low on that list?
Here's why: video games, or books with controversial topics, or rock and roll, will not make your kids worship the devil, poison your pets, set his house on fire or shoot his dad with a gun.
And this: "These games are the reason 11 year old kids can find guns and kill adults sleeping in their beds."
I see this type of sentence all the time. There's two things wrong with it. One: A videogame will not teach your son how to find a hidden weapon, maybe unlock it, manipulate it, load it, remove the safety, aim it, all the while parents are sleeping right there. And if you notice that I mentioned unlocking, manipulating, loading(for most people), this is called responsible gun ownership. If you have a killing instrument AND children in the house, you need it stored safely, not out where your 11 year old can pick it up and start blazing Matrix style. What's next, lighters in your baby's crib??
The second thing, obviously, is parenting. Don't blame a video game, or TV, or whatever else for teaching your children the wrong things. If you look at games that involve killing, you'll notice an "M for Mature" on the box. Any responsible parent who wants to keep a responsible eye on what their 11 year old plays can look at the ESRB rating before buying it for their child, and keep an eye on their video game library, in case some dumb employee at Gamestop decided it was ok to sell GTA to an 11 yr old.
I don't think parents are responsible for everything or should be, but they ARE able to monitor what kind of media their child watches, and if it's appropriate. If they can't, they need to get help.