The following pretty much sums it up:

Quote:Harvard Medical School researchers claim that playing video games does not turn children into aggressive and belligerent brutes.

The researchers published their findings in a book called "Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do."

Source

lol, when I first read the title, I thought that you'd gotten into Harvard or something, lol.

Anywho. I agree with it. There is no viable evidence that says that video games make children aggressive. However, I did read somewhere that it makes children lethargic which in turn allows their mind to be manipulated that little bit more to what they're actually doing. I don't know it's true or not, but I think that in the same article, a child that had some kind of mental disability ended up actually believing he was Link from Zelda. O.o
No joke, this was a serious article too.

I heard the government is trying to use video games as a means of mind control. But, I really don't believe a video game makes a person do anything. I mean, I can sit and fight people for hours playing Brawl, and I don't go out looking for someone to beat up on when I lost one too many times. Kids use the games as an excuse so they don't have to face consequences and can blame it on someone, or something else.

It may not turn them into aggressive brutes, but it does contribute. The TV (media, games, movies) influence us all more than we seem to think. And influence can be a big thing for a child who's mind is still being molded.

I mean look at that 8 year old kid who stole his gramma's car to go joy riding ... practically a real life GTA minus the guns and extra lives. "wanting to go hoodratting with his friends". The problem may not lie in the games, but in the parents who give in to there children and let them have such games just to get them out of there hair. Then the kid acts up for attention and does it the only way he/she knows how and thats by what they have learned in games and movies etc. So again, it may not make them violent and brutish but it does contribute. I blame bad parenting skills for the rest of it.

If I had kids, I'd make 'em buy everything on their own. Even the console... BUT I'd have some input into what they can and can't buy. i.e. I wouldn't let my kids touch GTA until I thought they were at a good enough age that they won't decide to be an idiot.

Any Video game-related violence isn't related to video games, it's relative to how horrible, or not, the parent is uh, PARENTING there child.

Parents look to anything to put blame on instead of themselves. For example, I'm not fucked up. Albeit I have my issues, but I'm not crazy. Why? I DO play video games every day, but I have a decent parent (singular, one lives in TN and I don't see her), even though we don't have a lot of money, ect.

Then you see these upper-middle class kids doing stupid shit, and they have both parents around, but they still do stupid shit. Why? Because they have shitty parents who can't be bothered to involve themselves in the lives of there children so they blame video games for it instead.

The problem is that parents are LETTING video games raise there children, because the parents can't seem to do it themselves. THAT'S the issue. Not video games. You're blaming the result, not the issue. The result=kids turn to video games for parenting, the ISSUE=parents can't seem to parent better than video games.

SnakeTheFox Wrote:The problem is that parents are LETTING video games raise there children, because the parents can't seem to do it themselves. THAT'S the issue. Not video games. You're blaming the result, not the issue. The result=kids turn to video games for parenting, the ISSUE=parents can't seem to parent better than video games.

See, now that's not really a problem for me either. Both my parents (one of which I don't see very often, maybe once every 4 weeks) play games too. So we kind of have something there. Me and my dad(the one I mentioned above) actually play Halo 2 on the old xboxs via LAN. And my mum... Don't get me started, She asks for help on games THAT much that It's inspired me to make a thread about it (when I get around to it).

And I have to agree and disagree on you're point of the upper-middle class doing stupid sh*t. Because it isn't necessarily about video games. I mean, alot of kids here where I live that are from the upper-middle class (I'm not one of 'em... I live on a farm for christs sake) only do stupid sh*t because they feel like it and they reckon they either won't get caught. Or they think that they have the money, so they won't worry about any fines or whatnot.

Honest to god it really gives me the sh*ts though. Now I think I've mentioned this in a thread before, but it was a while ago. A kid i my year at school decided to prank call the Principal suggesting there was a bomb in the school. Naturally that caused a bit of panic etc. And while everyone was being sent down to the field for roll-call, a teacher that heard people laughing actually found this kid and about 3 others behind the hall, laughing their fu*king heads off. Naturally all of these kids were expelled and questioned by police. But what surprised me was who the kids were, some of 'em were fricking upper class kids who pretty much already had it made for 'emselves. And I highly doubt that this was "game related", more of a thing of boredom.

Meh, that's enough from me.

Aryon Wrote:A kid i my year at school decided to prank call the Principal suggesting there was a bomb in the school. Naturally that caused a bit of panic etc.

How many times are people going to fall for that crap.

100% of the time.

I blame all of it on bad parenting. If there was a game I wanted but it wasn't right for me, but asked anyway, my parents said no and bought me something else that was more proper. Thing is, that worked out just fine. It may not have been what I really wanted, but I still was happy to have something new to play.

It is bad parenting. It is the fact (like I said previously and agree with snake) that parents let the games and media and what not raise there children because the parents are still children themselves these days. It may not be a in fact proven reason as to why children are more increasingly violent ... but it has a direct support role in the matter.