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Recently I wrote an essay for college regarding how violent media causes violent behavior, namely video games. Of course my side was that its a bunch of crap, but one thing I have learned during all my research is that there aren't many researchers out there working FOR us! As a matter of fact I was hard pressed to find any research at all not linking violent video games with school shootings and mass murder. Dmitri Williams is one of the few who are saying that video games PROMOTE teamwork and critical thinking skills. I really think that we need to come together and stop this nonsense. They are trying to use our video games as the new crusade. Many of you probably watch Xplay and they did "The loop" this week with this topic. What I found humorous is that a lot of the things he said, I wrote a couple of weeks before in my rough draft. I have copied and pasted a copy of my paper and hope that you will all band together, put your name under the references and forward a copy to your local representative. If we do nothing than thats exactly what we will get back...nothing. At what point will the governments censorship of our Intellectual and creative rights end? They need to find something new to complain about and leave our games alone! Please take the time to read and help out. If you don't feel that its a cause worthy of helping then I only ask that you don't flame it because a lot of people really care about this issue. Thanks everyone and happy gaming!
The Video Game Made Me Do It:
Governmental Scapegoat or
Life Lessons and Lasting Relationships in a Virtual Society
Persuasive Essay
The Video Game Made Me Do It
From rock music leading to suicide to violent video games making kids mass murderers, the government has lead people for decades into the belief that there are no free thinking minds, just those that can be altered and corrupted by outside influences. Many feel that video games are now the new tool of the devil. Right wing activists say that video games lead to anti social behavior which in turn leads to children committing violent acts when it is actually quite the opposite with video games promoting teamwork, critical thinking skills and a sense of loyalty.
The government is trying to bully the Federal Trade Commission into associating video games with the proven factors of youth violence. Using tactics such as lies and political shoving, the Committee against media sex and violence has worked to quash game designers First Amendment freedom of speech without censorship. Senators Clinton, Brownback and Santorum make up the committee and are very adamant in their beliefs. Senator Brownback in his zeal “convinced” a pretty impressive list of people including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association and a few other prestigious groups to name over 1000 studies done showing a correlation between media violence and youth actions in a statement as well as testimony before congress. This joint statement was written at the request of the senator and falsely identified research that had never been conducted to back up claims that violent media causes violent behavior (Greenberg 2000). Daniel Cook, then president of the American Academy of Pediatrics writes, “At this time, well over 1000 studies – including reports from the Surgeon General’s office, the National Institute of Mental Health, and numerous studies conducted by leading figures within our medical and public health organizations – our own members – point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children” (2000). When questioned about whether the board members had ever even seen said research all admitted that they had not.
Platform designers such as Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox have collaborated with game designers for more socially compliant games. Games and game systems have been released that link players from all over the world together. The Xbox Live and Playstation are both following in the path of PC games that have connected people together for years through games on the internet. One study concluded that “When gamers play together they need to use cooperation and teamwork to accomplish a task, both of which are pro-social behaviors” (Lee & Bar 2004). In Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XI online, crowds of over 400 people must team up in alliances of 18 people each for the defense of a city under siege. Within usually one hour anywhere from 400 to 700 (max) people introduce themselves, joke around, and then work together to accomplish the task of defeating the enemies.
Video games do take time away from real life and family if one becomes too heavily involved. With the hours put into some of these games it could be considered a full time job. Most gamers put in over 40 hours a week into games which does not leave a lot of time for violent behavior. In a month long study of influence by a violent video game, head researcher Dmitri Williams (2005) says, “There were no strong effects associated with aggression caused by this violent video game”. The belief that games cause the violent acts in society today as opposed to lack of parental guidance is thus far, unfounded.
Video games cause more positive effects than negative. Newer games such as MMORPG’s (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) have been developed to promote life skills and make gender bias, racism, and age discrimination obsolete. In a virtual world no one cares about color. Male or female is shown by the character chosen not who is sitting behind the controller and age has no bearing at all. All that anyone cares about in the virtual world is proficiency with the job being leveled up. Respect is earned by personality alone. Williams’ (2006) describes MMORPG’s as the new hang out spot “like a coffee house or pub”. It really is. Friendships are created where caring about a person extends into real world with phone calls and visits. Over forty hours a week spent gaining levels and doing quests with the same people everyday binds those people together. Life long relationships based on personality not color or religion are built.
The impact of video games on today’s youth is not all together bad. Yes, they do take away from the responsibilities and stresses of life, but they also teach friendship and nonjudgmental attitudes. Games are linking people all over the world together in an environment that is comfortable to all to work in peace cohesively and respect the ideas of others. This can not be said for many areas of the world today. World leaders should take a hint from the gaming community. Maybe there would be more understanding and less war, less hatred for others not like them and less violence.
References
Cook, D. Congressional Public Health Summit. (2000). The Impact of
Entertainment Violence on Children.
Retrieved from http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/jstmtevc.htm
Greenberg, D. (2000) When Federal Trade Commissioners Attack.
Retrieved from http://www.igda.org/articles/dgreenberg_ftc_attack.php
Lee, M. (2004) Effects of Video Game Violence on Pro social and Anti-Social
Behaviors, Journal of Young Investigators, 11(2).
Retrieved from http://www.jyi.org/volumes/volume11/issue2 /articles/lee.html
Muir, H. (2004). The Violent Games People Play. New Scientist, 184(2470), p. 26.
Retrieved from Academic Search Elite.
Williams, D. & Skoric, M. (2005) Internet Fantasy Violence:
A Test of Aggression in an Online Game. Communication Monographs, 72(2), p. 217-233.
Retrieved from https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dcwill/www/research.html
Williams, D. & Steinkuehler, C. (2006) Where Everybody knows Your (Screen)
Name: Online Games as “Third Places”. Journal of Computer Mediated communications, 11(4) Article 1.
Retrieved from https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dcwill/www/research.html
Supporting Video Games:
Amy S. Henderson (Aewynn)
Michael S. Peterson (Moonfang)
The Video Game Made Me Do It:
Governmental Scapegoat or
Life Lessons and Lasting Relationships in a Virtual Society
Persuasive Essay
The Video Game Made Me Do It
From rock music leading to suicide to violent video games making kids mass murderers, the government has lead people for decades into the belief that there are no free thinking minds, just those that can be altered and corrupted by outside influences. Many feel that video games are now the new tool of the devil. Right wing activists say that video games lead to anti social behavior which in turn leads to children committing violent acts when it is actually quite the opposite with video games promoting teamwork, critical thinking skills and a sense of loyalty.
The government is trying to bully the Federal Trade Commission into associating video games with the proven factors of youth violence. Using tactics such as lies and political shoving, the Committee against media sex and violence has worked to quash game designers First Amendment freedom of speech without censorship. Senators Clinton, Brownback and Santorum make up the committee and are very adamant in their beliefs. Senator Brownback in his zeal “convinced” a pretty impressive list of people including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association and a few other prestigious groups to name over 1000 studies done showing a correlation between media violence and youth actions in a statement as well as testimony before congress. This joint statement was written at the request of the senator and falsely identified research that had never been conducted to back up claims that violent media causes violent behavior (Greenberg 2000). Daniel Cook, then president of the American Academy of Pediatrics writes, “At this time, well over 1000 studies – including reports from the Surgeon General’s office, the National Institute of Mental Health, and numerous studies conducted by leading figures within our medical and public health organizations – our own members – point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children” (2000). When questioned about whether the board members had ever even seen said research all admitted that they had not.
Platform designers such as Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox have collaborated with game designers for more socially compliant games. Games and game systems have been released that link players from all over the world together. The Xbox Live and Playstation are both following in the path of PC games that have connected people together for years through games on the internet. One study concluded that “When gamers play together they need to use cooperation and teamwork to accomplish a task, both of which are pro-social behaviors” (Lee & Bar 2004). In Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XI online, crowds of over 400 people must team up in alliances of 18 people each for the defense of a city under siege. Within usually one hour anywhere from 400 to 700 (max) people introduce themselves, joke around, and then work together to accomplish the task of defeating the enemies.
Video games do take time away from real life and family if one becomes too heavily involved. With the hours put into some of these games it could be considered a full time job. Most gamers put in over 40 hours a week into games which does not leave a lot of time for violent behavior. In a month long study of influence by a violent video game, head researcher Dmitri Williams (2005) says, “There were no strong effects associated with aggression caused by this violent video game”. The belief that games cause the violent acts in society today as opposed to lack of parental guidance is thus far, unfounded.
Video games cause more positive effects than negative. Newer games such as MMORPG’s (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) have been developed to promote life skills and make gender bias, racism, and age discrimination obsolete. In a virtual world no one cares about color. Male or female is shown by the character chosen not who is sitting behind the controller and age has no bearing at all. All that anyone cares about in the virtual world is proficiency with the job being leveled up. Respect is earned by personality alone. Williams’ (2006) describes MMORPG’s as the new hang out spot “like a coffee house or pub”. It really is. Friendships are created where caring about a person extends into real world with phone calls and visits. Over forty hours a week spent gaining levels and doing quests with the same people everyday binds those people together. Life long relationships based on personality not color or religion are built.
The impact of video games on today’s youth is not all together bad. Yes, they do take away from the responsibilities and stresses of life, but they also teach friendship and nonjudgmental attitudes. Games are linking people all over the world together in an environment that is comfortable to all to work in peace cohesively and respect the ideas of others. This can not be said for many areas of the world today. World leaders should take a hint from the gaming community. Maybe there would be more understanding and less war, less hatred for others not like them and less violence.
References
Cook, D. Congressional Public Health Summit. (2000). The Impact of
Entertainment Violence on Children.
Retrieved from http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/jstmtevc.htm
Greenberg, D. (2000) When Federal Trade Commissioners Attack.
Retrieved from http://www.igda.org/articles/dgreenberg_ftc_attack.php
Lee, M. (2004) Effects of Video Game Violence on Pro social and Anti-Social
Behaviors, Journal of Young Investigators, 11(2).
Retrieved from http://www.jyi.org/volumes/volume11/issue2 /articles/lee.html
Muir, H. (2004). The Violent Games People Play. New Scientist, 184(2470), p. 26.
Retrieved from Academic Search Elite.
Williams, D. & Skoric, M. (2005) Internet Fantasy Violence:
A Test of Aggression in an Online Game. Communication Monographs, 72(2), p. 217-233.
Retrieved from https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dcwill/www/research.html
Williams, D. & Steinkuehler, C. (2006) Where Everybody knows Your (Screen)
Name: Online Games as “Third Places”. Journal of Computer Mediated communications, 11(4) Article 1.
Retrieved from https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dcwill/www/research.html
Supporting Video Games:
Amy S. Henderson (Aewynn)
Michael S. Peterson (Moonfang)
