Spring Break
TV violence: victimless or venomous?
Video games are not likely to turn players into remorseless serial killers who run the streets and kill prostitutes.
By: Ian McPhail
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Opinion
As video game sales and popularity rise, many have wondered if the increasing availability of violent video games might encourage teenagers to mimic the destructive practice in the real world. Critics have cited the influence of violent games like Grand Theft Auto as a contributing factor to national tragedies like Columbine. Rather than holding themselves accountable for the actions of their children, fear-mongering citizens have used games as a scapegoat for their shortcomings as parents. Video games, however violent and gory, can be enjoyed by adults without the narrow-minded fear of a transformation into a remorseless serial killer.
Similar to movies, video games come with a system for rating content. Ideally, minors under 17 cannot buy Mature rated games without an adult's consent. Most youths, however, find a way to cheat the system. Realistically any parent concerned with letting their child murder hookers like a polygonal Son of Sam can easily screen the game system based on content. A parent should never be as ignorant about the entertainment their child views as many claim to be about video games in their house. Adults worried about content need to spend enough time with their kids to determine if the mustachioed Italian stereotype is a murderous gangster killing tourists for change, or a mushroom-addled plumber, crushing turtles for coins.
Many rational parents choose to censor video games from teens similarly to the way they would censor movies. Research has yet to yield an undisputed answer as to a correlation between violent video games and violent crime. Blaming video games for massacres like Columbine is too gross a simplification, as certainly many other factors influence troubled teenagers. Correlation does not equal causation. The fact that violent crime has steadily decreased over the past 10 years while the popularity of video has increased makes one question the validity of the crime threat video games have on America.
Even should evidence stack up against violent entertainment, Americans need to protect free speech. Video games are now detailed enough to resemble an interactive motion picture, and have the potential to provide more story and character development through the course of a game than a two hour film.
Similar to movies, video games come with a system for rating content. Ideally, minors under 17 cannot buy Mature rated games without an adult's consent. Most youths, however, find a way to cheat the system. Realistically any parent concerned with letting their child murder hookers like a polygonal Son of Sam can easily screen the game system based on content. A parent should never be as ignorant about the entertainment their child views as many claim to be about video games in their house. Adults worried about content need to spend enough time with their kids to determine if the mustachioed Italian stereotype is a murderous gangster killing tourists for change, or a mushroom-addled plumber, crushing turtles for coins.
Many rational parents choose to censor video games from teens similarly to the way they would censor movies. Research has yet to yield an undisputed answer as to a correlation between violent video games and violent crime. Blaming video games for massacres like Columbine is too gross a simplification, as certainly many other factors influence troubled teenagers. Correlation does not equal causation. The fact that violent crime has steadily decreased over the past 10 years while the popularity of video has increased makes one question the validity of the crime threat video games have on America.
Even should evidence stack up against violent entertainment, Americans need to protect free speech. Video games are now detailed enough to resemble an interactive motion picture, and have the potential to provide more story and character development through the course of a game than a two hour film.
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