89 percent of US parents believe game violence a problem

[krazykidd]

Again , people on this site is jumping the gun . 89% of PARENTS think that violent videogames are a problem. Now i am assuming they are talking about the fact that it is a problem FOR CHILDREN . I am assuming this because of the second line which says :"In addition, the survey concluded that 75 percent of parents found it difficult to shield their children from violence in media." . Take note that that line says in media and doesn't point soley at video games . That being said , and again assuming we are talking about children, that makes a lot of sense . Why? Because CHILDREN are highly influenceable . And most people would agree that children should not be exposed to highly violent media , be it music, film and videogames. Of course there are always exceptions , such as parents with mature children , or parents who don't care . But in GENERAL , people say a CHILD should not play games like CoD , God of War and other highly violent violent games . And that IS a problem . How children are playing and seeing violent media , when they shouldn't be

 

[Octorok]

Fuck it. I don't care enough except to post this.


There's your fucking "89%".

 

[lRookiel]

Oh dear.

Are these yanks actually that stupid?

Well, back to blasting peeps on Borderlands 2.

 

[BooDoug187]

Common Sense is a group that pops up every time something happens, trying to link tv, music, video games and gay marrage to the decline of "American Values"

Their studies have been proven to be bull shit many times.

 

[doomspore98]

I am biased against CSM to begin with because they give fight club and many other violant movies a 15+ rating. but assassins creed, a game where you can turn the blood off, get a "not for kids." I don't like them to begin with, but as other people have said, 1050 people is not a big number.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Well it sucks to live in that country of yours then.

If it isn't feminism, it's violent video games, and if it isn't that it's something else.

Damn I'm happy to be a Romanian and not have that bullshit.

not really, willing to bet similar results would be gathered in any country. stupidity, particularly parental stupidity is hardly uncommon.

 

[meowchef]

Uhm... Sorry,excuse my question which might sound silly to you,but I don't live in USA.
Is USA a place where pistols are sold in supermarkets next to butter products

At Wal Mart in the US, you can buy hunting shot guns, hunting rifles, plinking rifles, and on occasion semi-auto assault rifles and about any ammo that one would realistically use for the above types of weapons. As well as pistol ammo.

 

[Singularly Datarific]

You know what? It really doesn't matter. Because just as the previous generation grew up in a culture that was not approved by the one before that (loads of sex, drugs, and violence in an increasingly visceral media), they disapprove of ours. In ten or twenty years, the people who claimed a link between video games and violence will not matter, as they will not be in charge. We will be.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Thats fine. But how many of these games are rated 15 or 18+ and how many of these parents allow there kids to play these games?

 

[Daveman]

I would not limit this to americans tbh.

I think on all issues it's more like 50% are idiots, 40% are misinformed and 10% are informed. This does not relate to whatever side of the debate they may be on.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I stopped at "Common Sense Media." They're the FOX News of advocacy groups. Ignore them.

 

[Darks63]

Common sense Media yeah thy are really bias as a group i think they were the ones that were organizing book burnings of harry potter books back when it was really taking off but i could be wrong.

Plus how many people were polled 100? a 1000? really empirical data there.

 

[runic knight]

a meager 1000 people can actually be a worthwhile sample size if done right. Assuming it is a random selection over a country wide survey, it can offer a fairly decent picture of averages.

But given this is by "common sense media" I doubt that was done. And I doubt the survey was anything but leading. Hell, you can see it in the way it presents "89% say violent games are a problem" when that itself is unrepresentative of the data they took. Bias is an understatement here.

 

[AD-Stu]

There's no way they got a random, statistically significant sample where 89% of them agreed on anything important without skewing either the testing methodology or the results in some way.

They did that particular stat with a multiple choice question, followed by smooshing together two of the categories:

Q9 - Is the violence in today's video games a major problem? A minor problem? Or not a problem at all?

Responses (1050 of them in total, apparently) were 45% major problem, 44% minor problem, 8% not a problem and 2% not sure.

45 + 44 = 89% and Bob's your uncle, there's a headline grabbing stat. Never mind the fact that half those respondents only rated it as a "minor" problem and none of them actually defined what "problem" was to begin with

 

[Sylveria]

100% of murderers have drank water within 24hrs of committing the crime. Therefore drinking water causes people to murder.

 

[Zanderinfal]

Don't worry. They will all die out soon enough.

OT: Doesn't surprise me in a least, but it does make me really sad. My parents luckily can know the difference between on screen violence and real life violence. If anything, it's the ignorance to the fact that it isn't real that is the problem. A psycho will be a still be a psycho no matter what entertainment pursuit he follows. Do violent books make us want to kill? No. Does anyone blame them for people killing? Fuck no. It should be the same "problem" (if it were one) to these people.

Oh yeah, that's right. That's because apparently people who think video games and movies are a problem is not because of the idea, but the "visual" part. Which, in all honesty, is stupid.

 

[AD-Stu]

it's not as simple as just saying: "_% believe this." Where was the survey held? How many people were questioned? Who was questioned?

89%? Sorry, I don't buy it.

See a couple of posts above - telephone survey of 1050 parents with children aged under 18. 89% is apparently an accurate number, but the question those people were asked was so broad as to be almost meaningless.

 

[Your Gaffer]

This was done by Common Sense Media, the guys who helped get the 2005 California law passed banning the sale of violent games to minors, a law which was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

They are a group that advocates for the government regulation and censorship of protect speech. It should surprise no one that their poll had these results.

No one here should freak out about this, as with the recent case that determined video games are protected speech deserving of First Amendment protection means that no matter what kind of BS laws these moral panic plebes try and pass will likely be challenged successfully in court.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Stupid poll, even I believe games can cause violence in the real world. Of course they can. I also happen to believe Vending machines can be dangerous. Doesn't mean we should ban them.

 

[CleverCover]

snippppity snip

Where did they find the people involved in the poll? Because the thought of them getting a majority to agree on anything is a massive stretch. We can't even do that on the important stuff like not defaulting on our credit without a huge problem. Even getting a majority for the presidential election was work.

So to have that "89%" is highly suspicious. Not even after Sandy Hook would there be such a consensus.