Do you think games influence children?

[IamQ]

No, I'm not making a poll for this, because every single thread nowdays has to be a poll neither what subject it is.

Anyway, back to the point. I don't think that video games influence children that much, or anything at all to be honest. I mean, sure, a 5 year old shouldn't play gears of war 2, but that's not because it influences them to slice someone up with a chainsaw, but more because they wouldn't understand much of the game.

I played games when I was like 4 and I didn't put on a red hat and start jumping on turtles and mushrooms. Games don't influence children anything, and if they do, then the kid was mental to begin with (in my opinion!).

 

[Iwamori]

I think games influence the thought process and how you solve problems. I don't really think games influence children to be violent if that's what you're asking.

 

[The_Prophet]

Games certainly influenced me to grow some brains. (My parents did that too ofcourse)

EDIT: Those were games like Half-Life and Halo:CE which I played when I was 6.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Games certainly influenced my own sense of self-esteem, appreciation of the combination of interaction and storytelling, and notions of what constitutes a cool hero (not to mention helping me to increase my problem-solving and planning skills) when I was a child.

Or were you talking negative influence?

 

[quack35]

Fiction kids see in their early life does color their world view somewhat.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Yea, but the same way movies do.
Parents just need to remind their kids that it's not real.

 

[Pondobaba]

If we were influenced by games as kids we would all be sat in darkened rooms listening to repetitve music eating pills..........err!

 

[ThePoodonkis]

I played Twisted Metal when I was 9, but I never even thought of considering hitting people with my car.
Same with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City when I was 12.

However, I think puzzle games like Portal have taught me to think outside the Orange box.

 

[Macgyvercas]

To quote Yahtzee from his Manhunt review: "Short answer: no. Long answer: No and go fuck yourselves you ignorant scaremongering c#ckbags."

 

[Ultress]

I think it does to some effect,some younger kids i know all seen to be very desentized to violence. Not saying that it's the games fault but like all media it influnces them to some degree.

 

[Bellvedere]

I think people are way to literal in how they percieve games effect us. Obviously playing GTA is not going to make people steal cars. Everything we see and do is filtered through our perceptions of what is moral and socially acceptable. So no we're not going to be shooting our friends after playing halo.

Though to say video games don't effect children at all is silly. To say that it effects children no more then a violent movie or TV show however is reasonable. Research shows that children who are exposed to violent media engage more in violent 'free-playing' then children who don't. No they don't actually attack their friends but they are more likely to pretend to.

Is this a bad thing? Clearly there are plenty of sane child and adult gamers. Is it possible they are more prone to violent thoughts then non-gamers? Perhaps. Will they go on a killing spree? Not likely.

Gamers are way to defensive about this topic. "I played video games and I'm not going to kill anyone/steal a car/pretend I'm a block and slide in nice and close between people". Sure. Whatever. Not saying you were going to.

I mean, sure, a 5 year old shouldn't play gears of war 2, but that's not because it influences them to slice someone up with a chainsaw, but more because they wouldn't understand much of the game.

Oh and there's no way a 5 year old should be playing GOW. And it's not because they won't understand it. Just because you're on some crusade to prove that games never hurt anyone doesn't mean you should go exposing kids to exessive violence. No they won't cut someone up with a chainsaw (those things are to big for little kids) but that degree of violence to small children is really disturbing and it doesn't matter how many time mommy and daddy explains it isn't real it's still going to mess with kids.

 

[CulexVanda]

If a kid plays some video games, and dumb to midundestand that it is not real,
the real problem is that the parents just buy their kids whatever game they ask for and not know anything about the content in it. Parents need to learn more about the product before buying, like the parents of the kid who crashed their car trying to get to school and he said that he learned to drive from GTA 4 and the cops arrested the parents, rightfully so.

 

[Firebert]

I believe that video games themselves don't turn kids towards violence, there are usually other factors that are necessary.
However, I do think that certain video games can positively influence kids and teach them a little.

 

[Symp4thy]

I am going to say absolutely they do, however, no more than televsion, movies, etc. do. I'm not saying it turns them into psychopathic killers, but kids (especially the younger ones) are going to mimic what they see. Even if it's just play, sometimes it can go a little too far. I've seen it happen.

The real problem lies with the parents. I feel like this generation of parents has taken a "hands-off" approach to raising their children. They let the television do it for them. Parents need to be more active with their kids. They need to monitor and regulate what their kids are watching and playing. There is no excuse for little Timmy 8 Year-Old to be playing games like Halo or Gears. I think the proof of this is quite obvious to anyone who's ever played against Timmy in Halo and listened to how he talked, and he learned to talk that way from video games, tv, and bad parenting, or any combination of the three.

 

[squid5580]

Of course they do. They influence adults as well. We wouldn't be here talking about them if they didn't. The question is how much of an influence do they have on an individual person. If you are starving yourself to death because you are to invested in a game maybe it is time for a new hobby.

 

[The_Deleted]

Everything influences children if they are exposed to it for long enough. However, that is not to say that everything a child is exposed is a bad influence.
If nothing influenced children we would not have had Sesame Street and TMNT or Action Man.
These companies have to influence children to sell to the target market.

However, if a child is exposed to sex, violence and bad language that will also have an influence and it will not be positive one if A: The child is too young.
B: The parents have little or no interest of what their child is exposed to.

 

[El_Chubba_Chubba]

To be honest, NO. Everyone now and then there is a stupid kid who doesn't understand much about anything, and just guesses that the reason why he likes video games so much is because of the violence, drugs, sex and Gnomes.

 

[MasterSqueak]

I played Doom when I was a kid. Am I a psychotic killer? No.

 

[Bluesnow]

I've been playing video games since I was 4 years old and I turned out fine >.>
A little anti-social, but there ALOT of things out there worse than a slightly anti-social gamer.

There's so many other factors in growing up that would certainly have a much bigger effect of the child psyche- friends, neighborhood, School, parents, other outlets of media such as TV/Music/NEWS, etc etc...Depending on the types of games they play children may became desensitized to violence... But violence in the media is nothing new, and its the parent's responsibility to monitor what they are playing and to know their child well enough to consider if playing such a game is a good or bad decision.

 

[Deathsong17]

Yes, violent video games do influence young children.
The same way Jackass influences young children, or SAW, or Psycho, or Dirty Sanchez or whatever inapropiate thing you can think of that kids shouldn't be watching.