Poll: Supernanny takes on video games.

[Bluebacon]

20 children is not a representative sample at all. Why does this rubbish get aired?

 

[Chunko]

I don't know if any of you watch the show Supernanny (UK)
But today's episode (which has finished, catch it on 4oD if you're interested in watching it) Supernanny took part in an 'experiment' (I only caught the last few minutes, but got the gist of what they were doing) where she separated 20 boys. One half played a violent War game and the other half played a non-violent football game. After they played for a while, they were taken to a separate room individually to be interviewed. The interviewer purposely knocked some pens over to see how the children reacted. She wanted to see if the children who played the violent games were polite and kind enough to pick up the pens. None of them did, but a couple of the non-violent players did, so they concluded that playing violent war games influences children to be less polite.
I just don't understand.
Surely, parents have the most influence over the children? I was brought up to be polite as I'm sure many of you were, so I don't understand why they are purely blaming video games. Why not music? Or TV?
It actually angered me; I may be saying this as a gamer,but if they changed it to "shoe shopping makes children violent" or something I equally hate, I'd still be ranting about it.
So I ask you, do you agree with this? Or are they just out to scare the parents and stop kids playing video games? And if you pay violent games yourself, do you become influenced by them? Have you became a less polite person because of it?
I personally think it's down to parenting as the child as an individual.

This is the only article I can find on it

First childcare megastar Dr Tanya Byron came to the earth-shattering conclusion that "violent videogames are harmful to children, but it's the parents fault they've got them in the first place" and tomorrow night, Supernanny Jo Frost will also tackle the thorny subject of kids and videogames - and how to limit Little Johnny or Jenny's intake to acceptable levels

It sounds to me like they ought to get someone to do a send up study where they use similar tactics to prove that not playing videogames dangerously enhances agoraphobia to a near fatal level.

 

[FactualSquirrel]

I don't know if any of you watch the show Supernanny (UK)
But today's episode (which has finished, catch it on 4oD if you're interested in watching it) Supernanny took part in an 'experiment' (I only caught the last few minutes, but got the gist of what they were doing) where she separated 20 boys. One half played a violent War game and the other half played a non-violent football game. After they played for a while, they were taken to a separate room individually to be interviewed. The interviewer purposely knocked some pens over to see how the children reacted. She wanted to see if the children who played the violent games were polite and kind enough to pick up the pens. None of them did, but a couple of the non-violent players did, so they concluded that playing violent war games influences children to be less polite.
I just don't understand.

God if that's what passes for 'science' in these shows I'm glad I don't watch TV anymore.

That is a bullshit experiment. It's not even an experiment. If you're going to make a massive generalization like that; you need a hell of a lot more participants. The extraneous variables here affect the results in such a manner that I don't even think this experiment counts at all, even with more participants.

P.S. Sorry for awful typing.

Yeah, this isn't even close to science. It's one of the reasons I don't watch TV anymore, that most of the stuff on there is bullshit. That woman quite obviously has never heard of science, as a control group of 10 with no pretests results in wildly inaccurate results.

Exactly, I'm glad you agree and understand my typing. I zoned out a bit.

Meh, it wasn't half as bad as some of the people on here, and at least you apologized for it.

 

[Void(null)]

How about they reverse the test now? I have the non-violent game players switch to the violent game, and vice-versa.

As well, did all of the non-violent game players pick up the pen?

If there is one thing that can make me go into a mass murdering frenzy its Casual/Puzzle games.

Killing legions of the undead is cathartic... make me move 27 cogs in an exact order and ima kill someone.

 

[EeveeElectro]

20 children is not a representative sample at all. Why does this rubbish get aired?

I'd say to scare the parents, so they won't buy them a violent game like COD, but a happy lovely game such as Spyro.
Not to sound judgemental, but Channel 4's audience aren't as... educated as BBC's audience, for example. Easy to manipulate.

 

[ersatzcure]

What a shitty experiment. Whoever was conducting it has obviously never heard of the "correlation does not imply causation" thing. :| Which is someone I wouldn't want conducting an experiment in any case.

 

[Daffy F]

they concluded that playing violent war games influences children to be less polite

This is massively stupid. Sometimes I wish I could walk up to these people and fill their face full of all of our valid arguments that we escapists have been hoarding. It seems that these people (Almost all of which will NEVER have played these games themselves) jump to ridiculous conclusions about video games and their effects onto children. It's times like this when I realise that I am on the escapist and these people will never read this. Damn I wish I was somebody of importance.

EDIT: I notice NOBODY has voted that she is right. Any conclusions? I think so.

 

[Serenegoose]

Citizen... pick up that can, hur hur hur...

So apparently what this article proves is that children who play football games become servile fools who will clean up after you when you're a clumsy idiot.

Either that or it proves nothing at all. I know what my money's on.

 

[Sephychu]

If only the general public knew the difference between a correlation and a cause.

 

[secretsantaone]

Since when would you pick up someone elses pens if they knocked them off?

Sure maybe if it was an entire pencil case, but a few pens they can pick up for being so damn clumsy.

 

[Mehall]

Oh oh oh, and

Ramirez!
Pick up those pens!

actually lol-ing so hard right here.


Breathe, mehall, breathe!

 

[Premonition]

Not like football is violent. oh wait. It does. Or provokes violence. Oh wait. HOOLIGANS.

 

[Haunted Serenity]

I have always been polite and kind before hand. maybe the kids playing the violent game knew that it was a set up question and interview.

If anything violent war games have taught me to look before i move. You never know when a old granny might be hidding a psartan laser or a deathclaw is charging down the street.

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

20 participants is a fair amount but the type of test on the half who played violent games and the half who played non-violent-esque video games is ridiculous. The person performing the test purposely knocked the pens to the floor. The boys who didn't pick them up must've though that the person was crazy or something.

I played violent video games since the dawn of the Nintendo and I've been polite because my parents taught me to be polite. This experiment is invalid.

 

[FactualSquirrel]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!
After watching this, my sister had a "conversation" about violent videogames with me. She said that they desensitized me to violence. I said that she couldn't say I was both too squeamish and desensitized. She said that there was a difference between punching someone in the head and not being able to watch an operation. I walked off because I couldn't listen to that fucking bullshit anymore, and while I was walking away, I heard her say "He's only arguing so much because he knows I'm right".
I fucking hate my family.

/rant.

 

[happyvampyre]

To you, Supernanny, I present you with my seal of disapproval *facepalm*

Seriously? SERIOUSLY? It's parents who influence what a child does. People remark on me to my parents, dead serious, about what a wonderfully polite girl I am. And all I do is sit on my bed and play FPSs all day. Dear lord what are these people smoking?

 

[somekindarobot]

Pick up your own goddamn pens, you stupid *****!

 

[PureChaos]

that proves nothing. that is probably the most stupid study ever