Poll: Video Games and Youth Violence

[Benn_Walden]

Hello, Fellow escapists. It is time for you to help me with a project. As some of you may have figured out I don't exactly like talking to randoms face to face, So all of you shall act as my randoms for my survey ! Do you think that Video games cause youth to become more violent? Do you think that video games have a negative effect on Social skills? And do they de-sensitize the youth, if so is that really a bad thing? now go, my escapists, Discuss !

Pleases, Thankyous and pacmen.

 

[BonsaiK]

Once again, a sample from people exclusively belonging to a computer game forum isn't a very "random" sample. The responses will be mostly predictable.

 

[Nieroshai]

Yup. So far, the "no"s have it. Because what gamer will claim to be violent?

I don't personally believe the majority of gamers have anger issues, but I do believe most who do, like to play on XBOX Live.

 

[Freechoice]

We're too busy playing games and coming on game forums to flex our e-peens to go out and shoot and/or rape people.

Thank you, Rupert Murdoch.

 

[Mallefunction]

I do think that violent people tend to be more attracted to violent games moreso than non-violent people...hence the correlation. But we all know that correlation hardly equals causation.

 

[mcl323]

Well here is a response to add to your study if you want a personal opinion;
I have been playing violent video game ever since my parents shelled out for a PS2, playing GTA3 when I was much younger then the 18 year old minimum. At no point did I ever feel like going out and doing it myself, nor did it change my views about violence in general. In fact, having a digital outlet for all my stresses actually made me less likely to do a precursor to Columbine (hope I spelled that right). I challenge those who say that violent video games are a bad thing to go and talk to any kid who suffers from autism, who's only relief is though these games, and see how different they are from those who do not have this as an outlet.

 

[Sovvolf]

Well here is a response to add to your study if you want a personal opinion;
I have been playing violent video game ever since my parents shelled out for a PS2, playing GTA3 when I was much younger then the 18 year old minimum. At no point did I ever feel like going out and doing it myself, nor did it change my views about violence in general. In fact, having a digital outlet for all my stresses actually made me less likely to do a precursor to Columbine (hope I spelled that right). I challenge those who say that violent video games are a bad thing to go and talk to any kid who suffers from autism, who's only relief is though these games, and see how different they are from those who do not have this as an outlet.

Well I don't think anecdotal evidence is often conclusive, I'll say that my life was pretty much the same. Though I've been playing waaaaaaayyyyy before the PS2 era. Video games have never given me thoughts on hurting others. People being arseholes have given me reasons to want to hurt them, but not video games.

As for kids, it all comes down to parenting and environment. However, I've got doubts that games will increase what was already there, if you're violent in nature then it doesn't matter what you play or do, your going to be violent. This can be checked early if they have good enough parents or a good enough upbringing. Though seriously, video games are just filling in the space for a scapegoat, at one point it was T.V, before then it was comics, before then it was musics and books so on and so forth.

 

[Steppin Razor]

Biased responses will be biased. You're only going to get votes for no, with maybe one or two votes to yes from people that think they're awfully clever and witty when all they're really doing is being giant asshats.

As for what I think on the issue, well, there hasn't really been a good enough study conducted to know for certain either way. I tend to lean more towards the belief that the impact of violent games on most people is fairly minimal and that it's only the rare few psychos that are affected in any way. Those rare few psychos being the sort of people that would be affected the same way by violent films and the like.

 

[Toriver]

o_0

You're asking this, here? Have you read many of the news articles, their comments, and the views expressed within them? This is not the place to come for a random sample on this subject. This is about as biased a source on the matter as they come. Unless that's what you're looking for, in which case whatever you're doing with this data is not true research, but cherry-picking. It's like going to a Democratic party convention and asking if Sarah Palin should be president.

But, for the sake of some discussion, and because I do hold somewhat of a minority opinion on this on these forums, I suppose I'll give my own answers. No, I do not necessarily believe that video games cause more youth violence. It may aggravate pre-existing mental conditions that lead to it, but it's not going to turn an otherwise peaceful kid into the next Columbine shooter. I do believe that overuse of video games can lead to poorer social skills, however, at least if you are playing by yourself or online. WoW and CoD are not the places to turn to hear great examples of how to deal with others. The majority of communication is non-verbal, and if you can't see or at least get some sense of how the other person is reacting to your messages or sending their own, much is lost in translation. And without going out and actually interacting with others face-to-face, those skills can't develop well. However, this can be the same for anyone who over-indulges in activities that can be done by one's self, such as using the internet, watching TV or movies, listening to music, and even reading books. But games do have some qualities that encourage over-use that other media do not have, and in that regard they do stand alone a bit on this. As far as de-sensitization, I am honestly not sure how I feel games impact that. I think that perhaps it might be the same as the answer to games' effect on social skills, that they are one of many different forms of media that can have an impact, but there is the aspect of games being interactive that may also change things. I cannot really say if it really does, but I can imagine there being some potential for it to have at least a little more impact than other media. Anyway, that's what I think. Please take my suggestions above into account when going forward with your research on this data.

 

[dagens24]

There's little doubt that violent video games might be the final push an already fucked up kid needs to go on a rampage. But that final push doesn't have to be video games, it could be one more insult, one more violent film, one more bad grade, one more arguement with his parents, etc.

Messed up kids do messed up things for messed up reasons. This has always been true and it always will be true, no matter the catalyst.

 

[Anarchemitis]

(the main one) Do video games increase youth Violence?
Yes/No

The question posits a fact and queries it in a subjective manner. The real question would be "Do you think video games increase youth Violence?"
I think they make people have more violent thoughts or greater antagonistical potential if exposed to violent video games from a young age, younger than responsible to expose minds to that can judge such visuals properly and comprehend their context.

If I play Team Fortress 2, I know that when a Soldier makes someone explode in a pile of bloody chunks and a shotgun all flying in different directions is not only realistic but a facet of the game's dark humor, and framing device of its artistic stylization.

If a 10 year-old plays Team Fortress 2, the actions they commence in that game may influence their behavior due to consequent reactions (other players, the game character's voices, visuals etc.) because they often do not have the logical or objective sophistication to comprehend what they're watching and/or how seriously or real-life-applicable what they're watching, is.
Prepositions are not for ending sentences with.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

I've been playing Mortal Kombat since I was 6 years old, and look how I turned out!

... ok... not the best example, but still!

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I do not believe so. It's probably more to do with teenagers having more time to spare than any other generation in history.

 

[RSGstyle]

"Bad Parenting Leads To Violent Children, Not Games."

Be more specific when saying this phrase. "Bad Parenting" does include letting your 10 year old son play Manhunt.

 

[Direwolf750]

Hello, Fellow escapists. It is time for you to help me with a project. As some of you may have figured out I don't exactly like talking to randoms face to face, So all of you shall act as my randoms for my survey ! Do you think that Video games cause youth to become more violent? Do you think that video games have a negative effect on Social skills? And do they de-sensitize the youth, if so is that really a bad thing? now go, my escapists, Discuss !

Pleases, Thankyous and pacmen.

Your sample has a clear bias (gamers), and unless you find out exactly how many people there are on the Escapist forums, you cannot possibly get a viable sample. All data acquired this way is thereby statistically irrelevant, and not usable in any statistical experiment.

all the same, no. Anyone who says it does is either biased or misinformed. Playing games and violent behavior are not linked, other factors are much more likely to cause it.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Video games are not, in of themselves, responsible for youth violence.

However, the culture a person grows up in will greatly influence their views on things such as violence, and video games are a part of culture. Picking on video games, and ignoring TV, movies, sports, pro-war governments and so on is a bit naive.

 

[Psychophante]

Been playing games for 20 years, and I may have broken a pad ot two, but never someone's face.

 

[Scarim Coral]

No. Gaming alone does not increase youth violence. There are other factors to consider like the upbringing, the surrounding that the kid lived and the friends he/she hand around with and etc.

 

[FangShadow]

No. Gaming alone does not increase youth violence. There are other factors to consider like the upbringing, the surrounding that the kid lived and the friends he/she hand around with and etc.

I agree with this. I've done a paper on this subject before in an AP class, and my research always turned up that video game violence only seems to cause problems when there are already problems there for it to possibly affect.