Some video games can harm kids

computerjunkie · Jul 18, 2003

This article was in the Dallas Morning News today. I think it's a great article, and she makes some excellent points.

Some video games can harm kids
07/18/2003
By JOYCE STRICKLAND

Remember the saying "you are what you eat"? Well, as one who practices a modified vegetarian diet that includes organic whole grains, fruits, vegetables and fish, I certainly agree that what you eat can have huge implications for your physical and emotional well-being.

But what you think is infinitely more important. For thoughts – conscious or subconscious – are the precursors to all actions. In fact, you and I will become that to which we devote our thoughts and attention. That is a spiritual law that can't fail.

Enter "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," the video game that is known as "GTA" among its fans. You will recognize that the game's location is Miami. As palm trees sway in the breeze, gun-toting thugs dressed in flashy suits whiz by in classy speedboats. Their weaponry ranges from Molotov cocktails to rocket launchers.

In a typical scenario, your character carjacks and then shoots a policeman. He kills an innocent bystander for extra points. Cruising along in the stolen squad car, he picks up a prostitute and, after raping her, is faced with the question of how to kill her. Again, his decision to decapitate her is rewarded with extra points – the more brutal the behavior, the better.

GTA is rated "mature" for those older than 17. The manufacturer, Rockstar Games, submits its games to the Entertainment Software Rating Board and clearly marks each with the board's approved rating. But nothing prevents underage individuals from purchasing a game or borrowing it from a friend.

GTA is projected to gross more than $400 million, putting it in the same category as a blockbuster movie. Let's assume that those sales projections hold and, for the sake of argument, that two players spend eight hours per month with each of the 10 million copies sold. That would translate into 160 million player-hours devoted monthly to the "thrill" of anti-social and degenerative behavior. That is 6.6 million days and nights with the players' thoughts and senses fully engaged with simulated grand theft, rape and homicide.

While I am concerned about a "mature" adult who chooses for his fantasy the life of a thug and predator, I certainly respect his right to do so. And if the principals of Rockstar can run a legitimate business and stay out of jail (something that appears to have eluded a long list of corporate executives in recent months), I suppose there is no point in blaming them. They merely are engaging in free enterprise and responding to demand for their product.

I am more concerned about parents who allow their children, whose values still are in the formative stage, to learn their life lessons from GTA and other "adult" media. Studies show that media violence can have a desensitizing effect on children and that video games, because they require active participation, may be especially harmful.

There appears to be a huge disconnect here. We say we are a nation that believes in Judeo-Christian values, yet we spend hours consuming or allowing our children to consume media that embody the antithesis of those values. Nor can that be discounted as an isolated lapse of good judgment, since we also claim to be a nation of laws but transport, sell and consume the overwhelming majority of the world's illegal drugs. And so on.

If we should wake up one day in the not-too-distant future only to discover that the outlaws, rapists and murderers actually have exceeded the number of law-abiding citizens, we will have only our collective thoughts to blame.

You and I will become that to which we devote our thoughts and attention. That is a spiritual law that can't fail.

Joyce Strickland is executive director of Mothers Against Teen Violence in Dallas. Her e-mail address is [email protected].
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Source: Dallas Morning News

(Edited to add source link.)

dianetavegia · Jul 18, 2003

Great Article C.J.! I check out games on this Christian site!
Al Menconi's Ministries: Music/ Video's/ game reviews and more. Click Here Parents!

Al has lyrics to songs, ratings on games, etc. and a lot more. I've found some games there that I'd never heard of or had 'ruled out' on assumptions. One game, Jak & Daxter, is called Christian Friendly but I had assumed, because the cover had some strange looking character, that it would be like a pokemon or digimon type thing. Wrong! Fun, Fun, Fun!

Diane

Brett · Jul 19, 2003

We need to give children more credit. A ten-year-old can tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Sometimes, we think of children as mindless automatons who will absorb and emulate whatever they see on TV or in a videogame. With proper parenting - and a kid with even a modicum of common sense - a videogame will not damage a child.

computerjunkie · Jul 19, 2003

Thanks for your opinion, Brett. However, I disagree!

I believe people (children OR adults) can become desensitized to violence or any other kind of anti-social behavior if they watch it (or play it) enough. If a 10-year old is allowed to be consumed with playing violent video games, I would think it eventually has to affect his behavior.

Remember when certain inappropriate words were NEVER allowed to be said on TV? And now, little by little, words once considered taboo for commercial TV have crept in, one at a time, such that there are no words (that I can think of) that are considered "off-limits". The producers allowed one word to be spoken, then another, then another, and now there is very little "shock value" left for anything.

Proper parenting is a HUGE factor, but in lots of cases, it isn't there.

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