Ok guys I want to hear your opinions on this. I am doing a psychology assignment on teen violence and on how it is increasing over the years. Now I want to know on whether or not you believe games like COD and other "realistic" 1st person shooters are to blame. When I say teen violence, I don't just mean school shootings, I mean things like defiance towards parents and teachers and other acts like bullying, etc.
   
    I would also like opinions for the other end of the spectrum, like children who play video games end up having better imaginations and creativity and will be helpful in school and home atmospheres. 
   
   Also, if anyone would like to contribute experiences that have happened to you or close to you that I could use in my final paper, it would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. If you respond please don't leave short messages like "video games rule" and what not, that doesn't help me at all.

Thanks

VIDEU GAMS RUEL!!@111!12!2$!21!!!ONE!!11!

Anyways, on a serious note, I actually do blame a bit of the rising violence on video games such as COD, especially since anyone who has told me they want to join the military or whatever was idiotic enough to say that COD is the reason. I also have to blame other stuff such as rap and whatever as part of the blame, being it's mainly gang music (stereotypically), which causes the foolish to be influenced into being part of gangs and whatever. However, I think that all these play effects on the idiots. Others probably are violent due to bad lifestyles or being raised into a violent community, Nya~.

Meh, In my opinion, a Video game isn't a valid cause of Violence... I mean, how a game in where you shoot people can make you violent? 

Perhaps stupid people can go violent, but, if you are intelligent enough, you shouldn't have any problems.

I do agree with poorsmmeagol on the part about how it is the parents, not the games. But I completely disagree with schools becoming mere daycare centers and whatnot. Being a high school teacher and my wife being an elementary school teacher (she has done 1st grade and kindergarten), I know that is in no way true. There are bad teachers out there, but that doesn't represent schools as a whole. Kids in 1st grade are being taught things that I didn't learn until third. But I digress to the point of the topic of the thread.

No, video games are not a cause of increasing violence among teens. Working in the mental health center, schools, and just knowing how many of my peers are raising their kids, I see less and less discipline. Parents are getting to the point where they are just lazy, afraid to discipline their 'perfect little angels', or would rather give in to bad behaviors than do something about it. The lack of limitations parents have on their kids now is the big reason why they are how they are now. They don't have consequences at home for violent or oppositional behavior at home, so they see nothing wrong with acting that way in the community. 

Now the big thing 'studies' are using as evidence is how the kids who are increasingly violent are playing violent video games. What they fail to consider is that games don't cause the behavior in kids. Instead, it is that the kids who are like that are just more attracted to those kinds of games. The lack of good parenting started the wiring for the behavior long before they started playing violent games. The problem is that people don't want to admit that their parenting are the reason why their kid is the way they are, so they are looking for a cop out blame.

Think about this as an example. Do you specifically blame exercise equipment for people being health fanatics? No. People who are already concerned about health are attracted to the equipment because it fits their personality. But it is society's obsession with physical appearance that contributes to people becoming obsessed with health. Video games make what would be nonviolent kids violent no more than a treadmill makes one who has no interest fitness become a health fanatic. The object does not shape a person's morals. 

rcarter2 : "Kids in 1st grade are being taught things that I didn't learn until third."

I'm glad you brought up this point. In my honest opinion, this is another large part of the problem with our schooling system. The developmental process of the human brain if a very complex and yet very delicate matter. As our brains mature, they become more susceptible to certain forms of stimulation at different phases of it's development. When our educational system was originally structured, this developmental process was taken into consideration. Certain subjects were deemed too advanced for younger mind, thus were selected to be taught once the mind was more matured.

When other sources caused the intellectual state to decline, instead of seeking out the true problem (ineffectual parents), it was determined that the educational system needed to be 'modernized'. This included adding unnecessary subjects as well as teaching more advanced subjects earlier. This, of course, hasn't solved the problem at all. In fact, it has made things far worse. Since young minds are being taught subjects that they are not yet fully capable of comprehending, they are not completely retaining what they are being taught. This, of course, has led to a further deterioration of the intellectual state.

Since all of this 'modernizations' are not working, the increasingly apathetic nature of human beings is causing many people within the educational system to cease caring about actually teaching young minds anything worthwhile. Instead, they read directly from dated textbooks and show them movies and then send them home so that those young minds can be sat down in front of the television by their parents. This is the downward spiral in which we have put ourselves.

I am not saying that every member of our educational system has succumbed to this state, my friend. If you and your wife still strive to teach young minds, then I applaud the both of you. However, I fear that you fight a losing battle against the overwhelming wave of detachment that threatens to engulf us all.

First off, I want to thank everyone so far for putting their thoughts on the subject, and if there are more, then please keep adding them. However, I haven't seen any response on the second part of the question which was, "Do video games help make children more imaginative and creative?" That is another critical point I need to make and would love the continued opinions.

I also appreciate the other ideas of increasing teen violence (education, society, parental discipline) which is needed for what I am arguing for in my project. I believe violent video games are a MINOR cause in teen violence.

The last part that needs to be discussed, with the imagination part, is whether or not kids acting what they play/do in video games should be discouraged or not. To clarify, I don't mean shooting a gun on COD and then shooting up a school, but I mean "acting" with hands or sticks in small groups on the playground.

Again thanks for the input so far.

I don't think it's so much the video games that are to blame, so much as the parents for not looking at what games they let their kids play.

It takes all of 10 seconds to find out if the game is appropriate for your child. Go to google, do a little research, read a review, and check a trailer.

It's poor parenting that allows children to become violent. Not the games themself... much like how a gun doesn't kill people, it's the person that pulls the trigger. Both can be seen as evil weapons, but in actuality, it's purely on the adult responsible.

sfeviston : Whether or not video games can make kids more creative and imaginative is a little harder to discern, I am afraid. I will say this. In order for various parts of the brain to develop more, they need to be subjected to constant stimulation and then find a source to practically apply what said stimulation has taught it. Forms of stimulation that would promote creative and imaginative development would be things like books, music, and certain kinds of television and video games. Games like Call of Duty do nothing to stimulate either, as it deals with realism and real world scenarios. A better choice would be puzzle and strategy games.

PoorSmeagol83 : Oh, I do agree on that. My wife is frustrated that schools are putting too much emphasis of hard work. For example, kids are pretty much expected to know how to read before kindergarten just to keep up, which makes no sense. Also, the district is setting it up to where they aren't allowed to talk during lunch so they can have shorter lunch periods. They are just so focused on getting America a higher ranking on education compared to the rest of the world. Thing is, that won't happen as long as America remains one of the only (if not THE only) country that tests all their students instead of just the top ones. Of course China is high because only the top students get to stay in school. Ridiculous. But yeah, my issue wasn't really the difficulty, just that school was being compared to daycare, which it couldn't be farther from that for most schools.

Most of society is mentally unstable and there is no way to fix it. You can try pills and you can try parenting but in the end you are still a slave to a society that operates with violence and corruption.

PoorSmeagol83 : Sorry I guess I didn't specify which video games I meant when talking about creativity. I did mean all video games from first world shooters to skill games to games about movies/cartoons. A lot of video games now do try to incorporate a "logic" component at least somewhere in the game. Shooters like COD and MW use the logic technique of trying to anticipate where enemies are, kind of what is done in real-life scenarios with the military. Which could help promote children to further think through problems  that they may have. Puzzles games are a no brainer, you have to do a set thing to solve the problem (puzzle). What I really want to know about is the 3rd category; the cartoony almost pointless games. Is there something there that may make the child continue thinking about it after the game is turned off, maybe acting out something that happened (Playing Pokémon with friends, using sticks for wands, etc), drawing a picture of something that appealed to them in the game. Stuff like that is what I'm trying to find out.

I do thank you for your continued input on the subject and it is helping me a whole lot.

Ok so I take care of my little sister who just finished pre-school. I agree that they are forcing kids to learn too much to fast.

Now the teachers are trying their hardest at not stressing the kids out. Pre-school used to be to get kids used to being in a class room and no real learning happened. Now they actually have to have writing and reading classes and the kids are sent home with home work ever week. My little sister would have to read a whole book and draw her favorite part of the book.

Now to answer the questions.

First off video games is not the main thing to turn kids violent. It is the parenting. Lots of parents don't check what the kids want and just buy it for them. Especially rich families that can afford anything the kids cries out for. There are also parents that just don't watch their kids. Too many times do I see a play ground where I am the only adult there.

I see 2 year olds left on the play ground by themselves pushing other kids away to get what he/she wants. No one is there to tell them that, that was not ok to do. So that child now thinks forcing others will get them what they want. Now I might be going a little far but if you are not around to teach a child right from wrong they will most likely go do the wrong.


Now for the question on if video games inspires creativity in a child that is a rough area. Some games like shooters/real life type games don't. Mostly it's the fantasy puzzle, rpg, action games that make the kids think out of the box. Though this is no excuse for having the kid explore the real world by taking nature walks, experimenting in arts such as music, painting, drawing, and so on. Letting a child play games should be on the lower end of priorities. I let my 5 year old little sis play a video game with me maybe once a week when she visits my house. Most the time we are out side taking nice nature walks and making mud pies!

Now sure you can't control everything a kid does. There is such a thing as a friend where they will go over to their friend's house and explore other things some good and some bad. But if you are active in the child's life you will be able to steer the child in the right direction. Now if you don't take part in the child's life the child will do what ever society tells them.

Ok on the last question. If I ever saw my little sister doing gun actions I would most likely have to teach here what death really means. Kids that are copying video game violence in play most likely don't think that if the enemy dies they won't come back to life. In games you have a restart button, extra lives, resurection points. In real life you don't have any of that. That is something kids should learn if they are starting to play these games. If they don't they might take it too far and accidently kill someone not realizing they won't ever be back.

Ok I think I'm done now. If you got lost and need clarification I'm willing to answer.

Can you show the numbers that prove that violence is up for teens.  Teen drinking, pregnancy, and drug use are down from 20 years ago.  I would expect violence to follow the same curve.

Video games can lead to violence.  Your character, your alter ego, goes around and hurts and kills people and you, especially at a young age, learn that this is an acceptable way to deal with feelings and emotions.  I read about "rage-quitting" and all this other garbage and everything is so BIG with emotion.  There are epic fails.  It's no longer "That didn't work."  Now everything is EPIC!!!!!

Same with violence and aggression.  Video games don't contribute to it but they certainly may be a factor.  They don't teach kids healthy release for their emotions.

Video games do not have a direct correlation to violence in teenagers, but they have been shown to drastically decrease attention span and patience. Obviously, a decrease in patience levels could make it harder for teens to get along with their parents and have a decreased tolerance to other teenagers. This could have a violent effect. But I believe that that is as far as effects go in terms of video games on violence. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, many video games require a different way of thinking than most habits in our day to day lives. Puzzles promote logical thinking skills, games like Little Big Planet and Minecraft do spark imagination in players. But truly beneficial games are few and far between. Although teenagers can have a problem with addiction and time management, apart from a generation of spectacularly lethal thumbs, I don't think video games have a true effect on players in terms of violence.

Copy+Paste of a post I made in a previous thread regarding video games & ChildrenThe belief that video games make the child disgusts me. Even children that are easily influenced can be corrected if the parents actually care. The issue is that a lot of parents, nowadays, simply don't. I play every sort of rating game from the time I was old enough to be able to read to play them. I swear, but not because of the video games. I swear because my parents taught me that swear words are nothing but words that people with influence were offended by. I have sex, but not because of video games. Nudity doesn't bother me because I consider it natural; not because of video games.
So, I'm not one that is easily influenced. My parents had minimal influence in my life and how I grew up in regards to video games because they trusted me and my mother believes that I have to make mistakes to learn. If I did something exceedingly stupid, I'd get a spanking and be told to go to my room for the next hour. Occasionally, I'd have my toys removed or some other "necessity" to an eight year old child. If I did something that needed attention but not to the extend of "exceedingly stupid", then I would get rebuked and told that it was a bad thing and get a time-out.
With my sister, my parents had to play closer attention because she is definitely the most easiest to influence in our little family. She received the same punishments I did. What she could and could not do was limited. Now, she tends to err towards being a spoiled brat and trying to get everyone to pay attention to her. When she does, she gets ignored. She wasn't allowed the video games that I was. She was treated no better than I, aside from when she was recovering from eye surgery. (At which point she was basically semi-spoiled for the duration of.) She's far more "dark" and "violent" than I am - and she's never been exposed to anything from video games to warrant it. The worst thing that she has played was half an hour of Call of Duty - at the age of seventeen! What about the ten years before that when she had access to no such things? Even now, she's severely limited on what she is allowed to play.
With my brother, he is easily influenced but not nearly so much as our sister. He played video games like I did - even more so. Call of Duty, which he absolutely loves. Grand Theft Auto, which amuses him greatly although he is still learning out to play properly. He's autistic, for crying out loud. But here's the kicker: of all the video games he plays, the only thing that has influenced him is when the game is going well - it makes him happy. He's not violent. He loves Nerf stuff, but what thirteen year old doesn't? He's got Airsoft BB guns and a Target-Capture toy. (Shoot the targets with the guns, and when you take down all it resets + it has a net to catch BBs that make it in.) He's. Not. Violent. The only time he gets violent is when his autism causes him to flip out and he loses control and starts hitting Kayla when they are fighting. Which he learned (Get this!), not from the video games, but from his OWN SISTER and the children at the school! Otherwise, the only thing he does when he is mad or upset is kick the wall, floor, hit the wall or floor, and cry and scream. Or throw his bedding or toys. Which, hey - isn't that what all children do when they are upset? My thirteen year old brother has the mentality of a four year old in such circumstances. How did video games influence that? The answer here is that they did not.
If you think a child is influenced by a video game, there is an obvious underlying problem. It could be at school, at home, in the neighborhood... or just in the mind of the child itself. Personally, I believe video games are used as a scapegoat so that parents, friends, classmates, teachers, peers-in-general and every person in the child-in-question's life don't have to pay attention and can just blame it on somebody else. It's stupid and it's unfair to the child. Primarily because when this occurs, the child does not receive the help or support that he or she may need because of whatever this unknown (or possibly known) problem is.
Another point to consider: before the rating system was created, what games were played was not really monitored. 80% of those children turned out just fine - and the 20% who didn't had something wrong in his or her life that was causing them problems.
I re-iterate my point: the video game did not create the child. The parent(s) and the problem(s) did. The only thing that the child pulled from the game was a possible way of reaction to whatever circumstance is already existing.
I copied the above message from a thread in the video games section regarding children being allowed to play titles above their age level. I believe it applies here too. Violent video games are something that been around for several years. The big, big problem for all is that people are getting lazier... and parents are not taking care of their children like they should. 

Alright, to basically upgrade my response on the last post, I'm also going to say that I think part of it is due to the changing community itself, with how violence is being more frequent, along with being the only thing in the news, Nya~.

Honestly, if you turn on the news, and you hear that "There was a recent attack on a local Walmart, in which 12 people were murdered", and then hear stories about that all day, what will be on your mind, whether it be what you are wondering about nonstop or hidden in the back of your mind? Obviously you'll be thinking of all those news broadcasts informing about the attacks. Hear about it nonstop, and it'll probably make the weak minded hypnotized, and be controlled by the violence. As a result, and again with this being for the weak minded, they'd be at the mercy of their own thoughts and foolishly become much more violent, and start an attack themselves.

If we didn't focus on all of the hate, violence, and evil that we already do, and try to focus more on good things that happen, then maybe we'd have a better society, with people who are less depressed and more willing to do good rather than evil, Nya~.

I guess the video games that you play that are violent is like getting more violent than ever. More blood and gore and stuff that have been added to their games like never before.

So technically, it is much a daily basis to put more violence on video games just because of real violent stuff that's happening in the real world.

I would say that they have been really becoming like starting to become like good enough to play it, if you are a big fan of violence, blood and gore. I would just put more violence to put it on video games.

I'm going to keep this post short because if I went into detail on my opinion, than I'd be sitting here for several hours lol.

So to keep it short, yes I do blame video games. However, I blame Music, Movies and Parents more (in that order).