I think video games do affect children. For instance, if a young child starts to play GTA and there is no one around him/her to tell them that killing random people on the street is not a bad thing, then that child will grow up thinking this is a right thing to do.

Can children still play videogames? Yes they can. Something like Little Big Planet for the PS3 or NintenDogs for the DS. If there is proper control for what type of game the child is playing, then there is nothing to worry about.

What do you guys think about this topic?

I think that that's a load of bull. I think that if that happens it's bad parenting, but despite that a child won't grow up thinking that's normal.
I think that an individual that is affected by games to that extent doesn't happen and if it did then they would be caught right away anyway.

I think this thread is pretty much the same as https://www.vizzed.com/vizzedboard/thread.php?id=2795
What do you think, is it the same?

I guess it is. I searched through out the whole debate forum and I didnt find a topic talking about this issue, so I decided to make it. Video Controversy Forums didnt even cross my mind.

I think they do have an affect.... but they don't create problem children. Bad parenting does that. A video game isn't going to make someone "evil" or make them do something wrong. A lack of strong parenting however can have a much more drastic impact on the morality of a child/young adult.

It's the same with music/movies/TV... as long as the kid is grounded in reality and has parents that are actively trying to raise a healthy well balanced child then I don't see a problem.

I think that just playing video games won't make affect children, but bad parenting might make kids think it is right to do things in video games.

You know there was some thing on the news in 2008-2009 that a child some how learnd how to hotwire a car. Then drove it, police notice that it was a 6 year old child. 5miles were the home was. Then they found out that the child play GTA 2 hours before he hot wired the car.

Originally posted by Gameplay01

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You know there was some thing on the news in 2008-2009 that a child some how learnd how to hotwire a car. Then drove it, police notice that it was a 6 year old child. 5miles were the home was. Then they found out that the child play GTA 2 hours before he hot wired the car.

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I think it's hard to prove that playing that game could ever possibly teach a kid how to hotwire a car.

He had to have looked it up on the internet and been a pretty smart kid to boot.

I would have to agree. I mean I have played plenty of RPGs, but it doesn't mean I am an excellent swordfighter.
There is no way at all that a GTA game could teach a child how to hotwire a car, it would be more likely to learn it from a movie

As I read your post I did think that the kid probably wouldn't have had the idea of hotwiring a car if it wasn't for GTA.

Again, one example doesn't prove anything or mean that video games are "bad". And what is bad for less than 1% of the population doesn't make it something that should be controlled.

I heard somewhere that about 20% of people who drink alcohol don't deal with it well, ie they drink too much or aren't responsible about it. I think a similar thing could be said for nearly every other activity in life. While most people are smart and responsible in the things they choose to do there are always a small minority of people that are either too stupid or reckless to do the same things.

actually a kid hotwiring a car would be an example of bad parenting, because what sort of parent would let their 6 yr. old kid play GTA (It is rated M) . The kid must have been pretty smart though...

Originally posted by septembern

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actually a kid hot wiring a car would be an example of bad parenting, because what sort of parent would let their 6 year old kid play GTA (It is rated M)) . The kid must have been pretty smart though...

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Yeah its rated M but I don't think that the rating M is a problem (I have a friend who plays M games and his 13)

its how he looks at the game

I think if you let a kid play mario, don't do good parenting and then someone came to your house saying your kid jumps on his kids head I won't be surpirse.

even if the games rated E or EVEN eC it can still give kids problems if there's this one thing

BAD PARENTING (sorry for caps just feel like it needed that)!

Anyway this hot wiring topic is getting quite old.

I will start a new one
"Kids hitting people is this due to video games?".

yes i think they affect children but i don't think it affects them in a bad way if they don't over obsess about games. like some people do with W.O.W. and other online games or even some consul games like halo or GTA or even Resident evil.

But i think if it gets to far and the child has an overactive imagination or when they play violent games, and try to put that violence into real life. Then i think that the parents should do something about the games the child is playing.

ehhhh.....It might if you were extremely into a game or if the kid did not know any better (That was to Didowe).

I pretty much agree with rbaranishyn

Originally posted by Didowe

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"Kids hitting people is this due to video games?"

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Nope, that's due to the child being naturally violent.
Quiet frankly violent games let an individual take out their anger / frustrations in a way that doesn't harm others.
Others use sports as a way to release their problems, but videogames don't cause the people on the opposite team to get injured.

Part of me thinks it's the culture just looking for something to blame today's bad kids on, when reality, it's just the parents not doing their job. People will always look for something else to put the blame on, instead of taking it themselves.

On the other side, I do think violent games could affect YOUNG children to a certain degree. I would hope that it you're 10+ years old, you would have enough sense to know that the things in GTA aren't exactly what you should be doing. However, for small children, such as the ages of 5-8 perhaps, I think games like GTA could have a negative effect in some tiny way. Not to the point where that child will go out and kill someone in the name of GTA, but it could lead to that if the child is never taught any better, and continues to play said game from a young age. The again, parenting comes in. That's why we have ratings. In my personal opinion, you have no business playing GTA if you're below the age of 13.

Originally posted by DarkHyren

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Originally posted by Didowe

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"Kids hitting people is this due to video games?"

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Nope, that's due to the child being naturally violent.
Quiet frankly violent games let an individual take out their anger / frustrations in a way that doesn't harm others.
Others use sports as a way to release their problems, but videogames don't cause the people on the opposite team to get injured.

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that's actually not true. The more anger has been studied the more that it's been found that "venting" your anger and other methods of anger management don't actually relieve the problem but instead create a nature of violence. Of course, I don't have the study to back it up, but it does make sense in it's own way. The more you do anything the easier it becomes to do again.

Maybe, though I have read things saying the opposite, that you do more harm to yourself by keeping it bottled up inside.
I think it's all speculative at best but for some people one side might be true for them while for others it's the other way.
I suppose it is really up to trial and error and monitoring the child in this case.

Originally posted by DarkHyren

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Maybe, though I have read things saying the opposite, that you do more harm to yourself by keeping it bottled up inside.
I think it's all speculative at best but for some people one side might be true for them while for others it's the other way.
I suppose it is really up to trial and error and monitoring the child in this case.

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but bottling it up is a different thing. I'm not suggesting that holding in all emotion is healthy either. That is almost like denying your emotions altogether which would result in the eventually "explosion" of anger.

There are effective ways of dealing with anger. It is situational and personal because not everyone acts and reacts the same but the study I remember reading said that stuff like punching pillows, screaming or breaking things does not relieve the anger long term but simply feeds it.

Physical activity would probably be a great way to relieve anger though. Put that emotion into something constructive.

I'm not suggesting that violent video games will result in more violent kids in all cases, but I think some kids don't have a healthy outlet for their emotions and the intake of violent media can be very harmful for them.

Depending on some video games, like Dora, will stimulate the mind. Others, like Mortal Kombat, make children make the WRONG decisions and beat up people and become "King of the World". So parents, please supervise your kid(s) on what video games they want to buy and what to get them what you think they would be better off with. Go with the Leap Frog Leapster, which include kid characters like Cars or Hannah Montana. Happy Holidays!

Originally posted by bammy99

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Depending on some video games, like Dora, will stimulate the mind. Others, like Mortal Kombat, make children make the WRONG decisions and beat up people and become "King of the World". So parents, please supervise your kid(s) on what video games they want to buy and what to get them what you think they would be better off with. Go with the Leap Frog Leapster, which include kid characters like Cars or Hannah Montana. Happy Holidays!

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Why does that look like copy and paste?

You also look like your talking about young kids.

How about older ones (11-14)? I think they can play if their mental heath is good.

PS (you don't really have to read this part): PLEASE NOT HANNAH MONTANA PLEASE NO ,LET A 5 YEAR OLD PLAY HALO , COD GTA OR ANYTHING BUT HANNAH!!!