MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_01C734D6.42D43E40" This document is a Single File Web Page, also known as a Web Archive file. If you are seeing this message, your browser or editor doesn't support Web Archive files. Please download a browser that supports Web Archive, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. ------=_NextPart_01C734D6.42D43E40 Content-Location: file:///C:/8CF41D94/Violence-Edit.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="windows-1252" Video Game Violence

ENGL 135 - Advanced Composition SPRB06 - Sec S

Professor Quick

Final Draft

 

Video Ga= me Violence

 

Violence is everywhere.  We see it on televisio= n, we hear it on the radio, and we see it in our streets. Many people blame the v= ideo game industry for creating games with violent material.  These people would have video game comp= anies punished for what they created.  Th= is is illogical; one does not blame the gun manufacturer for the death of a loved one, one blames the person who pulled the trigger.  It is also illogical to blame the video= game industry for some act of violence carried out by someone who played a game = they created.  The outcry against video = game violence is misplaced, and is one that deserves a closer examination. 

 

When someo= ne mentions how terrible video game violence is, it always disturbs me.  These statements usually go somewhere a= long the lines of “They should ban that game and not sell it anymore.” “It’s so violent, what is the point of that?”  When I had this conversation with my mother and father, their argume= nts were something similar to that.  I certainly in no way condone what people have done, but to blame only the vi= deo games they played casts a dubious light on all the other games that are out there, as well as those who play these games.  Video games bear the blame in at least three major instances of viol= ent behavior.  Devin Moore killed three officers after his arrest on unrelated charges.  Demarcus Ralls is one of a six-member gang called the “Nut Cases” th= at went around robbing and murdering people over a period of six weeks.  Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and 1 teacher at their High School in Columbine.  These are three sales out of tens of millions. One cannot logically say that such an astronomically small figure= is the primary cause of young people’s aggressive actions.  Were it not for high profile lawsuits a= nd the media frenzy which always swarms around any sort of bad news, these instanc= es would be viewed for what they are; unrelated acts of aggression that have v= ery little or nothing to do with a video game.

 

Jack Thomp= son is an attorney who has been a long time antagonist against the violence in vid= eo games. He had this to say on the subject of Devin Moore and Grand Theft Auto:  “He bought it as a minor. He played it hundreds of hours, which is primarily a cop-killing game. It's our theory, which we think we can prove to a jury in Alabama, that, but for the video-game training, he would not have done what he did." (Bradley)  Mr. Thompson is making a number of false assumptions.  Firstly, children are= not the intended audience for these games, and the game is rated as such.  It is the fault of the retailer who sol= d it to him, not the creator of the game itself.  Secondly, the game in question is not “… primarily a cop-killing gam= e.” as Mr. Thompson would have us believe.  Yes, it does allow the player to do this, but that is not the game’s primary focus.  Grand Theft Auto is= an open-ended, mission-based game of the criminal underworld.  The game is based along the same lines as the movie Scarface, in whi= ch the main character claws his way up to the top of the criminal element.  Finally, it is not marketed as some kin= d of educational, motivational, or training game.  The truth of the matter is that it is escapist fantasy.  The places and people in the game do not exist, nor are they real people living inside your television set or comput= er monitor.  Jack Thompson has been repeatedly proven to be more bark then bite.  In all the various cases where he has been involved in suing someone, not once has he been able to prove that a video game has been the primary c= ause of the violence perpetrated.  He has assumed that video game violence is the root cause of all evils.  He is mistaken.

 

The United= States government takes special interest in crime and has a persistent database of crime showing statistical figures that are actually at their lowest ever as= of 2004.  The trend began in 1994, rig= ht near the time that the video game craze was beginning to grow at an exponen= tial rate. As of 2004, violent crimes were at the lowest level ever recorded.  The collected data includes rape, robbe= ry, aggravated and simple assault, and homicide. (US DOJ 1)  If crime has been escalating since the inception of controversial games such as Grand Theft Auto and other violent titles as Mr. Thompson and a large portion of the media would have you beli= eve, then crime rates should not be at the lowest point ever recorded.  However, the government themselves have= seen a decline in all crime since 1994.  Juvenile crime, which is crimes committed by those age 12 and under = has dropped by 69% from 1993 to 2004 (DOJ 2) Quite clearly, our young people are not going insane and killing each other in the streets as the hype may have= you believe.  This gives a clearer imag= e than what is commonly known by the general public about what’s really happening = with violent crimes.  When a game is purchased, the buyer has full knowledge of what this game is about, what ki= nd of subject matter it deals with and what to expect.  The actions taken by easily impressiona= ble individuals are not the designer’s problem.  A game was created, put before a ratings board, given a rating and t= hen sold to the public.  Anything and everything that went into the design is done.  The designers have no further responsibility for the product.

 

The violen= ce in video games is part of the product, what people do with the product is not = the designers concern.  There are sever= al ways to keep video game violence away from young, impressionable minds.  The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is one, parental guidance is another and retailer responsibility is a third.  Video game publishers volun= tarily submit their products to the ESRB; they are in no way required to do so.  The FAQ from the ESRB website states “T= o get a game certified with an ESRB rating, publishers fill out a detailed questionnaire explaining exactly what's in the game, and submit it to ESRB along with actual videotaped footage of the game, showing the most extreme = content and an accurate representation of the context and product as a whole.” (ESR= B) This voluntary submission of their work to the rating board is how the indu= stry takes responsibility for their game.  A rating is determined and the designer adjusts the content to fit into the rating category they want, or they accept the rating and release the game to the public.  Parents are free to determine what content is acceptable for their children to purchase and pla= y, as per their judgment on the rating of any given game.  I would expect these same parents to be assuring their children are also not seeing other avenues of violence such = as violent television programs, aggressive lyrics in popular music and that th= ey would also be aware of what their children do when they are not in the house.  When I interviewed my nephe= ws Mike and Matt R, both age 15, I was a bit surprised to find that both of th= em knew others that had one or more games rated above the appropriate age leve= l.  Mike said he knew around ten friends th= at had over-rated games and that their parents were ok with the purchases.  (R) Matt only had one that he mentioned= , but he stated that the parents were aware.  It was unclear if the parent gave his friend clear permission however.  (R) Both Mike and Matt sa= id they didn’t know anyone who’d gone and bought a game rated above their age behind their parents’ back, which I found surprising.  (R)  <= /span>It seems that in the examples given to me by my nephews, whom I would consider= to be fairly normal and popular kids in their school, show that the parents we= re accepting of the violent content within these M-rated games for their child= ren on a case by case basis, which is why the rating system is there in the fir= st place.

 

Video game= s are not the only factor that causes problems with young people; it is a number = of factors, of which exposure to video game violence is only one small part.  Video games are just the easy target ri= ght now, the same as Rock and Roll music was back in the 1950’s. “… in the 1950= ’s, rock and roll was linked to youth violence in the same way. The hedonistic, tribal rhythms were going to turn America’s youth into a bunch = of violent maniacs.” (Ferris)  As for = the blame falling on Rock and Roll music, it has obviously been proven false.  I feel that the current rally against v= ideo games will eventually reach that same point. In each of the major court cas= es where video games are given responsibility for the crimes committed, there = are factors people have chosen to ignore.  In the case of Demarcus Ralls, the Political Gateway brings this to light: “Af= ter being captured by police, members of the purported gang told detectives that they whiled away time doing drugs and playing "Grand Theft Auto III,&q= uot; a video game in which the main character commits street crimes”. (Hoffman)<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>  These individuals were living in an impoverished neighborhood, and ran together as a street gang.  This is already a problem, let alone ad= ding drugs into the formula.  The gang a= nd the drugs were more likely to be the causes of their violence rather then the v= ideo game they admitted to “making more real” by bringing the violence into the = real world.  In the case of Devin Moore mentioned earlier, he played the game for hundreds of hours, day and night.  This is not a healthy situa= tion.  Devin obsessed on the game he played and tried to use it as a defense for his actions, at the same time Jack Thompson and others tried to blame it for his actions.  Suddenly Devin is no longer the criminal in the case; it’s the video game’s fault.  An inanimate object = cannot be blamed for three murders.  In the Columbine massacre committed by Dylan and Eric, they were neglected by their peers at school and ostracized for being different, spurring them to violen= ce after years of social injustice by their classmates. They were not part of = the “in” crowd.  Doom did not plan out = and critically analyze the assault, nor did it create the pipe bombs or supply = them with weapons. Dylan and Eric did all of that.  In all of these tragic situations, the video games alone cannot be blamed for what happened.  The blame belongs to those who committed the crimes.  To try and ban a game because of its content is an easy way out.  I believe the problems with violence go deeper than that. 

 

Exposure to virtual violence desensitizes people to the real world consequences of those actions.  This has been scientifica= lly proven.  The studies primarily focu= sed on children and teenagers, however, who react differently then an adult.  Pam Willenz of the American Psychologic= al Association states, “One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may= be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated expos= ure to violent games," said psychologists Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D.,” (Willenz).  What this means is that= those who are already predisposed to violence have a greater chance to become vio= lent when exposed to the virtual equivalent.  Peer pressure, disruptive home lives, broken families, street gangs, drugs, neglect and socio-economic status are all examples of things that can make a child predisposed to violence.  This is the point at which parental responsibility should come into play.  There is a rating system in = place to keep the most violent games out of these easily influenced children’s ha= nds.  Some games are inappropriate for childr= en to play, and they will have adverse effects on young, developing minds.  The American Psychological Association = has shown that the violent behaviors mentioned above are credited to multiple factors, and not just video games.  I strongly disagree that video games should get all the scrutiny.  People tried to blame the video game Do= om when the Columbine shootings occurred; ignoring the total isolation these t= wo boys were going through.  I can rel= ate to this social stigma, as I was never part of the popular crowd either and had= on occasion tiptoed into the darker side of human nature in my imagination.  Devin Moore tried to defend himself by pushing the blame off on Grand Theft Auto instead of his own choice, totall= y ignoring the fact that he had been exhibiting obsessive behavior.  He purchased a copy of the game when he= was underage for the M (Mature) rating the game had.  The retailer that sold him the game bea= rs more responsibility then the makers of the game itself.  Demarcus Ralls claimed he and his gang members did drugs and made the game more realistic by bringing the violence into the real world.  The Ralls cas= e is more complex then the scope of this paper, as it pertains to gang mentality= and what causes such a mentality to blossom.  It is enough for this paper to say that the drugs and peer pressure = were a stronger influence on him then the video game he and his friends played.<= /p>

 

I feel that negligent parents and retailers are due more of the blame then the game designers.  Parents play a huge par= t in the prevention of tragedy.  There h= as to be an authority and leadership in one’s family.  This doesn’t mean cruel iron-fisted dictatorship, but leading by example, encouragement and support.  A parent who is actively involved in their child’s life will have better odds= of steering a child away from situations they should not yet be exposed to.  After all, they should know their child= ’s mentality better then any other person on the planet.  One way to do this would be as Kevin Si= mpson of Parentcenter suggests, “Be clear that computer games are a privilege, to= be used only with parental permission.”  (Simpson) This is a good start.  Other methods to encourage parent / child interaction with regards to gaming would be to make the games into group activities you do with your child.  All facets of this are part= of keeping a child in check with the parent’s role as guide.  If the parent sets proper limitations o= n what their child is exposed to, based upon what they know of the child’s development, then the issue of violent behavior would diminish.  If you do not want your child exposed t= o the darker side of games, you do not allow these games to be played in your home until the child is old enough to understand better.  Also, retailers need harsher guidelines= to follow on the sale of improper games to inappropriate customers.  Perhaps a fine on the sale of M-rated g= ames to those less than 17 years of age, or requiring some form of parental cons= ent for the purchase of the software.  A signed note could easily be forged, but if the parent is there with the chi= ld, that would be acceptable.  Verifica= tion of age can be difficult before the child has at least a driver’s license, b= ut by that time, one would hope they have had some responsibility taught to th= em.

 

Banning vi= deo games that contain violence will not stop these cumulative factors from joining.  The problem has several s= ide roads to take into consideration.  = All parents have a responsibility to keep their children grounded in reality to keep the lines between the real and unreal from blurring.  They are also responsible for knowing w= hat their children are doing with their spare time, either under their own roof= or at someone else’s home.  Retail sto= res have a responsibility to require positive ID to purchase games not intended= for certain audiences.  You cannot simp= ly drop all the blame at game industry’s feet and say, “It’s your fault for ma= king this product”.  If there is no intervention in the amount of exposure someone has to violent content, of course they will be pushed more towards violent behavior because that’s all they have been taught.  I think par= ents play a key role in this situation.  Be involved with your child and what they spend their time in doing.  Certainly, you cannot forever isolate y= our child from everything, but you can have enough of an effect as to keep them= on the right path until they reach an age that they understand the true moral implications of their actions, be those actions positive or negative.  If Devin Moore’s parents had been more involved in his life and aware of what he was doing, perhaps those three officers would not have died.


 

Works Cited

 

OFF Bradley, Ed. "CBS News | Can A Video Game Lea= d To Murder? | March 8, 2005 10:25:30." Can A Video Game Lead To Murder?”. = 06 Mar 2005. CBS News. 18 May 2006 <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678261.shtml>= ;.

 

ON Ferris, Duke. "The Truth About Violent Youth a= nd Video Games." The Truth About Violent Youth and Video Games. 19 OCT 20= 05. Game Revolution. 14 May 2006 <http://www.gamerevolution.com/oldsite/articles/violence/violence.htm>= ;.

 

OFF United States. U.S. Department of Justice.Vi= olent Crime Rate Trends at the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Online: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005.

<http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/viort.htm><= /p>

 

OFF United States. Department of Justice.Bureau of Justice Statistics. = USA: DOJ, 2004.

<http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/offage.htm>=

 

ON Hoffman, Bob. "'Grand Theft Auto' video-game k= iller gets life in prison." 'Grand Theft Auto' video-game killer gets life in prison. 18 Apr 2006. Political Gateway. 18 May 2006 <http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read/8165>.

 

OFF Willenz, Pam. "Violent Video Games Can Increa= se Aggression." APA press releases. 23 Apr 2000. American Psychological Association. 18 May 2006 <http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html>= ;.

 

ON "Entertainment Software Rating Board." Entertainment Software Rating Board - FAQ. 2006. Entertainment Software Rat= ing Board. 30 May 2006 <http://www.esrb.org/ratings/faq.jsp#4>.

 

ON "Jack Thompson (attorney)." Wikipedia. 20= 06. Wikipedia. 30 May 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_%28attorney%29#Video_games_a= nd_juveniles>.

 

ON Simpson, Kevin. "A parent's guide to video and computer games ." 19 Mar 2006. ParentCenter. 14 Jun 2006 <http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/bigkid/ggames/66800.html#2>= ;.

 

OFF Mike, R. Telephone interview. 21 June 2006. (R)

 

OFF Matt, R.  Telephone interview.  21 June 2006. (R)

 

 


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