Ragging on video games

Okay. We all know that the vast majority(or so I imagine) of the non-gamers blame video games for violence, obesity and mental disorders such as depression.
I believe (although I'm not sure) that the majority of Americans (who I'm talking about due to my lack of knowledge of foreign countries) are not gamers. So do you think it is fair? Do you think it's peoples own insecurities that make them go wacko or something? Do you think you need to be preset to do these things or do you think it's video games?

 

i think it has nothing whatsoever to do with video games, if it was wed all be going out to buy really big keys and hitting anyone wearing a black coat with said keys:)
but yeah you would have to be, as you put it, 'wacko' to go out and do some of the things that have been done.

for the obesity issue, i think they have played a part. i myself had a severe problem and wouldnt go outside at all, and now i am quite unfit (lol fat and underweight at the same time, go figure). again it takes someone with a weak will (like mine) to become addicted so, again, it depends on the person.

games may be a contributing factor, but nowhere near as large as critics make it out to be

 

I think that people that do psycho stuff do it because of SOME influence. The other part is that maybe their just not right in the head. But don't blame everything on Video Games. Parents of today's children (myself included...my mom won't even let me have a PS2...>.<) try to blame everything on the internet and video games. Influences can come from other people, T.V. shows, etc. Why do these "politically correct" (insert nasty names here) have to take away the things that younger people enjoy the most.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you go to the local game shop, do you not hear parent telling their kids thay can't have this certain game, but they can have another? But turns out, the one they ARE allowed to have has something worse than a high-speed car chase that MAY influence thair child to drive recklessly.

MY FOOT.

Now, obesity.
Obesity, games DO have a tiny part to play, but it's the eating habits of children. Eating junk food all the time.

Example:
My little cousin is obese, but she doesn't play that many video games. She eats a unblanced diet, and never gets active.
My friend and I, we play vid games ALL teh time, and we're not overweight...
But that's because we also get active.

 

1. Parents need to teach their kids about reality and right from wrong (i.e. It's right to bring cup cakes to school, not an AK47)

2. Parents need to encourage their children to have active lives, and actually inquire about said lives as opposed to sticking them in front of the tv and letting a program or video game raise them--kicking the kid out of the house to either get a job, do some house work, or physcial activity tends to keep them healthy and obese-free.

3. Mental disease is 90% of the time a result of the genes and mental history mommy and daddy carry with them. Yes if you are seizure prone you shouldn't play some games, but other than that it's the same as wathing tv. Which reminds me....

4. Parents should be mindful of what they buy for their kids or what their kids bring home. If they can't do that they shouldn't be allowed to reproduce, because then said kids will most likely rob me in 10 years because their parents failed at raising them.

 

That's BS. I'm an American, and almost everyone I know is a gamer. Also, the only reason I'm not overweight, considering I don't get out much, is because I probably have some thyroid problem.

 

Well...Americans are idiots, and they are,the only ones protesting videogames, as far as I know. The adult population that has children, tend to not see the flaws in their child, nor the flaws int he way they are raising there child. But when one flaw grows to big, like obesity, (No pun intended), the parents tend to notice, and REFUSE to believe it's there fault. When almost everything they do, in turn, affects their child. And so, they look for something else to blame. Videogames and computers are the "hip" things these days. And so that's what they attack. They look at today's children and see that the fat ones, the crazy ones, the stupid ones, all play videogames. Yeah...they see this because like 85 percent of the kids in America play videogames. But the kids with problems are the only ones the parents look at.

You'd think that people would learn. During our parents time as children, and their parents were the people in charge, they had the same problem. With what you may ask? Comic books. Kids today look at comic books and go..."Uh...why the HELL would want to read that?". But they were fascinating for our parents. And all their parents did was blame everything that was wrong with their kids ont he comic books.

It's all relative. Te past is meant to repeat itself...as are humans.

 

In my opinion, no, video games have nothing to do with the cause of obesity and mental impairments--Americans are just ******ed.

Parents blame video games because they are afraid their child might actually have a NATURAL disorder of some kind. <_< It sickens me more than the idea that video games would be the cause.

 

Video games do nothing wrong.

To some, they make the world a better place.
If people don't like video games.... THEN DON'T PLAY THEM.

Non-gamers shouldn't say that because they don't even play. They don't know what video games are like.

And for those of you who live in America....

IT'S FREAKIN AMERICA. EVERYONE BLAMES VIDEO GAMES.

Okay, that's my opinion. I'm done.

-leaves-

 

Will you guys stop insulting America? I'm an American, and I find what you are saying very offensive.

 

Yeah it's just a poor misfortune that all the huff and puff started with Jack Thompson's short comings as an intellectual being.

 

I'm not American but stating that Americans are ******ed because they don't know how to control themselves or 'half the population of America is overweight because they can't control their addiction to video games' is a very sterotype statement.

Most parents blame video games because they are looking for something or someone else to blame apart from themselves.

 

Point of this thread: Parents need to discipline and ACTUALLY parent their kids.

 

I'm getting pretty offended here! I'm an american! I'm obessed with video games, but I'm perfectly normal! (Except for sugar but that doesn't have to do with this)

 

Really, lighten up on the 'American' bashing. This didn't need to decay into that sort of thing. It's certainly not 'all' Americans bashing video games or they would not sell like hotcakes here, nor would people bother trying to sell them because of the loss video games and consoles would take on the market. That is just utter nonsense.

The people to blame are those that are religious zealots who will steal and burn books to get their points across that they are evil, i.e. a good group of Harry Potter books always seems to be victim to this. Get a clue that most people are not like that and those who do act zealous or just seek to blame anything other than bad parenting or mental illness that is for some reason not taken care of or recognized, we simply do not appreciate and they are not all of our voices. There are people all over the world that blame other things than themselves for bad parenting. There are also those who do not pay attention to what is going on about them to recognize people that are mentally unstable and shouldn't be let out of a bouncy room, let alone out of their front doors.

Back on the topic though, I do not think video games could be blamed for the violence and all, and if anything, with the way people are stuck living so close to each other nowadays, I think they may curtail some of the violence by letting people shoot up zombies, hit things with Keyblades or what have you. History itself shows there are serial killers and spree killers throughout it and they will continue to be a pesky problem for any society, yet most often are the reasons why video games get a bad name, same as role-playing games. Spree killers are nuts that often cannot be studied by psychologists since most of the time they plan on dying too and just want to go out in a blaze of glory. All we have left is pieces of their lives, bad writings in journals, and investigations into what possibly could have caused their downfall. Spree killers can do more violence now because of course, they can shoot a ton of people before going down. They didn't learn that from video games. Spree killers were doing this with guns before video games had these kinds of violent themes in them. Serial killers were plotting out and killing also long before now. We just have to learn that there are some bad apples out there and hope we can pluck them from the tree before the whole tree spoils.

As for the people getting fat because of video games, I know many people, including myself, that love video games and yet work out and eat healthy. Video games aren't teaching someone to do nothing, and if someone is like that, they may be having a bad case of OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder) or some medical condition that makes it so they have to curb their physical activities, their metabolism sucks, or they are just plain lazy or depressed. People were getting fat around the world well before video games was an issue as well. The numbers will continue to rise. It's been on an increase for some time and probably not likely to drop anytime soon without people actively doing something to change it. It'd be nice to see more people take responsibility for their own actions and work on trying to become better for it, but many people are raised that they should pass the buck.

In closing, please don't hate all Americans because of the idiocy of some. Many of us are not like what you guys hear overseas about us and you should try giving us more of a chance. It really can get on my nerves to hear people from other countries put us down saying we don't know more than one language, our school systems suck, we are a bunch of puritans, we are trigger happy and always fighting, etc when I know 5 languages, teach others often about respecting languages and other countries and have worked very hard in educating myself. I'm not the only one.

 

As a gamer I really don't like how anti-gaming things have been here in America lately. I mean you have all these anti-gaming politians and there legeslations, gamers been labeled as anti-social and violent, and then theres Jack Thompson and his lawsuits. It really bugs me that video games and gamers aren't respected by the mainstream, I really hope things change on day and video games are viewed as a legitament form of media and entertainment.

 

Blaming video games, or what ever the current popular media is a scapegoat for those who don't want to study, and understand the problem.

The truth is Violent behavior, mental disorders, and yes even obesity all come down to genetics. Studies have shown certain events in life can effect these things such as known head injuries in childhood of many serial killers, causing brain damage. Or suffering physical, and mental abuse.

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro03/web1/arutigliano.html

Anyone who was negatively affected by video games, movies, TV, comics, or books (All things that have been and are blamed for delinquent behavior.) already had a mental issue that was never dealt with in the proper manner.

 

As With A Lot People Of This Thread I As Well Believe That Video Games Are Not The Cause Of Violence That Leads To Killings, And Other Inhumane Behaviors...but I Also Believe That Everyone Is Different And With That Said Not Everyone Is Going The Have The Same Reactions To Games...why...because Like Myself Everyone Has Their Own Opinion Of Whats Just And Whats Right...to Some People It Becomes Altered With Life Changing Events That Cant Be Controlled And Unfortunatly Happen To Certain Individuals...there Are A Lot Of Factors That Play Into Why A Person Would Go Out And Kill People Not Because Of What They Saw In A Game They Played But How Mature Their State Of Mind Was At The Time.. Feel Free To Argue Against Me If You So Wish, I Would Like To Debate This More If Possible

 

In my opinion, it really depends on the people.
I mean, the columbine shooting, they fricken blamed that on video games, which I think is pathetic.
The kids were rich and their parents didn't pay any attention to them. THATS why.

I mean, we had this discussion in class once, and I boldy raised my hand and said to the entire class:

"I obsesivly play video games, but im not going to take my GIANT FRICKEN KEY-SWORD-TYPETHING and beat a bunch of people to death with it, because unlike some, I HAVE SOME MORALS."

Yup, everyone in that class plays/knows of KH.

So yeah. America is screwed up. I REALLY wish i could move outta here.

 

I believe there is one person to blame for someone's issues. THAT PERSON. With that said however, I at the same time, do feel that outise influences(movies, music, videogames, ANYTHING) CAN in fact influence the actions or mood of someone thats already unstable and in need of psycological help.