Shootout Argument Essay

Violence is everywhere in our world, and when teens and children play violent role-playing games, it says “violence is acceptable”. In the article “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin a high school student says “I’m looking for some good massacres early” in reference to their high school's annual end of year game, “Killer”. In this game, the students team up and take on the role of assassins, out to kill all others. These are only high school students, 14-19 years old and Killer is only a game, but they are using violent terms like massacre like any other word. They use it like mass killings are acceptable, and that attitude is what is hurting the world. In the same article, Martin said, “Since the start of the game, the twelfth graders had been sleeping on futons in vans borrowed from their parents, the better to pull off a stoop-side ambush and avoid being ambushed themselves.” They are not even adults, yet they are treating a game so seriously, sleeping in a car, talking about waiting to ambush. Yes, they are using tactical thinking, but there are plenty of non-violent opportunities to use that skill, like in chess. Teens need to stop because violence is never acceptable.

While he is successful in some respects, his attempts mostly fall flat due to a lack of evidence to back the claims and connections he is making. John Leo discusses two mass shootings which were still fresh in his audience’s mind: the Columbine High School massacre, and the Heath High School shooting in Paducah Kentucky in 1997. When discussing both shootings, Leo connects the actions of the shooters to video games. In the Columbine High School shooting, the shooters finished their spree in a way Leo suggests was inspired by the video game Postal which had come out a year and a half earlier. The Heath High School shooter hit five of his victims in the neck or head. As Leo mentions, “Head shots pay a bonus in many video games.” However, when describing both of these events and their supposed connections with video games, Leo fails to support his claims. He never tells his audience whether the shooters in Littleton ever actually played Postal, although there is evidence showing the two did play the videogame Doom, and he never mentions whether the shooter in Paducah played any violent video games. At one point, however, Leo successfully appeals to logos as he describes how the Army wanted to desensitize its recruits and make them more violent. “During World War II,” Leo writes, “only 15 to 20 percent of all American soldiers fired their weapon in battle.” The Army wanted this number to increase and found that shooting games can make them more violent. This realization is why the Marine Corps is “adapting a version of Doom, [a] hyperviolent game, [...] for its own training purposes.” Leo presents this as proof that video games makes people

Sternheimer brings up an issue that had an unnerving newspaper headlines like “Bloodlust Video Games Put Kids in the Crosshairs” (215). She thinks that not enough thoughts have been given to other issues like “social rejection and depression”. Information on statistical evidence was brought to our attention. Sternheimer believed it to be “controversial”. Sternheimer feels that there are important facts that truly cause killers at a young age that are being over looked. The important facts could include personal traits, family, and background. Politicians claims for the rise of video games concerns. Sternheimer briefly wrote a law suits to the producers and none of the law suits won. Have you ever thought why there are young killers, which are brought in suburban areas/families who are thought of to be the most

Video game companies are continuously releasing more and more realistically violent video games onto the market in order to sell more copies, because market statistics clearly show that violence sells: all the most popular video games include a violent main theme. Many games include very real-life scenarios with existing weaponry that were created to be as close to the real thing as possible. This can teach children all about the way a gun works and how to use it. If a child is killing people in an almost perfectly realistic virtual world, it would quickly desensitize that child, making it easier for him/her to commit such acts in real-life. A young boy brought his dad's gun to an American school one day and used it to shoot a boy who had been bullying him. In the video games the boy played, when a person was shot, the person would simply fall to the ground with a

Some people think kids shouldn’t play violent role playing games because they think it gets kids to stalk other kids, but i think it’s good because it promotes teamwork, strategy, and espionage, all three of which will help the student in the future. At St. Ann's high school a game lasts two and a half weeks and has built up a seventeen-point rule book, a map of the safe zones around the school, a judge, and an entry fee, all for a harmless water pistol game. In the end this was all just about Killer, a last-man-standing game of water-pistol ambush, just because people considered it a violent role playing game even though it teaches the kids a lot and is just a water pistol game and if you still disagree with me go out out and try it for yourselves

On September 16, 2013, There was a shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, by a gamer named Aaron Alexis. Friends of Aaron, said he would spend hours playing violent “Zombie” video games. Role playing games with simulated violence are perilous for kids.

Although school shootings remained extremely rare, during the 1990’s students had less than a 7 in 10 million chance of being killed at school. “By focusing so heavily on video games, news reports downplay the broader social contexts. While a handful of articles note, the roles that guns, poverty, families, and the organization of schools may play in youth violence in general. When reporters mention research to explain the shooter’s behavior, the vast majority of studies cited concern media effects, suggesting that video games are a central cause.” (PG. 3).

Parents are always getting frustrated with their children about getting outside more to get some fresh air instead of sitting inside playing video games… A high speed, action filled game would do just that. Adults wouldn’t need to worry about their kids getting outside because they will already be running around with friends. In Guy Martin’s article, he says, “Since the start of the game, the twelfth graders had been sleeping on futons in a couple of vans borrowed from their parents, the better to pull off a stoop-side ambush and avoid being ambushed themselves.” Some people would argue that violence simulating games would be perilous because it could teach an adolescent bad or unsafe habits, but they would not need to worry because the people involved in the game could use a water gun instead of a real gun, a water balloon instead of

Did you know that according to Dr. Bret Conrad, the majority of gamers believe that video game violence has few, if any harmful effects on them personally? Well, many people today play games with simulated violence ranging from games like “Killer” to games like Grand Theft Auto. One example, “Killer”, takes place in multiple New York City high schools at the end of the year. It consists of two teams, each student is assigned a person to shoot and they have to shoot them before they are shot. The students have to use water pistols to shoot their person. Once they are killed, their game is over. While some agree that games with simulated violence are perilous for teens, games with simulated violence are beneficial for teens because they help kids with problem solving skills, keep them busy and helps them help others.

In California alone, 1,697,000 homicides were committed in one year. Playing intense killing games have affected the minds of players, especially children. In these games, lives are regenerated and children are handling and learning how to operate guns and knives within the game. This setup is treating the killing as a game. As a result, it is quite enjoyable to players. Not only are their aggressive video games, but there is also simulated assassination games played by high schools in New York. Similar to “The Hunger Games, Killer,” is a last-man-standing game of water pistol ambush. Students attending the school look forward to this simulated killing event every year. By allowing these kids to have fun by pretending to shoot each other with water guns, they are perceiving the idea that killing is entertaining. This is not only unacceptable, but very dangerous for the students and the whole

As shown throughout the story Shootout, killer teaches and encourages violence. Studies have shown that many people have used the violence learned in role playing games and carried it out in the real world. In the game killer played in schools, kids are encouraged to make “kills” by shooting others with water guns. As quoted in the story, “The game lasts two weeks and is especially ferocious”( Martin 1).It is important to notice that introducing teens to violence before they are out on their own can encourage violence in the real world. Some might get so caught up in what happens in a role playing game, that it can carry out aggression in the real world. According to Guy Martin, games such as killer can cause people to turn on each other and can even cause people to call it a massacre. Massacre is not a word to be played around with, for it is a real life tragedy ( Martin 1). This is significant because when one plays around with a word that is a

To some people, games with simulated violence are hazardous to their life. Some of these games are computerized, while others are physical. Guy Martin, writer of the 2009 article “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out,” stated that high schoolers in Brooklyn run around town “killing”their peers with water guns. This game is known as “Killer.” These manhunts teach kids that it is okay to break laws, promote criminal activity, and to have bad and aggressive attitudes.

To start off, role-playing video games with simulated violence are very time-consuming due to the addictiveness of the game. An article in Forbes Magazine stated, “The Telegraph's Nick Allen described the shooter's "darker side" which "saw him playing violent "zombie" video games in his room, sometimes from 12.30pm until 4.30am,” ” (Kain). The ‘shooter’ that Kain is referring to was a mentally-ill young man who committed a mass murder in Washington DC in 2013. Apparently, the mass murderer had been up until 4:30 am playing violent video games. Saying that violent video games cause people to murder is a huge

According to the text “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin, the game Killer has a poor effect on the kids playing and encourages violence. In the text, Martin explains how Killer is a last-man standing game with a pot of three hundred sixty dollars. Saying this, just the game itself is influencing teens to shoot each other for money. Carey Benedicts in the article “Shooting in the Dark” says “Playing the games can and does stir hostile urges and mildly aggressive behavior in the short term.” By saying this, she assures that the behavior of individuals can change over time after constantly playing video games with violence and they can become more aggressive. In the end of the article Martin states, “The game’s valedictory message is built into its architecture: school is the safe ground. And, keen as the graduating seniors may be to leave, the game tells them that the world outside is not.”

In this day and age videogames are increasingly popular. Some of these games include “Grand Theft Auto,” “Mortal Kombat,” and “Call of Duty,” etc. Not only are these games popular though, they are also exceedingly violent. In New York, the game “Killer” has become a very popular end-of-the-year ritual in high schools. It is not a video game, rather a violent role-playing game. This game can last anywhere from from 1-2.5 weeks. It is a game that involves water guns, where kids make teams (mostly seniors), create strategies, and lurk around, camping out all night in vans waiting to ambush people, and the ultimate goal; killing your opponents, meaning they shoot them with the water guns. Video and role-playing games like these can be very fun, but they also pose a bigger problem. Violent role-playing and video games are perilous because kids could get hurt, bring the violence into their real life, or they could get in trouble.