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. One reason violent games are perilous is because while playing them, kids could get injured or hurt. For example, in “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin it talks about how some of the teams camp out all night in vans borrowed from their parents, sleeping on futons. This could be perilous because, for a bunch of kids to be in only a car all through the night makes them vulnerable to where they could get robbed or kidnapped. Also by doing so some kids could get sick from sleeping in a car with multiple people. Also, while sneaking around all night and
Simulations like the “Killer” are engaging and entertaining. It’s a simulation to replace real-life violence with fun, encouraging “killing” games. The simulation is hosted in High Schools where teenagers find themselves enjoying throughout the game and often learn a thing or two from it. The judges assign groups and make a good arrangement for the people that participate in this simulation. Therefore, it is diverting. “Killer” allows the teens to improve their surviving skills, learn to make good decisions and motivates them to be active.
“Although the game appears to be a fun and exciting activity for teens, there have been incidents recently that add a very dangerous element.” Principal, Kathy Charlton of Hempfield Area High school remarked. These incidents included students running around near school buses and ambushing each other in and around restaurants and local malls. It is my belief that violent role playing games should not be executed. Furthermore, it initiates transgressive habits and it also teaches students how to kill and set up for violence.
Games with simulated violence are perilous for teens, because the teens participating are going through other people’s personal information, attacking people in public, and, more generally, are more violent when they are older.
For many teenagers in America, simulated games with violence are all they do and all they think about. You can argue that violent games teach kids to strategize quickly, but what about all of the negative effects? Kids are proven to be more aggressive playing these violent role playing games. Psychologists who study human behavior won’t even let their own kids play these barbaric games. Also violent games can cause kids to lose sympathy and be immune to traumatic experiences. Kids should be limited on playing these violent games so they aren’t a risk to themselves or others.
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
Overall, violent role-playing games can be diverting instead of encouraging violent and aggressive behaviors. Some of the effects have been found to be beneficial. While they shouldn’t necessarily be encouraged, there is a place for them if they can be moderated. This can actually help students and kids become more creative and better problem solvers. It can also divert their violence as well making them better off than they were in the first
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.
Violent video games are undoubtedly a legalized drug to children and teens, numbing their thoughts and reprogramming their minds. Like a drug, it desensitizes them, and makes them more prone to violence. This idea of violent video games was not a phenomenon until the later 20th century, and evolved from racing into enemies, to free-for-all drug abuse and sexual/physical violence that most youth know and play today. These games have a detrimental impact on teens, making them eat more, become more aggressive, and wash away their morality. Although some may try to argue with reality, countering that its helps them socially, similar to the idea of teens taking drugs, violent video games reduce their overall health and need to be taken care
Games that withhold violent scenes can result in bullying. Children will see what they are doing in their game, and think that it would be acceptable to do that type of thing in the real world. They may not be going as far as shooting someone, but they can turn that violence into a smaller aspect of hitting or kicking one of their fellow classmates at school. The
“I like video games, but they’re really violent. I’d like to play a videogame where you help the people who were shot in all other games. It’d be called Really Busy Hospital.”-Demitri Martin. Role playing games have been a source of fun and entertainment for children and adults. There are more safe and calm games such as Just Dance, and there are more Perilous games such as Call of Duty. Role playing games such as killer are perilous for school age children putting them in danger, teaching violence, and teaching reckless behavior.
Playing video games does not cause violent behavior. Don’t get me wrong, some video games show horrific acts of violence. “A recent survey found that 92 percent of U.S. kids--ages 2 to 17--play video games, and their parents bought 225 million of them last year to the tune of $6.4 billion.” (Sider 79).What’s here to argue is that violent video games do not cause violence among children, but the blame for violence should be on the individual and people who should have taught the individual better. If kids are not able to see the difference between reality and fantasy, then they really can’t be blamed for committing acts they see in a game and then imitating, not fully understanding the consequences of doing it in the real world.
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.
The first question you have to ask is, “Why do people play videogames?” We have to know this before we can make a connection between violent games and violent acts. Is america using them as an innocent pastime? Almost any parent who lets their children play will probably tell you that it keeps them busy. If a child is busy they
Violence in video games has been a hot topic ever since the beginnings of the industry. From depictions of a polygonal frog being run over in Frogger, to stealing cars in a realistic environment a la Grand Theft Auto, this topic has sparked serious debate. The traditional liberal stance is that the government should forcefully regulate the video game industry. The conservative stance is that the industry does a good job of rating itself, and that government should not get involved. The liberal stance has its points, in the fact that video games are getting more realistic and more violent. With increasing technology in computers, the video game industry also makes advances in graphics and what they can display. The
The story line behind some violent video games includes games in which players earn points by carjacking taxis, scoring drugs from cursing thugs, and mowing down pedestrians.(see http://www.feedmag.com/vgs/duncan.html>) Some cartoonish tag lines in some sadistic video games include : -- "As easy as killing babies with axes" and "More fun than killing your neighbour's cats". This kind of themes definitely influence the players, especially the younger ones, and inflict violent tendencies on them. It is no wonder, that this killing mania in violent games was seen to seep out into the actual world when a high school junior opened fire in his school cafetaria in Littleton, Colorado, killing two of his classmates. The gunman was reported to be an ardent fan of Quake and Doom, some rather violent video games. More proof of the relationship between video games and violence is revealed by a study which clearly reveals how this kind of entertainment affects our lives. Greater details of the history of how high school students turned gunmen in Columbine High School are given, which shows that the effect of video games in their lives was a major source of influence in doing what they did best.