There are countless reports that claim video games cause youth violence or are a detriment to society – a simple google search will bring about a slew of them. While there is some truth that video games may enhance an already ill-tempered or irrational person’s inability to control violent urges, to blame video games as the sole reason is asenine; this could only be the case if the person in question had absolutely no interaction with the world around them and had no knowledge of anything but video games. Instead, where scientists, politicians, churches and lawmakers should be focusing their attention on is the state of our society, and how it got to where it is in the first place. Video games are the wrong target here.
We apparently live in a society where science of any kind is twisted or flat out pushed aside for political or personal point of view. It’s all about an agenda, only people either don’t care or are too stupid to see through the bullshit. And people who are pushing their agenda know it. When it’s suggested that playing a video game can be a sin, people really have to take a step back and analyze the big picture, because it’s getting to the point of absurdity.
When it comes to video game violence being the sole instigator for actual, physical violence - it’s a stretch, at best; violent video games cause actual violence as much as watching a slapstick comedy will make you obstinately clumsy. It’s surprising to say the least that there are actually people who are not skeptical of sensationalist lawyers such as Jack Thompson who scream for headlines everytime some nutjob goes on a shooting spree - but just happens to own an Xbox, or politicians like Hillary Clinton who step up on the soapbox to denounce video games as if they’re smut being “peddled” to children – as she put it back in 2005:
We need to do everything we can to make sure parents have a line of defense against violent and sexually explicit video games and other content that is being peddled to our children. That’s why the legislation I will be introducing will put real teeth into video game ratings by instituting a financial penalty for retailers that fail to enforce the rules.
Asserting that gaming behavior is a reflection of social and moral surroundings rather than the other way around would be a more accurate statement, but it would also be way too honest and a lot more difficult of a social dilemma for most to deal with. Instead, we find a scape-goat to blame it on and continue telling ourselves that our kids have become brain-dead, violent, foul-mouthed punks because of that damned video game console. We never hear that people who are antagonistic in nature, who come from an abusive environment, or who suffer from a mental affliction turn to video games as an outlet to inflict upon others what they themselves have to deal with (or keep bottled up); it isn’t the video game causing the person to act like a tool – it’s the person acting like a tool while they’re playing a video game!
What is most pathetic is just how common it is, and how widely accepted and expected this behavior has become. Case in point: I recently had a “discussion” on xbox.com with someone who insisted that nobody will read your posted opinion or even take it seriously if you aren’t insulting and degrading. You may be thinking that this is just one instance of idiocy, but spend a little time browsing the forums and you’ll find this ideology running rampant. This is definitely not a case of video games altering an individual’s state of mind, but an obvious effect of a person’s pathologically skewed view of how the world works invading the video game culture. Toss in a pinch of anonymity, and you have the perfect recipe for ignorance.
When we live in a world where it’s “hip to be thug” and we use our television sets as babysitters, where we glorify “sports” like UFC and ignore drug-use in the MLB, it’s no wonder that any shred of dignity we have in the real world goes no farther than the on-button to our gaming consoles. It’s about as ‘bassakwards’ as you can get: we don’t blame the parent for buying a 12-year old a copy of F.E.A.R., we blame the game store for not warning us about it’s content; we don’t blame our racist uncle who defiantly screams out the N-word, we blame Xbox Live for it’s lack of moral values; we don’t blame the bully in the neighborhood, we blame a video game for keeping our children from going outside to play. The fact of the matter is, we live in a society that is easily duped into blaming something else rather than taking responsibility for anything negative. If it isn’t blamed on video games, it’s rap. If it isn’t blamed on rap, it’s movies. If it isn’t blamed on movies, it’s the internet…
Lord knows we certainly aren’t going to blame ourselves.
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