Well, I've been looking for something to write about, and I finally found it. With the recent NIU shootings, the violence-in-games debate has started to roar. Finally, MSNBC puts Faux News and Jack Thompson in their respective places.
"On Friday, police were still struggling to figure out why a seemingly polite, well-respected graduate student named Steven Kazmierczak had shot and killed five students at Northern Illinois University and then turned the gun on himself. But Thompson had it all figured out. Faster than you can say wild speculation and reckless sensationalism, he leapt in front of Fox News cameras and suggested that video games were to blame.
Click Here to read the entire article. I think its about time someone starts asking questions and pointing out sensationalistic journalism.
Thinking back to my highschool days as the Editor in Chief of the school news paper, we learned the principles of journalism. We learned of yellow journalism being credited for the Spanish-American war. We learned that journalists should dig for the truth and not interject his/her own opionions into a story, or simply journalists should not editorialize a story. That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell.
Ok, with that said lets look at todays blunder. A local news affiliate out of Omaha Nebraska is reporting that a recent "study" says video games, even non-violent kiddie games increase emotional arousal and agression. This "study" did brain scans of kids who played a non-violent game and comparted it to scans of other kinds who played violent ones. Now, I'm not going to say that this is or is not true, however, what about kids who play competitive sports? Football or basketball, do thoes increase agression and emotional arrousal? A hundred bucks bet they do too.
My qualms aren't really with the data, but how these journalists interpret and depecti the data for the sheep watching the TV news. Just like Fox news, this local afflilate grabs some "expert" to rant on about how video games destroy our children. Later on in the article, Joe Blow Mr. Payne says after his kids are done playing a game all they have on their mind is Kill Kill Kill. However, the artlicel goes on to state that Mr. and Mrs Payne have not seen any signs of increased agression or violence. Some how that just doesn't sound right. Maybe Mr. Payne hates his wife for cheating on him, and some how projects that on to his kids. I'm not sure.
It's a sad sad time when junk science is so easily gobbled up by "journalists" and slammed into the piehole of middle America. I think its about time people start usuing their brain. It's amazing what human intellegence is wasted on.
I'm a conservative and an avid video gamer, and to me this is abhorrent.If you have ever taken a journalism class, you would be familiar with "yellow journalism."It basically boils down to selling news. Just like the tabloids, Fox News uses sensationalistic headlines and stories to get ratings. It just goes to show you what kind of journalistic integrity Fox News has. Anyone who has Jack Thompson as an "expert" on the VT shootings shows no credibility what so ever. It just makes me sick to think that other conservatives eat this crap like candy.
What I want to know is why are parents buying kids a Mature rated game? Is it OK for your child to watch SAW 3 or Boogie Nights at 12 years old?For most kids; probably not. Obviously there are some cases where children are well adjusted enough and mature enough to understand causality (cause and effect). However to blame video games as the sole corrupter of youth is ridiculous. Movies are more violent now than ever before, but video games are killing our children.
Furthermore, uninvolved parents should be flogged, publicly. Buying a mature rated game for junior is ridiculous. Do some research; look into what your kids do. Be A Parent, not a friend. What happened to personal responsibility?This isn't just a "right wing G.W. Bush thing." Both the left and right sides of the istle are just as guilty of perpetuating this stereotype. These blatant lies only become fodder for politicians trying to promote their nanny state.
I think people in America, especially the Baby Boomer Generation ,are failing to adapt to the new technology. To paraphrase Adam Sessler, this is today's modern day comic book, and it will corrupt the youth. Today's games aren't like Pong or Pac-Man. The medium has grown up with the audience, and older folks are failing to see that.
I was born in the Silicon Valley in the early 1980's. I moved to Northern California (Sacto North) when I was 3. I have been playing video games for most of my life, Commadore64, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, Saturn, Playstation, PC and Wii. Not to mention a few others I left out. I am now a well edu-ma-kated College grad. I enjoy country living with a rock and roll life style. This is the world of video gaming through my eyes.
"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms (of government) those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny"
-- Thomas Jefferson
