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I think today video games have some effect on children, especially today when you see these parents that dont know how to raise their brat kids to act decent in public. Most of them expect the schools to teach them morals instead of teaching their own kid. I say the strict carding of games is the best thing for this situation but a banning of games is too far. Its the parents duty to pay attention to what their child is doing.

One story you won't have seen on Fox News: after winning gold in the 400m breaststroke, Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima stated what helped him get into the right frame of mind for competing was...Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games on the Wii. And, no, he didn't believe his rivals were a giant ape, a dinosaur, or a walking toadstool.

What we got, meanwhile, were some MPs whinging about MadWORLD being unsuitable for the family friendly Wii (already home to Resident Evil 4 and Manhunt 2), and saying there should be things like an easy to follow ratings system (there is one) or the Wii should have a parental lock (it does).

You dread to think what they'll come up with when they have to debate actual issues...

Why is this the only issuse people agree on? Is it because Newgrounds is a flash based site?

Just to clear things, Fox News might have said something because it is newsworthy. People like to hear about the drama about this kind of stuff, even though sometimes the story is biased. To understand stuff like this more, read the book "Unspun" by Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson.

I do believe some of the stuff they say is true on how video games affect children. Its true they might become obsessed, and they're life may change for the worst, but it's only a possibility. They however only seem to be considering violent, mature rated games. You might have heard this a thousand times, but it's the parents' faults for not monitoring the child or respecting the video games' ESRB ratings, not the video game itself.

For those who play Halo on Xbox Live, I'm pretty sure you've heard some kid swearing his head off, and to quote G4, "questioning your sexuality".

Fox News, eh? That explains everything.

Anyways, allow me to debunk the negative effects there "experts" claim are from playing games:

poor social skills

Not becoming a problem anymore, thanks to online gaming...unless you're a stupid noob.

time away from family time, school-work, and other hobbies

Untrue, for me at least. I play Columns with my mother, I'm passing my classes.

lower grades and reading less

See above.

exercising less, and becoming overweight

You can also exercise less and get fat from watching TV, but no one bitches about TV anymore.

aggressive thoughts and behaviors

Joke Thompson's full of shit, I thought this was already established.

It's true; violent media creates violent children. Children are very impressionable, and anything that they see, hear, or are told will stick with them.

That being said, violent children are drawn to violent media. It's like girls being drawn to a reality TV show for the drama; for some it's innate.

But video games bear the brute force of the attack because 1.) they're new and 2.) because they have always been seen as a kid's toy.

Take a look back in history:

Alcohol was banned because it was blamed for violent crimes

S&M porn was criminally tried because a few people died while doing acts seen in magazines/movies

Fictional books were once seen as blasphemous by religious people because they were lies.

I have been watching R rated movies since I was 8, and playing violent videogames forever. From watching frogger go splat, to blowing people away in perfect dark, to painting the walls with alien blood in Halo.
The only fight I've been in was self defense and I've never wanted to bring a gun to school or murder anybody

Well if the parents buy their kids video games that are very violent, then I say the parents desierve to be shot dead by their kids.

Little kids can become violent due to violent video games. Older kids, not so much, and adults, no.

I say if the parents buy a video game that is violent for their kids, even if they dont know it is violent, then they have no right to complain that their kid was exposed to a violent video game. And if they do complain, their complaints will not be noted at all.

"You bought the game, you exposed your kid to violent video games, you are at fault bitch!"

Too many people these days have kids when they shouldnt.
Just spoiled brats that got knocked up and are still spoiled brats.

i think it is in the parenting, because if you give me grand theft auto at 14 i know the stuff they do is wrong and i wouldn't ever do those things.

Sometimes that is true but sometimes the parents just blame the videogame

Parents placing the blame on the video games is just another excuse for bad parenting. You should ALWAYS look at the rating and back cover of a game, or ask the clerk or rep about it, and if they don't help, play it for yourself. I see it as very lazy on behalf of the parent for trusting game companies to do the parents' job. It's not the producers' responsibility to look after your child, it's yours. Deal with it.

It's not games that cause the violence, it's moronic kids who are stupid
enough to be affected by violent games, and shitty parent's who let their children
but that shit.
IMO, stupid people shouldn't be allowed games.

I like how on the video it says "it lets you child".."Your child can..." I dont think there is a lot of 7 year olds on newgrounds...and NG cant be put at fault because it puts the age group appropriotte for the game..parents are so protective now a days

I notice that a lot of people use the "I turned out fine" argument when you can just as easily use examples of other children turning out fine as much more effective.

Such as sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews.

At 8/21/08 06:01 AM, ImaSmartass2 wrote: Why is this the only issuse people agree on? Is it because Newgrounds is a flash based site?

Theres also the whole sex verses violence debate as well.

video games and real life are not the same, thats what people need to know

censoring and blocking will NOT HELP

that reminds me...when i was a kid...well a younger teen i used to play violent games and watch violent movies and im not a "desensitized idiot" (as the media loves to call people who play violent games when there young)

my younger cousing (14 years) was begging me for spartan: total war (rated 18+ for violence) and i got him it... hes not a desensitized idiot either actually hes quite a smart kid...

the important thing is: IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE KID SOME CHILDREN ARE MORE MATURE THAN OTHERS AND CAN MAKE THE DIFFRENCE BETWEEN VIDEO GAMES/TV AND REAL LIFE

When I was a young lad I would play an unholy game ripped straight from the bowels of hell called Super Mario Brothers. As I grew older, I started wearing red jumpsuits, experimenting with shrooms (and other illicit substances), and killing innocent turtles. Then I had to undergo years of jailtime and rehab. Video games ruined my life. Don't let them ruin yours.

Seriously, if you can't discern reality from fantasy, kindly remove yourself from this mortal coil by any means necessary.