Thoughts Provoked by Sick Culture - class discussion
I must admit I am extremely bothered by violence as entertainment. Particularly violence against woman. Back in 1992-1993 as an undergrad I was concerned by this in film and T.V. and it was white washed as having no implications, much like the video game debate today.
Although reports are coming in linking anti-social behaviour to gaming (see daily mail link below)
I am aware gaming is huge business, big profits and so how could it be harmful? Like logging, tar sands etc...
I have also heard the debate that violence has always existed and that perhaps the inherent aggressive nature (Freud) is being vented through games and therefore potentially not in real life. I hope that is correct. My first reaction to the Sandy Hook (Newtown, Connecticut) School slaughter was " I wonder what games that boy played?" Also, has any research been done in prisons to see what role the convict might attribute to games and the desensitization effect it had? Everyone seems to like a good fight. While in line for a St. Patrick's Day Party a fight broke out and everyone just watched. As soon as I sensed that the response was in favor of watching the fight I ran towards the scene screaming "stop, stop, stop!" 911 was called and the police arrived. The perpetrator was extremely aggressive.
In todays Vancouver Sun is an article about the boy who killed the children at Sandy Hook. He was a avid gamer who played Call of Duty and rarely left the house.
Perhaps the games do not have the same impact on people who have enough mental capacity to make the necessary distinctions but for those who cant I think its problematic and should not be overlooked. We do not need these influences. Sure it raises questions about freedom versus censorship...
Basically, if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.
I am not the only one who is interested in finding out if there is a link
http://www.minnpost.com/christian-science-monitor/2013/03/sandy-hook-probe-what-search-adam-lanzas-home-revealed
Police search warrants for the home of Sandy Hook Elementary School gunman Adam Lanza, made public 3-1/2 months after the tragedy, reveal a family struggling with what to do about a troubled young man who clipped newspaper articles about school shootings and played hour upon hour of violent video games. The documents also show a family with a high degree of enthusiasm for guns and ammunition.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2249854/Sandy-Hook-school-shooting-Adam-Lanza-spent-hours-playing-Call-Duty.html
The Call of Duty games have been linked to other mass killings including the Norwegian massacre by Anders Breivik and murders at a Jewish school in Toulouse by Mohammed Merah.Breivik said he spent up to 16 hours a day playing the game in preparation for the attack.He said he became a deadly marksman by honing his gun skills on the Modern Warfare part of the series.
He even bought a special gun sight used on the game, attaching it to the hunting rifle he used for his deadly rampage on Utoya.
Merah's wife, Hizia Miriam, said in June that she and her ex-husband would play Call of Duty together before he gunned down seven people in cold blood.
It has often been criticised for glorifying violence, and for encouraging vulnerable young people towards anti-social behaviour.
In 2008 a study called Grand Theft Childhood reported that 60 per cent of schoolboys who played a game above their age limit hit someone.
This compared with 39 per cent of those who did not play such games.
REVEALED: THE VERY REAL DANGERS OF VIDEO GAMES
Violent video games can alter the brain in just one week and make players more aggressive, researchers say.
An Indiana University School of Medicine study found key areas in the brain suffer reduced activity and leave it physically altered.
The findings fuelled the debate over the impact violent games have on regular players and links to anti-social behaviour.
They also came as a British teacher said children as young as four were hitting classmates as they re-enact scenes from violent 18-rated computer games.
She claimed youngsters were struggling to separate reality from their experiences in the virtual world and then copied the scenes at school.
They were coming to lessons too tired to learn after staying up late playing computer games, and were often leading 'solitary lives'.
Alison Sherratt, a reception class teacher at Riddlesden St Mary's Church of England Primary in Keighley, West Yorkshire, outlined her concerns at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference earlier this year.
She said pupils regularly discussed playing games such as the Call Of Duty series, set in various war zones, and Grand Theft Auto – where players carry out robberies, muggings, killings, drug deals and beat prostitutes with baseball bats.
On one occasion, she saw pupils throwing themselves from a play car in slow motion and pretending blood was spurting out of them.
Her warning came after news that 14-year-old Daniel Bartlam killed his mother with a claw hammer after watching a wide range of violent video games, films and TV storylines.
An Indiana University School of Medicine study found key areas in the brain suffer reduced activity and leave it physically altered.
The findings fuelled the debate over the impact violent games have on regular players and links to anti-social behaviour.
They also came as a British teacher said children as young as four were hitting classmates as they re-enact scenes from violent 18-rated computer games.
She claimed youngsters were struggling to separate reality from their experiences in the virtual world and then copied the scenes at school.
They were coming to lessons too tired to learn after staying up late playing computer games, and were often leading 'solitary lives'.
Alison Sherratt, a reception class teacher at Riddlesden St Mary's Church of England Primary in Keighley, West Yorkshire, outlined her concerns at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers conference earlier this year.
She said pupils regularly discussed playing games such as the Call Of Duty series, set in various war zones, and Grand Theft Auto – where players carry out robberies, muggings, killings, drug deals and beat prostitutes with baseball bats.
On one occasion, she saw pupils throwing themselves from a play car in slow motion and pretending blood was spurting out of them.
Her warning came after news that 14-year-old Daniel Bartlam killed his mother with a claw hammer after watching a wide range of violent video games, films and TV storylines.
In its report the agency said: 'The student demonstrates and unusual fascination with movies, TV shows, computer games, music videos or printed material that focus intensively on themes of violence, hatred, control, power, death and destruction.'
It added: 'The student spends inordinate amounts of time playing video games with violent themes, and seems more interested in the violent images than in the game itself.'
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