Have you as a parent wondered what is going on with all these nasty and violent video games lately? Are you taken aback by some of the content your teenagers are playing with in their video games? Does it at least bother you a little bit? Personally, I have often watched the Video Game reviews on G4 DirectTV Channel and have thought that some of the games were over the top [sex, blood and guts] but then again that is why they sell so well. And we have an entire group of kids blasting their Gangster Rap Music too, so there are issues everywhere. Certainly I am not one to single out an industry. But I do concur that it would be much better to have folks. All things in moderation really; having impressionable minds of human children play destructive, sexual and violent games can be problematic, but since the species is problematic in those regards it stands to reason that some violence impressions can help with the balance and reality of the world we live in too. One parent recently stated in an online think tank on the subject; What is worse is that it teaches and reinforces that it is FUN to kill, maim, and inflict pain. Myself, I have noticed that those who like to kill things do indeed get a rush out of the taking of life, even from smashing a bug on a sidewalk or in hunting. In sports we teach thru a positive reward system [trappings of victory] that it is fun to inflict pain. So, the virtual reality extension of such perhaps simply encompasses another group of people, kids who were not big enough, agile enough, early uses of dexterity or athletically inclined to play football, a chance or outlet for any pent up aggression, which they had no escape for previously. Now then is that bad or good? Or is it being taken too far as the video games make such acts okay in the VR World and an impressionable mind, which is straddling the two worlds might or will develop a mindset that such violence is okay? Maybe we as parents should perhaps put a little more emphasis on the subject matter that we allow our kids to have in their video games. Video games can become addictive and problematic for teens and it is the parents responsibility to see that these things do not get out of hand. Please consider all this in 2006. |
