Violence in Games: The Real Problem

In the news, online, and in magazines, we’re constantly reminded how bad video games are, for both our physical and mental health. The violent nature of video games is often used as a scapegoat for countless other violent things – mass shootings, terrorism, making our hair fall out (from pulling it out due to....uh….violence!). Too much gaming causes insomnia, diabetes, obesity, social isolation, depression, aggression, anxiety, psychopathic tendencies – I could go on forever.

Articles like this and this seem to be in the back of many parents' minds.

Even PETA has gotten on this bandwagon, trying to show how pokemon is equal to animal abuse and how even a game as innocent as Cooking Mama has an alternate agenda.

Yep, there's one for Mario, too. 

Gaming can have adverse side effects. Due to some of the addictive properties of games I talked about here, there can be dangers for people with addictive personalities. Just like sitting in front of a computer for hours, there can be damage to the eyes, decrease in physical activity which can lead to weight gain, and a lack of social interaction.

Let me point out that all of these problems linked to gaming is due to an excessive amount of gaming. No, you're not going to get fat because you like to play Destiny every night (although that could help).

However, linking the entire gaming industry to a rise in violence is vastly misguided. 

For starters, not all games are violent and terrible. Games like Legend of Zelda and Yoshi’s Island (along with other Mario games) are essentially puzzle games; Okami teaches about oriental culture and rewards exploration; and Journey has been regarded as a work of art, encouraging cooperation between players.

Sure, you have your Call of Duty-s and Gears of War-s, which are the games these claims are usually talking about. However, these games have good qualities, too – building teamwork, encouraging innovation in players, and increasing communication skills are just a few.

Image courtesy of lifeasadigitalsalad

Yes, I know that's Halo. No, this isn't the kind of teamwork I was talking about.

Although most of the complaints anymore come from misinformed parents or news reporters looking for that perfect hook to land them a front-page article, these articles get attention. Lots of attention. It seems that the general belief of many people who aren't gamers is that video games will ruin your child.

For example, this post emphasizes how violent games cause kids to blur reality and real life. In all seriousness, this should really only be concerning for parents of very young children who shouldn’t be playing these games anyway. 

Let's look at that last sentence again:

"...this should really only be concerning for parents of very young children who shouldn't be playing these games anyway." (Me, October 19th, 2014).

As gamers know, the ESRB labels these games as mature for a reason. We run into problems when parents allow their children to play games they weren’t intended to (or when kids watch their older sibling play, or whatever). Children have a hard time separating reality from fantasy until roughly the age of eight, some having difficulty past this age.

Image courtesy of dubli.com

He should be able to play Saw in about two months. 

Little kids are full to the brim with imagination. Magical thinking is a concept used by psychologists which explains how people make connections between cause-and-effect (causal) relationships and less tangible things, like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. 

Children use this way of thinking to explain a lot of things about their world. Generally, the more they experience the world for themselves, and the more sophisticated their reasoning skills get, the less they use this type of reasoning. These skills usually begin to develop around the time they're six, due to a bunch of development in the brain and a lot more life experience on their end.

We see a lot more kids who hold onto some aspects of magical thinking well into their teens. The Slendermen Stabbing from June is being speculated as such. These 12 year old girls seemed to still hold onto magical thinking -- they weren't able to translate their actions into real-life consequences. 

Because of exposure to more adult things than before -- the internet can be a scary place, not to mention themes discussed in the news -- we can see why these young ones have such a hard time differentiating reality from fantasy.

However, that is why the ESRB rating system was invented. The intended audience for violent games like Mass Effect and shooters like Call of Duty is much older -- 17+. People in this age range can usually deduce that they aren't actually killing people in the game, and that doing so in real life would be bad.

A little one who still reasons about their world using magical thinking might not be able to do so.

Image courtesy of latestfunnypics

Too much sad. Let Puppy and Kitty make you happy again.

Yes, games can be violent and inappropriate for children. A lot of tragedies such as school shootings and child murders are falsely pinned on the violent nature of all games. No, Cooking Mama is not teaching kids that killing is okay, and Call of Duty is not the sole reasoning for the Sandy Hook shooting. 

But there can be some pretty crazy stuff in games. 

In the end, the ones who are suffering from violent games are those too young to play. Sure, some young teenagers can probably play COD or Battlefield 4 and be perfectly fine. But I see plenty of 10-year olds with their parents blindly buying these games. 

A little education could go a long way, guys.