Violent video games are parents' new worst fear?

Question

A video has just surfaced on Yahoo!'s homepage, describing the results of a new survey conducted, which suggests that parents now fear violent video games more than underage s*x and drinking. Why do you think this is? Video games have yet to be proven harmful, yet underage s*x, or rather uneducated s*x is a huge problem, leading to pregnancies at far too early ages. Underage drinking kills teens every year. So video games are worse? Someone explain that one...

Answer 1

There is a very simple solution to violent games. DONT FCKN BUY THEM FOR YOUR CHILD. Problem solved. They have ratings for a reason. If that pole is true, the shows a type of retardation in parents now a days. Alcoholic drinking is the leading killer in teens.

Answer 2

Maybe parents are not afraid of the video games themselves but of the violence that permeates them. Im an avid gamer myself but there are many games that would not be in my home in a million years if i had children. Children's brains are still developing and teens are still children. They absorb images very fast and do not always have the maturity to interpret them. Especially with all the school shootings within the past few years, and cases of teens shooting their friends, parents, fellow students as a way to get noticed I can understand parents fears. But for sure parents need to learn how to say no. Kids cant play video games if their parents know where they are and what they're doing aka be a parent! Remember, this poll was studying fear, not facts..

Answer 3

its a typical thing where a parent cant get ahold of that video games are video games, they dont at least provoke me to do anything that irrational. its not the real world. its just a stupid video game, and parents think that teenage and older kids minds cant wrap around that the stupid thing is just a video game, and so they worry  

Answer 4

That has been an issue since the Atari came out, nothing new.  I do think children should not be allowed to play violent video games until they understand that death is final, usually around age 6 that kicks in.  Kids imitate, and if they don't understand what they are imitating (whether it be games, cartoons, or real life) it can lead to problems.  Of course, I also think game time needs to be limited as well as TV time for kids younger than twelve especially,   It is fine to dwell in someone else's imaginary world for short times, but time needs to be spent developing their own.  A healthy imagination leads to good problem solving skills etc, in the future.   so much like donuts and candy, in moderation at the appropriate age they are fine.  My kids play games, age appropriate for the most part.  Some games, like Knights of the Old Republic, have helped my eight year old hone his reading skills even.  But he is only allowed four hours a week.

Answer 5

hm....watever happened to parents being in control of what their kids play? if u don't want them to play it don't buy it! at most stores you have to show id for certain ratings. if your kid buys and you tell them not to and you find out u take it away from them.

Hey i got a new idea how about we let the government controll everything for us, like china?! i think thad be a great idea.

stop letting the media raise your kids and get off ur lazy azz and do it urself!

Answer 6

Because underage s*x and drinking would be their responsibilities. Video games can be blamed on the developers. It's typical lousy scapegoating parenting.

It's a bad survey in my opinion (or bad answers if it was open) since video games are more of a cause and underage s*x/drinking are results. Kids committing acts of violence would be more appropriate to group with underage s*x and drinking.

Answer 7

Video games, honestly you have go to be yanking me. I can't believe that a team of scientists even spent time studying this.

Answer 8

Video games are only bad if you have a kid that cannot separate fantasy from reality.

That's basically it.

Most kids don't think they cannot go around shooting people just because they can in a video game.

It's just a scapegoat.

How many murders are due to video games?

Now compare that to all the deaths resulting in drinking.

Video games don't create sociopaths.

Answer 9

lol i read about that on yahoo lol haha and they dont fear drinking and s*x- thing that can be painful lol

Answer 10

Meh. I remember this whole video game paranoia from almost twenty years ago, when Mortal Kombat first came out and parents were freaking out over the blood and violence.  So, that particular fear is not really a new thing among parents.  What is disturbing, though,would be if parents honestly did fear the influence of games more than underage s*x or drinking. However, I do think that Yahoo! News is (as usual) playing this one up for attention and drama.  

For example:

"The second poll, which ran August 1-6, 2008, queried parents on what they'd be most concerned about their 17-year-old child indulging in while at a sleepover. More than 1,600 respondents revealed they're more apprehensive about their child smoking marijuana (49 percent) and playing the video game Grand Theft Auto (19 percent), than watching pornography (16 percent) and drinking beer (14 percent).

Although these findings seem surprising at first, they hint at fears parents have about video games, according to Cheryl K. Olson, Sc.D., co-author of Grand Theft Childhood. "

One notices that the game being mentioned rewards particularly deviant behavior like auto theft and allows for the violent and pointless slaughter of as many innocents as the player would like to gun down, beat, or run over.  If they had used Pac-Man instead of GTA, I honestly doubt as many parents would be concerned about it.  I think the most likely scenario is that parents are thinking it is less objectionable for their children to indulge in behaviors which do not NECESSARILY harm anyone than it is for them to enjoy playing a game where you steal people's cars and score extra points for killing people.  Parents are still concerned about video games, as they should be about all things where their children are concerned, but video game ratings have never been strictly enforced.  If these studies result in any kind of a ratings crackdown, then I would be a bit relieved but would also remember that most video games are perfectly okay to play.  With most other games, there is actually some halfway decent storyline motivation for whatever is being shown and it makes the story a little bit less desensitized.  As other posters have said, it is the parents' job to monitor what their children are playing and/or watching.

Answer 11

I wrote an essay in highschool about video game violence. I personally think the negativity touches upon young peoples minds subliminally. the more negativity you add to your mind the more prone you are to be a negative person or else carry out the negative/violent actions you see on tv or video games. you become numb to it and think its ok and parents dont want their kids thinking violence is cool or ok so thats why they worry.

Answer 12

because these parents can blame a corporate entity for their children's misbehaviors...you know, instead of blaming themselves for lack of parenting and/or communication...

personally, i love violent video games. i'd rather take my aggression out on a digital zombie--deng, i can't wait for RE5

Answer 13

Hmmmmmm kids are not aloud to play violent video games  

Answer 14

Mainly because parents can have some control over underage s*x and underage drinking but they can't have control over the video games.  

Answer 15

i don't understand this either.  I can see where this is going though. For example the video game bully, is violent, Has usage of tobacco and alcohol and has s*x in it but its only rated teen. This game is pretty graphic and has language issues with the f-word. Although, Parents today need to be more concerned with their children's bad habits (like drinking) and their sexual health.

Answer 16

Parents are stupid and they worry about c**p.

Answer 17

i don't understand why when a kid goes to a friends house, parents are more afraid they are goin to "pretend" to drink and have s*x when they could doin the real thing with coconsequences

Answer 18

Monkey see monkey do?

hehe, well you nkow how kids can be, put something in their heads....

It's more irrational than they think, but, if you had kids, would you take risks?

Answer 19

parents are afraid of them because most school shootings and violence are atrributed to violent video games because the columbine shooters played ONE violent video game and the people at fox drew a conclussion, i strongly dissagree with this and think its a coimplete crock

Answer 20

I think mankind is just stupid. Are they aware that if they take violence out of video games, teenagers won't even want to play them. Is that what they want? If so, they have to realize that they will have to fulfill their boredom some other way. Us teenagers are used to the virtual world, and without video games, what will we do? Hmmm, Drugs maybe? s*x? Taking out violence will do no good. Besides, what difference is there from the violence in video games than the violence on tv, and especially the violence in the real world. If they think that violence in the games is going to make us do it just because its on a game, they are crazy. Taking it out would make us want to do it more, considering we have been exposed to it and once you take it away, we'll still want to do it, but can't. Besides, like i was saying before, there will always be violence in the real world. We will always be exposed to it, so whats the point?

Oh yeah, and they had violence too! A simple game as mario has violence in it! I mean, come on, you jump on little bad guys and kill them!! I can guarantee most of the parents out there have played that sometime in their life and did that make them want to go jump on people to kill them? NO! exactly.

Answer 21

well violent video games make kids have bad attitude and act by forcing others or beating them , like how they shoot n kill while they play

that's what i have figured by watching kids' behavior.

but its not worse then s*x n drinking underage  

Answer 22

I agree, parents are looking for an excuse to blame someone about teens underage drinking and s*x. So who do they blame? The people who make these so called destructive video games. It's c**p. If parents don't like the video games, don't buy them. But I guarantee that it will not help.

Intresting question!

Answer 23

I think that is just silly, violence is not good but hey real things in real life are a bigger threat .I am much more concerned with safety issues ,sickos on the net tracking kids and pedophiles ...I worry more about binge drinking and drug use  than video games ...

Answer 24

  First of all we can not even lift our heads up, until we learn. Drinking a beer is unheard of until we are learned, or even drive a car until we learn to do so. Video games learn how to kill, drive fast, and in some cases build a bomb. You would not be able to use this page unless you learned. The book, also in video, kuma sutra teaches you haow to have s*x in many ways ( example). Once you learn, you will soon want to try and without a mate, this leads to rape, with a mate leads to child birth. So is it not hard to understand if I see and learn how to slice a guys jugler, that soon I want to try it out in real life. Sometimes all it takes is for someone to see a movie with some fake gadget and soon develop the lazer or even a comon cell phone. We learn from everyday things, but the video games are getting so realistic, learning to do bad things just got easier to do!