Re:5yr old plays rated M xbox game Suddenly Single: OK, I don' t know how much my two cents will weigh in because I dont' have children BUT I am a teacher and I saw a gentlemen speak on video games of this sort and the relationship with mass killings like Columbine and Kentucky etc.
It is very disturbing and I dont' agree with it at all. I would be very upset with him and I don't know what I would do. I don't know if there is something in the divorce decree that you can do - have you talked to the therapist about these games.
5 is definately TOO young. Kids are impressionable and I think far too often adults blow off that they really aren't getting all the adult themes - sure they might not "get them" but they are leaving impressions and imprints in their minds. That is what bothers me.
Besides - rated M game or not....why is he not playing with his Dad ... why is a game his parent all week?
This is why kids are so detached, obese, and are all "ADD" - I hate those games. I think a little is ok but jeez....some kids sit in front of these games for hours and hours and hours.
I have a student who doesn't know how to socialize because all he does is play video games at home.
It is sad. Sorry to rant.
Re:5yr old plays rated M xbox game Runehawk: [quote author=Suddenly Single link=board=10;threadid=3514;start=0#msg49850 date=1103564906">
...BUT I am a teacher and I saw a gentlemen speak on video games of this sort and the relationship with mass killings like Columbine and Kentucky etc. [/quote">
<Rant:On> :-X
And the associations between video games and actual acts of violence are certainly as valid as, say, the connections between bubble-gum and spider eggs, or suicide and heavy metal music, or the Mozart effect, or, or....
<Rant:Off> :-X
Phew! Had to get off that rant before I burst in righteous indignation! - r
Re:5yr old plays rated M xbox game lifechange: LL,
You have no idea how much this topic ticks me off! My son is 6 and my stbx (who was more in love w/his x-box than me) allows my son to play Halo....but only when I am not around. It is such a huge fight between us. He doesn't think that there is anything wrong w/that, when I have shown him research and studies that show the effects. Ugh!
After I made huge waves (fits) about it, my stbx used to let my son just watch him play! I had to add to the demand that he not only be allowed to NOT play it, but he wasn't allowed to be in the room when anyone else was playing it. He's such an @ss!
I hate X-BOX!
lc
Re:5yr old plays rated M xbox game Suddenly Single: LC - what type of effects does it have on children??
Runehawk -
I never really thought about video games (violent or non-violent) really that much. But after seeing some of them - wow. I never thought there would be any type of connection or explanation either but it was VERY interesting and VERY eye opening. One of them is that the reason these kids in the school shootings, for example, were better marks than real police officers trained to kill. Why? Because they practice. These games are very desensitizing.
Since my move this summer I don't have most of my books unpacked but I will try to find the author for you.
And I do think students practicing to kill humans and shooting at humans does relate somehow to students actually shooting at humans and killing them - is it the ONLY factor...well know there is never just one factor in anything but it certainly is something we should think about and not dismiss.
I would think that especially at such a young age, such as 5 - this type of game would be very, very inappropriate and it is completely irresponsible and almost abusive to let someone so young watch it.
There are many things associated with violence and I really would think that violence would be associated with violence in no matter what form it took. Violent video games are have violence in them so the connection is just built in there!
Re:5yr old plays rated M xbox game Runehawk: [quote author=Suddenly Single link=board=10;threadid=3514;start=0#msg50365 date=1103731399"> ...the reason these kids in the school shootings, for example, were better marks than real police officers trained to kill. Why? Because they practice. [/quote">
Oooh, so close, but still misses the mark - yes, the Columbine kidz certainly did practice, but they practiced with REAL weapons, and not videogames. No amount of videogame sharpshooting is going to prepare you for the popping jump when a firearm is discharged in your hands; only hands-on practice will give you a skill of hitting your target.
Let me pre-empt those who wish to invoke the USArmy's videogame-based training: its situational training, not marksmanship. When to shoot and when not to shoot is the emphasis there.
Ah, but *now* you've hit the mark: "desensitizing". Even within the psychological community the concept remains controversial. How desensitized are you, what with the levels of media-based violence you've been exposed to over the years? Broadcast news, drama, movies, books: we live in a violence-saturated culture, no doubt. Has it driven you to do anything... unfortunate? I didn't think so.
Let's shift this a few degrees: would you approve of students practicing (real-life, not video) marksmanship on human-shaped sihouetted targets? Happens all the time in schools across the country, and yet we're not seeing continuing waves of tragic school shootings that this would then imply.
I agree that one should be careful around young impressionable minds; but there's a greater risk of exposure to violence in daily broadcast television and cable commercials than seen in most videogames, IMO.
Mind you, I'm not advocating that my 4yr old girl play "Vice City". But she has a good grasp on the difference between pretend violence and the real thing, and that *is* an important skill in todays' evolving world.
When I'm playing a game like 'Everything or Nothing', she knows who James Bond is, and she's been exposed to enough television to expect guns, girls, gadgets, and car chases when Daddy plays. (She likes driving in the game, too.) When she plays 'PacMan 3D', she knows she has to bounce on the monsters to make them 'go away.'
So far, this hasn't led to her bouncing atop other children to make them 'go away'. And I think that she's bright enough to know the difference. - r
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