Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Violence in video games and young people.

I am starting to see more and more articles about teens commiting crimes and it's blamed on violent video games.
In my opinion, it simply shows how the society degrades. Parents refuse to take responsibility for their children. I also noticed that many people do not spend enough (if any) time with their children, and then when they're not happy about their dear one's behaviour, they blame everything on movies/games/society.
Note: "Society" being a very obscure therm as every person is the part of the "society".
I believe it was the reason why Germany has prohibited the selling of action games to minors.
There is this article
Which is an example of what I mean in my post.

http://lariancom.siteprotect.net/ub...&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

I see a storm coming take cover.

i think the parents have something to do with it, but i don't think thats the only reason. i definitely don't think the just because kids play violent video games, wear black and listen to marilyn manson means they're going to go on a shooting rampage. i think these kids have issues that they don't know how to deal with and for some reason or another they don't have anyone to talk to. in that article, they said the boy never went outside and just sat on the computer all day. i think thats somewhat of a sign that something is wrong.
but it depends on a lot of things. obviously someone who thinks they can solve their problems by going on a murder/suicide spree has a mental instability. the article says the boy became withdrawn after his mother died. don't you think someone should have realized that maybe he needed to talk out a few issues? i think that not only is that a failing of his father, but also of the other people close to him or that see him on a regular basis, ie: grandparents, aunts/uncles, teachers, etc.

i don't think it's so much as how a kid is raised (as long as it's a somewhat decent job), but how others react to dramatic changes. well, thats not really what i mean.... i don't know how to say it. people do dramatic things like that because they need attention. somewhere, they aren't getting the attention and affection they need. isolation can do crazy things to a person.

*edit*
hmm, i seem to have missed that entire topic virgo posted. where was i? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ouch.gif" alt="" /> or, rather, where was it? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

voilence on tv and young poeple sigh..

Ever played voilent games? point and click and a whole lot of blood.

Ever seen voilent movies? You can see much more voilence, you much better how to immitate it and so on.

If you imitate that voilence from the movies in games, what's wrong with that. Games should be a way to free your agression not the other way around. If you get voilent because of loosing an online game, you would prolly have done the same thing when you looseat monopoly, ban monopoly??

What surprised me was:
The kid's father keeps a bloody armory!
"Police said they had recovered two .30-30 rifles, a shotgun, two handguns, two swords, knives, and 2,000 rounds of ammunition."
Does he fear Alien Attacks or what?

Virgo, I don't get it.

i don't believe that violence games will make children do bad things
Even children know the differents between good and bad.
If you had a bad youth full of violence and you grow up you still know what is good or bad.
All the people who kill other people for money or just for fun are not 100% normal.
I believe and this is my opinion, so don't go hard on me <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" /> , that some people are born with a error in the brain....
So what i try to say is, that games don't make people evil, they are born with it.
Every body know what is good or bad

Darkfall, I'm sorry, but I don't believe in your brain theory = it's too easy.

From what I read in this article, my assumptions:
unfriendly environment (school?)
emotional and physical abandonment in the family (father concentrating on younger son, sister died, mother died) = where were positive adults????
no shining example for learning how to deal with conflicts in a constructive way (being mute) = if no one is there to listen or teach this = violence can (must not always be) be the only "solution". <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" />
isolation - as Faile mentioned
opportunity to get weapons

conclusion:
unfriendly, cold and lonely reality lead to an escape into fiction. In their fantasies they became heroes (Warriors of freedom) - and then fiction took over = outburst into violation, an explosion.

There are many bricks necessary to build a house, not only one. So, age rating - sue violent games/movies - maybe even a stricter weapon law = useless in this case, IMO. The other "bricks" leading to this deadly cocktail of boiling up violence are too strong.

It's a tragedy - many seem to have failed there and oversaw what was cooking up. And as I wrote in the other thread before: It's always easier to blame something than looking at one's own part.
Kiya

We had a similar large tragedy in Germany last year: 18 people were killed with a pump gun/pistol/500 shot ammo. 13 teachers, 1 secretary, 2 pupils, one officer and the murderer himself (suicide) - he was 19 yrs old. It was like Counterstrike in reality. He was thrown out of school (faked exams? - problems with parents etc.) The school laws in this state are very hard: He had no degree at all - no future. Well, and some politicians here reacted like the Miami lawyer in the US case = games (Counterstrike) was blamed - easy, hm? The commitee in charge of youth protection voted no, was not banned, in spite of public pressure and coming from the German Chancellor, too.

why doe those things always happen in the USA?

"Get of my lawn or I'll shoot!"

Poeple tend to choose the easy way out, suicide and taking those responsible with you. Blaming it on movies/games is the easy way out.

Banning COunterstrike won't help a thing, what's next? banning Sim City because kids make drawings of their cities in class instead of paying attention?

It's even scientific proven that strategic and tactical games improve childrens ability to think, logic etc.

I'll vote a law that forbids parents to go out so they would leave their children alone doing bad things on the internet.

Dragh: Counterstrike was NOT banned in Germany. I brought up this game in my example of what happened last year here.


IMO, we need more mediation (not meditation <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> - a sort of counselling ) - more training in non-violent methods of solving conflicts. All parts of our society dealing with kids/youths (teachers, educators, parents, libraries, social workers, adults in general, politicians etc.) should pay more heed to this and inform - care to be informed instead of just blaming.

And stricter weapon laws? We've got pretty strict laws here in Germany - and this still happens. No, laws won't help alone, they don't change opinions - we need more.
Kiya

Totally...... why should everyone be allowed to own a gun anyway?
just because they pass some test saying they know how to "handle" a firearm,
it's just too easy, we need people to get off their duffs and start to recognize what's going on in this world of ours..
...future generations will know nothing, do nothing, and not even care about it!
La-De-Da.....let's just carry on the way we are going and try not to step on too many peoples toes!...
Ya, OK...... when the f... are people going to start taking responsibility for their own actions.......
"oh,.ozzy's song made me do it"!..
.."oh, that movie....made me do it"?
"oh, that boy ate too much chocolate and went on a rampage"....let's sue hersheys!
oh, this girl listened to "white rabbit" and put the baby she was babysitting in the oven! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
people are getting away with way too much these days....but .... nobody ever wants to be responsible for it!!

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

Ok here is my theory. When a person spends no time developing their social skills for whatever reason. Video games, scared of the sun, picked on...you name the situation it doesnt matter. Someone in that young persons life needs to tell them, make them, whatever it takes to get them out interacting with other people. I play ALOT of games....probably too many. But when I was young I loved to be outside...and if I didnt my parents would have made me. All I am saying is that bonds between people have degraded so much in the last fifteen years with the development of games, importance of jobs and promotion, 800000 channels on tv, that the importance of personally experiencing things has gone thru the floor...ie if I see it on TV I have experienced it....

Reality Check...THOSE ARE ACTORS...they are acting not actually experiencing it. I dont care how many times you have seen someone deal with death in tv or whatever if in your personal life you havent even dealt with getting in a fight with a friend or going out and losing your keys at the bar how can you be expected to deal with seriously traumatic experienced in your life.

I believe and try to stress in my actions and words the importance of social development in everyone, you dont even have to be good at it...but being alone will drive ANYONE to do things that are completely wreckless and crazy. Being alone in a time of hardship is the worst experience a person can have.

Can anyone here come up with a situation worse than...

Being a prisoner separated from your collueges and not knowing what is happening around you. Being beaten and shamed with no outlet. A mind cannot function properly with out the help of guidance from other minds.

This is why when I see a person with a legitimate problem even on this forum I try to help...I dont believe that this is a great local for that kind of support but it is infinatly better than no support at all.

*deep breath*

Ok so back to topic. While games can be a track for an unguided mind to stumble down it is no cause of violence. Blame lies with the individual for not developing their mind and the people around the person for not helping them to do that.


Have a good weekend Ill be gone.