Weekly debate 3#: Are games really to blame?

[bignds]

its been going on for some months now, tailing all the way back to the end of 2003. yes i am talking about the media and press blaming real life violence on video games. it seems if there is some teenager messing around with a shotgun or trying to suffocate someone with a plastic bag there recreatinga scene from "manhunt" or some other 18 rated game.
but honestly people are games really to blame?
i mean they have an 18 rating for some reason, and even after that anyone in their right mind would not act out something from a game in real life. the person actually has to be insane to act out said crime, you cant just play a game of gta or something and say "oh i feel like getting a gun and take shots at passer byes today" can you?
and now everytime someone sees a crime that even remotely reflects game violence, blaming it on the video game industry is the defual thing to do.
lets here your thoughts people.

its called bad parenting

if your kid is stupid enough to try to pull some insanely stupid stunts from a video game, either you screwed up big time as a parent, or he literally has mental problems.

[bignds]

that pretty much summed up my opinions^^^
then they cover up their bad parenting by blaming it on the games. but then it goes back to them, i mean who gives them the money to buy and who is ment to look after them?

[Neumie]

I also agree. parents have to be held responsible for their childrens behavior. Its not like the industry is forcing 18s games down childrens throats. On the contrary they're trying to keep games like GTA out of childrens hands. But they cant do anything if the childrens parents are buying these games for them. I also think retail stores should be repremanded for selling adult games to children. Probably a fine. This is happening in britain as far as i know and hopefully is happening everywhere.
But what the media propose is just plain silly. If we go on their lines then maybe we should ban 15 and 18 movies. Oh and books with certain content like violence should be banned too. And there are so many music videos that should be banned for having nearly naked women and influencing young minds. The idea is silly.

[Lkr]

a lot of bad parenting around here. There are 3 year olds with M rated games, and there always asking me if i want to play, and i say no. i tell them my parents would kill me if i played an M rated game. and i dont wanna tell them that their parents are nutcases. even though it is the truth. I mean, 3 year-olds playing GTA? outrageous

[bignds]

i dont really think it matters what age you play gta (but 3 y/o? thats jus stupid) but it depends in what state of mind the person is in, i started playing gta when i was 12 and it didnt even occur to me that someone could think of doing such actions in real life. it boils down to knowing whats right and wrong.

i doubt if you're 5 you have the state of mind to play GTA, so it really does have a lot to do with age.

[Pilot_51]

I agree, parents are to blame in such cases. I play violent games all the time, although not as violent as the 3D GTA games, I manage to keep good thoughts and never reenact something bad from a game, maybe one reason is because I'm a gamer and not a retarded person that plays games just for the violence. I believe the possibility of games giving people the idea to kill, but anyone in the right mind wouldn't do it, it doesn't take much thinking to realise you would be thrown in jail and could be there for life or possibly a death sentance. Law enforcement has become incredibly strict to prevent people from breaking the law, but it's not helping because most people that break the law don't think of the likely consequences before doing it.
The media is also to blame since most all they report on is bad news and much of which is cases of violence, showing the actions whenever they have pictures or video of it. Movies, music, and even books could be just as much at fault, with the exception of interactivity.
The primary prevention is to have good parents in control so they don't end up raising someone bound for jail or hell.

[BlackLink75]

Yeah its all the parents fault, or the kids are just on drugs and try to act out halo or something....

Bad parenting. Honestly, what sound-minded parent would allow their children to play mature titles without the proper supervision. Laziness (sp?) is what it is. Parents prefer giving their children games and cable TV so they will hush up and let them do other things. But really, there is no way to avoid violence. It's everywhere - thanks in large part to the mainstream media. It just takes proper parenting to help your child differentiate between proper behavior and violent behavior. The state of mind would be somewhere like "Woah, I just killed three cops! But I'd never do that in real life."

But you can't really stop parents from exposing their children to violence. Only they can. I think it's just ridiculous, though, that they can blame video games for their children's violent behavior. There is much, MUCH more realistic violence in movies and on television these days. "Oh, I'd never let my child watch an R-rated movie or a mature television program," they say. But then there they go buying a GTA title for their children without even thinking about the game's title or rating. It comes to a point where I just have to say.... "WTF?!"

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My post was all over the place. :P