Im not sure what people think of the u.s. government but i think they are fakes. They always look for somthing to blame on the troubled youth.
50's it was elvis and after they it was comics and pop culture. Now a days though its video games.

If a kid commits a crime you can now expect a news caster to mention the kid play video games. As if millions of other kids dont and they are fine adjusted human beings. Its those damn video game though isent it though. Really in my opinon It is stupid people breeding.

The government is trying to pass a law stating that the sale of game to minors is illgal. They believe if that kid dosent get that copy of GTA 3 the streets are safer. Instead of checking his ID maybe his IQ should be checked. "Im sorry son but your pretty much a dumass, so i cant sell you this." The world would probably be better off this way.


Ok I have to write a paper for school about somthing that i think is a travisty by the government. This is just the beginning. What do you guys think? I know its a bit harsh but my teacher likes when I write like that because I "speak my mind" So what do you guys think?

well I agree to a lesser extent. i mean they do sometimes say this. But not always

A nine year old kid has no business playing GTA 3. More to the point, studies at Harvard and other universities have shown that children exposed to violence, both in video games and television, are much more likely to become desensitized to the violence---and be much more prone to commit violent acts themselves.

I also don't believe you can draw an analogy to Elvis. The institution that was 'America' during that time hated him on grounds that he was encouraging behavior that was 'innappropriate' in people---but what was innappropriate to the state was not neccessarily inappropriate to others. They were trying to define sexual morality.

I don't think there is anybody who believes children should be running around killing/hurting people, and like it or not these games encourage certain kids to do just that. Now, i agree, it is typically the idiots of the world that do this, but how is some 17 year old gaming employee supposed to know how stupid a kid is when he buys the game?

If you doubt the effects that desensititazion (is that a word?)of violence can cause on a culture examine East Asian history for the last three centuries.

And don't even get me started on television...MTV has turned American kids into a bunch of Sluts and Drug dealers (I exagerate of course...but not as much as I wish I was).

While violent video games or movies may drive a small number (of those who play them) to violence I think the Katharsis-effect is much greater.
Lots of people are able to get rid of their aggressions by speeding a virtual Porsche down a coastal road or maiming a virtual monster with a virtual chainsaw. These people/kids clearly outnumber the kids who are trying to recreate video game violence in real life. Games are for doing things you can't do IRL (literally, e.g. a 900 Benihana+Airwalk+Triple Kickflip) or aren't allowed to IRL (e.g. speeding, gunning down everybody who gives you a strange look). Be it abstract war games (chess, football,...) or reality-simulating games (i.e. video or PC games) they all contribute to leveling the aggression for most people instead of increasing it.

I'll go back to a comment I've made previously. At my brother's a few months ago, I played GTA3 for a couple of hours. When I went out to grab a bite for dinner, I was *NOT* my normal self while driving. It took a while to "detox" from the game and resume my normal behavior. Whether that's acceptible or scary is a different topic [img]smile.gif[/img]

Should games be banned? Nope. Is there a link between games and behavior? Yep. Should it be of concern? Yep, to the responsible person involved. That's the person themself, or their parent(s) if they are not able to be responsible yet.

Now, the news blaming everything on a kid who games... that's just fishing for a hook in the story. Out in this conservative mecca, they'd be sure to mention if the kid read Harry Potter...

...and looking that you're trying to gather material for a paper, then by all means, grab this as a topic. You can say your piece and have a good time at it, and you should still get at least a decent grade.

I would say that it totally depends on what type of characteryouare. if you can live a normal life outside of the gaming world, then no problem, but if you have problems sometimes separating reality from illusion then you should be careful about the amount of time you play.

Kids should not be barred from purchasing video games in general; however, they should be barred from buying excessively violent games or those that contain adult content. The rating system currently in place for video games is sufficient if followed properly by the appropriate people (retailers for example). Until a person is of legal age, there should be restrictions on what they can view/purchase, but their parents always have the authority to override these forms of control. A parent can still buy the games for their kids.

Its not only the u.s government...its the government in every country

It sounds actually like a pretty interesting paper to give in, and if you show both sides of the problem I think you hould get good marks.

When you think about it there have been D&D-type games designed for kids which involved nothing but violence. D&D is all about slaying and roleplaying a character that fights constantly.