Subject:
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Re: Children and Violence
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 2 Oct 2001 00:06:32 GMT
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Viewed:
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438 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Frank Filz writes:
> Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> > In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> >
> > > What, in your mind, is the difference between playing graphically violent
> > > video games and playing cops'n'robbers or cowboys'n'indians as far as that
> > > goes? Particularly in the latter example, isn't it just celebrating the
> > > abuse of others? I guess at least you're getting excercize...
> >
> > This is a great question!
> >
> > A few days/weeks back Dan J, when asked about Hamas and Hezbollah training
> > kids with tinfoil wrapped wooden knives to kill Israeli soldiers, responded
> > that it was the same (or essentially the same) as American kids playing
> > violent video games.
> >
> > Is that valid? Is there a difference in kind there somewhere or is it just
> > degree? I think there IS a difference in kind but can't point to the exact
> > border point.
>
> One difference I see "in kind" is the "training" aspect of it. When I
> played cowboys and indians or whatever as a kid (actually, I think I did
> more "allies vs axis" WWII play than cowboys and indians), I was not
> being taught by my elders that violence was an acceptable means of
> dealing with life.
This IS a great question, and I have trouble putting my finger on the
difference too. Actually I'm not terribly familiar with many video games at
all, so most of what I have heard is secondhand (and I prefer to keep it that
way). My impression is that when they are played, there is great emphasis on
the actual act of violence-- it's not simply "Bang, you're dead," and the act
itself is over with.
Another aspect of this whole thing is the conflict between good and evil and
how it is treated. When kids played cowboys and indians before the days of
political correctness, it was clear that there were good guys and bad guys, and
the play as I saw it centered around the struggle between them. There also
seemed to be an underlying code of justice to be adhered to. (These are my
impressions-- CMIIW, I was actually playing with my Barbies in those days.)
> > For the record we have had a policy of no toy guns or knives in our house,
> > although it has had some leakage (the LEGO(r) Pirates have guns and
> > cutlasses, as do the Wild West guys and the Ninjas, etc.), it has held
> > fairly well. But we had some other leakage with video games. We don't have
> > Doom or Quake but we DO have Super Smash Brothers (it was bought without my
> > knowledge or approval but I haven't had the heart (or willpower?) to take it
> > away) on the n64...
> >
> > I think it worked pretty well as a policy but my kids still do beat on each
> > other.
>
> I'm pretty ambivalent about toy weapons. I always had them, and played
> various games all through my childhood.
> I think what is more important is to look at how the child is playing.
> If the violence is mostly just in the roughhousing category, or doesn't
> seem to intense or directed inappropriately (not that I know how to
> define that, but I think I know it when I see it), then I think it is
> best to let it go. If it seems out of hand, then it may be time for a
> talk with the child to try and find out what the real issue is.
Yeah, if kids are going to act aggressively they will do it whether or not they
have an Ogel Control Center as a prop. My boys set up their new HP sets (4721,
4722, and 4705) over they weekend, then connived me into letting them use my
4702 and 4723 in their new "wizard town". I heard crashing noises downstairs
and discovered they were "bombing" the town with Knex wheels (the heavy ones).
I then had to rescue my Hermione minifig from a hit and run incident with a Hot
Wheel vehicle (one of my rare airplane torsos was cracked that way)-- my
Quirrell fig is now missing-- he probably got thrown behind the furniture on
impact-- and when the Knex wheels were confiscated the kids switched to
shooting rubberbands to damage the town. I guess you can add that to the
anecdotal evidence (not to be oxymoronic!) that certain tendencies are innate.
Maggie (frazzled? who, me?)
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Children and Violence
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| (...) Maggie -- these kids need light guns. The time has come. I recommend a Sega Dreamcast system, and these three titles: House of the Dead 2, Confidential Mission, and Death Crimson OX. For what it's worth, all three games feature female and male (...) (24 years ago, 2-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Children and Violence
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| (...) One difference I see "in kind" is the "training" aspect of it. When I played cowboys and indians or whatever as a kid (actually, I think I did more "allies vs axis" WWII play than cowboys and indians), I was not being taught by my elders that (...) (24 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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