Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked

[D-Bone]

PBS has a great article that everyone should read...

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

Here's a snipit:<blockquote>A large gap exists between the public's perception of video games and what the research actually shows. The following is an attempt to separate fact from fiction.

1. The availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence.

According to federal crime statistics, the rate of juvenile violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. Researchers find that people serving time for violent crimes typically consume less media before committing their crimes than the average person in the general population. It's true that young offenders who have committed school shootings in America have also been game players. But young people in general are more likely to be gamers ? 90 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls play. The overwhelming majority of kids who play do NOT commit antisocial acts. According to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General's report, the strongest risk factors for school shootings centered on mental stability and the quality of home life, not media exposure. The moral panic over violent video games is doubly harmful. It has led adult authorities to be more suspicious and hostile to many kids who already feel cut off from the system. It also misdirects energy away from eliminating the actual causes of youth violence and allows problems to continue to fester.</blockquote>

[Malice]

Wow, that was a fantastic read. I see video games being attacked in just the same manor as the way guns are attacked by the media and the left. If a game makes just one single person go crazy and go kill a bunch of people then we must outlaw all games because damit, we need to save them. Same thing with guns, if we can just save one single person from getting killed with a gun then its worth taking away all of them regardless of how many millions of people use them safely for fun and various other benign reasons. This is just absurd and I wish more people would take a few minutes to talk to a gamer or gun owner/user and see what they are like. Don't just take the actions of 1 lone sole that was fucked up to begin with as a representation of the masses. But the real question is how do we stop the media from portraying such things. No one turns on the news to see nice things anymore, its all about where the destruction is locally, nationally and accross the world. We are an a vicious cycle but how to correct it? Figure that one out and you will be a true Patriot to this country. I think thats enough for now. I could really go on about this for several hours. I just realized this really needs to be in the soapbox section but hey its a reply to a chat post so there. :D

[D-Bone]

The first step to correcting it has been initiated by the studs over at Penny Arcade.

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

[{OOE}Death]

Heh if what some people believe about guns and video games were true I would have long since been put away for either murder or insanity. As it stands I have yet to harm anyone with a fire arm or a game.