Unit 2, Issue 5

"Do Video Games Encourage Violent Behavior?"

Reading through both answers - yes and no - I would have to say that I agree more with "yes". One of the eye catching things Anderson stated was, "...The active role required by video games is a double-edge sword. It helps educational video games be excellent teaching tools for motivational and learning process reasons. But it also may make violent games even more hazardous than violent television or cinema" (pg 94). Through this statement alone I realized something i had never before. Many people may come to defend video games - such as Jenkins - in saying there isn't an effect on violence in the lives of the kids or teenagers growing up, but then how can educational videos have a positive effect? 

I do feel like "encourage" is a strong word for the effect violent video games have on behavior. I would use more like "demonstrate", "portray", or even "teach", because at the end, most people are visual learners and we retain more information if we SEE it instead of just hear it. If violence in movies and video games - or any form of media - didn't have an effect on the behavior we may pick up, then why are things rated? Wouldn't a child be able to go in and see a "rated R movie for violence" if it didn't have an effect on them? Parents clearly take care of their children and do not want them influenced by watching violent behavior or playing violent video games because, lets admit, most children imitate just about anything as they are learning new things. 

Something that Jenkins pointed out was that the "strongest risk factors...was centered on mental stability and the quality of home life" (pg. 99), which i think is a very valid statement! But although these children may have not been so direct in touch with the media - or violence portrayed in media - through the years, videos do raise stability in their behaviors and encourages them to view the "wrong" as being "normal and right". 

So i would say that violent video games don't necessarily encourage the behavior, but instead it has the tendency to influence the wrong from being viewed as fun and games. Just as many come to learn positive and educational things through many video games, others don't see how serious violence can be in real life, as opposed to what is "played" on the tv screen.