Before and I go on for those that I don't know I take online classes through Penn State's World Campus so that this makes better sense.So, I my English Lit class...I freaking despise it.    I thought it would be fun.  I mean seriously....for this class I had to read mostly fantasy style books, talk about disturbing fables like Slender Man and the original versions of Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, before they were child friendly...oh and I got to watch Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc...  BUT...my professor teaches through youtube videos of an animated wizard and a goblin.  I HATE IT.  The wizard has a white beard and a a stupid purple/starry hat on.  Yeah those are his weekly lectures and I can't take it seriously, because it's his voice used over these things and it doesn't match up to the mouths and before you know it, I am sitting there browsing something else.  So anyway, each week there is a discussion that is moderated by two students who come up with the questions.  This week's topic is "Games and Gamers".  One of the student's topic question is "Being that the controversy on violence in video games is still an important debate, do you feel that video games are SOLELY to blame for causing increased aggression in gamers? Is this agression harmful to society? Think about the intense gamers who have previously acted out from the influence of such video games."  So after reading that, I don't even want to click on the responses because after reading the introductory forums from the first week I am the only gamer in this class.  Most of my classmates play D&D or that Magic card game thing.  Oh and there are a few Larpers.  So anyway, the first response from a classmate "I do believe that video games have incresed aggressive behavior in children and young adults. I feel that since they are being taught to shoot and kill to beat a video game they think that its okay to do in real life. I think that if young kids are playing violent games they should be observed and taught that this is not okay to do in real life and its only acceptable in video games. Also playing the video games allows them to see all the violence at a young age that maybe they aren't ready to see yet and can cause more questions about why it does happen in real life. it teaches them how to be "bad guys". Playing these types of games can be harmful to the society because it allows them to be able to do it on the tv so they might get the wrong impression and think it is okay to shoot and kill people. An example of one game is Call Of Duty. Examples of how this game has had a negative impact on society is the recent killings in Newtown, Connecticut and the "Batman" shooting in Colorado. Both of these shooters were supposedly avid game players".

 

I'm not shitting you, the replies that followed all agreed.  I cannot seriously believe that they are blaming these horrible shootings on video games.  So I'm like sitting here stewing quietly and want to take my 12 weeks of frustration over this class out in this one discussion.  It's like my classmates think that video games are training grounds for little murders.  Fucking uninformed idiots.  I want to tell them all to go back to throwing their imaginary "lightening bolts" like the dude below.

 

Wait...THESE kinds of people think that? The same peoples who's hobbies were previously villied in exactly the same way not that long ago? People are freaking stupid.

Pans right i rem when i played D&D we were on the watch em there gona snap list. Its the worlds way of blaming what goes wrong on somebody. He went loony there has to be a reason....cant just be he went loony. Fire away at em Si. Release your anger....turn to the dark side

Don't stew quietly. Start a debate. Seriously. They're going to stay ignorant if no one challenges their viewpoint. Columbine (for example) was blamed on Doom, Marilyn Manson and trenchcoats. None of these things made those kids snap. They were disturbed to begin with. They could have been reading Terry Prachett, watching MLP and listening to Hanson and they STILL would have been fucked up.  A person who has a warped mind is going to have a warped mind - a video game does not CREATE one. If that was the case, look at the statistic of how many gamers are out there, and how many serial killers should be running around slaughtering people.

 

Also, point out how historically games with senseless violence for no reason didn't fare well critically with players - Postal 2 and that one GTA style game where you beat people (state of emergency I think?) got horrible reviews. It's fun for about 5 minutes, then you get bored. 

 

If they still argue about it, and are DnD fans, show them this (lolololololol)

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP

I say this a lot, and I'm sorry you all have to keep reading it. lol

 

Popeye, The Three Stooges, Looney Toons, almost any fucking cartoon made from 1930 - today. This Earth should be crawling with psychopaths ranging in age from 7 - 80 years old. I mean, we're supposed to be parroting bad behavior, right? What's the difference in dropping a 3 ton weight onto a coyote's head, to running over a hooker in GTA? Both die. Both are clearly not real. And if we get the rebuttal -- A videogame you help control. A cartoon you just watch. Then I say this -- Where are all the SimCity structures at? Carmen San Diego would be found. Tetri would rule the landscapes. Earth would be dug up into many mines, leading no where and we'd be riding pigs. Sure, all I've pointed out is ridiculous. Video games causing violence is just as ridiculous.

 

I'll also counter with this. When I was a youngster, I was doing far more dangerous things than kids are doing today. Today's kids don't even go outside! I burned down a model train and its tracks in my basement using a lighter and Brut cologne. Not because of a cartoon I saw, and not because of a videogame (what videogame? Pong? lol). I did it because I was a latchkey kid and I was bored. I was also mad at my dad.

 

The only real thing that bothers me about video games, is, parents let their kids have the consoles and PC's in their bedrooms. That is where they do the most harm. That is where they're free to call you a "n00b fagg0t lawl lawl get good.".  Put that console and PC in the front room, and that'd never happen. Parents won't do it, though. But they're damn fucking quick to blame the video games for anything that comes up. It's also a bargaining tool. Do your homework or there's no video games for a week.

 

Ignorant people chiming in on things they don't know about make me violent. Tell your classmates that for me. lol

SO those that played pacman must be running around eating yellow pills in dark hallways......... right?

SO those that played pacman must be running around eating yellow pills in dark hallways......... right?

 

I see you beat me to it...