Study Says Kids Like 'M' Rated Games 102
Ars Technica's science blog, Nobel Intent, has a post up on a study done by the Journal of Adolescent Health. The report attempted to gauge usage levels of violent videogames among young people in the US. The results are unsurprising to anyone who's ever worked in a second-hand game store: "Most boys, and many girls, played games that the ESRB had rated M, signifying that they were for mature audiences only. Of the games played by the boys, Grand Theft Auto and Halo were both in the top three, and GTA was also the 2nd most played game by girls, according to the data. Over half of all boys agreed with the statement 'I play electronic games because I like guns and weapons.' On the other hand, over 60 percent of boys and girls agreed with the statement 'I play electronic games because there's nothing else to do.'"
Breaking news.....! (Score:5, Funny)
They also like (Score:5, Funny)
Re:They also like (Score:5, Funny)
( . Y . )
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Ob. Zapp Brannigan-ism (Score:1)
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Re:They also like (Score:5, Insightful)
This is quite easily demonstrated by movie ratings. The SAW movies? Rated R meaning you have to be 17 years old to see people thrown into a giant vat of hypodermic needles or have their heads sliced in half or watch then tear out their own eyeball with a razor or have their entire head juiced by a top-only iron maiden. You can see this if you are under 17 as long as you bring an adult with you who can explain why someone is hacksawing their own foot off.
On the other hand, show a vagina? Instant NC-17 (good luck being shown in theaters), meaning your film can only be seen by adults, even if you have a guardian. After all, one can explain to a teenager why someone is ripping another person's heart right out of their ribcage, but you obviously can't possibly explain why a female would have an unclothed vagina in the shower.
So why is violence acceptable everywhere but in video games?
And really, why are people shocked?! Little boys play cops and robbers and love guns and weapons and military stuff as soon as they're able to walk.
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Because in the movies, the "good" guy always wins. The games allow you to be and root for the "bad" guy. Violence is okay, and in fact encouraged when the authorities can control how and where it's directed. You create winning armies when you can control a persons most primal desires for sex and power. Keep 'em dumb and horny(and throw in some alcohol) makes for a very aggressive, mean fighting machine. The games take away this control.
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Burning Books (Score:5, Insightful)
The simple reason why video games are a target is that most soccer mom's don't play video games any more complex the Snood or Bejeweled. It is an easy point to score to say that you want to save the children by setting up a government censorship board that will police your children when you are not doing it. Granted, no one says it in terms of 'government censorship board' because somewhere in the minds of voters they might actually start to see this as a violation of free speech. This is also why we don't see anyone running trying to put in laws setting up a body to censor books. If someone advocated rating and censoring books, even the dullest of Americans might realize that they are getting their free speech stomped on and react negatively.
The simple fact is that a disturbing amount of Americans don't recognize new media as speech. They recognize that a book is a form of speech that is protected, but fail to appreciate that a video game (or going back a few years, comic books and D&D) are ALSO forms of speech that need to be protected from government regulation and censorship.
People tend to be weak on principles and only perk up when they feel personally threatened. People will vote down the legalization of marijuana because they don't smoke, but would riot and start lynching politicians if alcohol was banned. People will vote for the right to have an abortion when they are young and having promiscuous sex and fear an unplanned pregnancy, but turn around when they are 50, in menopause, and couldn't have a child if they wanted to and vote against it. People will vote to increase taxes for schools when they have kids, and vote against them once the little buggers are out the door.
The hubbub about violent video games is just another example of this self interest untempered by principle. Advocating rating and censoring books for 'violent content' or sex and you would be crucified and thrown out of office. Do the same thing for video games and your average 40 something mom or dad who struggles to get the photos off of their digital camera will happily pat the politician on the back for doing something 'for the children'.
So, why are video games so easy to kick down? Because not enough of the voting population plays video games and people are too dense or indifferent to realize that free speech applies to all speech, not just the speech that they personally consume.
Thankfully, we have a constitution that recognizes that people are stupid and democracies do a mediocre job at best protecting minorities. We (Americans at least) live in a country that while democratic in nature is blessedly NOT a democracy where majority rules. Stuff like anti-video game crusading that the courts have valiantly stopped cold using the Bill of Rights is a civics lesson on why anything approaching pure democracy is an invitation to tyranny by the political majority.
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Didn't the same things get said about "romance" books when the printing press was first invented that people today are saying about video games? Oh, its differnet now because its interactive. You're not really do anything reading a book like using your imagination or anything.
Featured Slashdot post (Score:2)
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You wanna bet? Lots of Americans don't read. All the media they ingest (movies, videogames, TV) is already censored. If someone came along advocating ratings for books, arguing that TV, movies, and videogames were already rated, who would argu
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It seems like neither you nor the parent poster is considering the fact (or did not mention it--but I think it's worth mentioning) that book censorship, banning, outrage, and restricting access by minors to some books has a long history predating these other media, both in the United States and other countries; and continuing to the present day.
They're not "going to come after our books" if they follow their logic; they've been coming after our books for centuries. Free speech is something that wants defe
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Democracy is not Liberal (Score:4, Insightful)
A Republic with a strong constitution is an inherently undemocratic form of government. It is more 'democratic' than a dictatorship to be sure, but the Bill of Rights for instance is an inherently undemocratic document. The Bill of Rights sets out rights and rules that everyone will receive, regardless if the majority finds it prudent or not. It is an inherently undemocratic document in that it takes FAR more then a simple majority to overturn something like freedom of speech. 51%, 60%, or 65% of the population could vote to revoke the 1st amendment and they would fail. Hell, even with a super majority of 100% of the population begging the government to repeat the first amendment, it would still take a bare minimum years to move the process through. Undemocratic? Sure? One of the pillars keeping society liberal and free (even if not democratic)? Hell yes.
Democracy does not promise a liberal (and I use that in the traditional sense of the word) or free society. Democracy is just a nice clean way to transfer power and run day to day affairs. Non-democratic processes are what protect a liberal and free society from people like Hillary Clinton or the Right-Wing-Nutjob-of-the-Week from setting up a government censorship board.
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Except if it's to save the children or kill terrorists (bonus if it's both!).
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The simple reason why video games are a target is that most soccer mom's don't play video games any more complex the Snood or Bejeweled
Not only that, but I would argue that video games are still looked upon as simply children's games by the vast majority of people, even if they are rated Mature. For that reason they are continually going to be marginalized by many adults.
Until we have what are the equivalent of great literary works, constitutions, social commentaries, documentaries, or works of art in the video game format (yes, I know, many gamers argue that we do, but that hasn't caught on), or until they have a serious application in
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Re:They also like (Score:4, Funny)
Ah, those were the days.
Oh no, game weapons!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh no, they get access to video game guns and weapons! Quick, kick the power cable of that cursed thing and throw it in the garbage bin!
Then send the kid to play outside, with
Wait a sec...
Re:Oh no, game weapons!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Oh no, game weapons!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Adolescents feel like they need to prove their maturity all the time. Mature games/movies/books/etc are just a few ways they can wave the 'adult' flag around.
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Just don't give them any toy guns or weapons. Then at least they get some mental stimulation while they make weapons out of sticks and Lego (US translation: Legos).
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I remember when I was a child of 6 or 7 (it would have been around 1988), when 'violent' video games were, for the most part, limited to Duck Hunt and Mario stomping on little mushroom people many mothers, including my own, despised the idea of their sons playing with toy guns.
My violent entertainment at the time was WWF wrestling and Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles. It created a personal problem for my mother who didn't like me watching those s
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Then send the kid to play outside, with ... toy guns and weapons...
When I was a kid my mother wouldn't let me have any toy guns (she actually sent several gifts over the years back to the giver) because she thought this was the magic key to raising an upstanding member of society. Of course, this didn't stop me from playing guns - it just meant that I was known in the neighborhood as the loser who either borrowed a gun from someone else or pretended his hockey stick was gun.
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Re:They like R-rated movies too (Score:5, Funny)
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I own a 3.5 million bell house (Score:2)
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Playing the "Grownup" Game (Score:5, Insightful)
Why do you think the main readers of "Seventeen Magazine" are considerably below 17 years of age? Why is the average patron at the clothing shop "Forever 21" is in high school? Why do you think little girls dress up baby dolls and play house?
Kids like things that are for "grownups". It's just the way things work, across the board. They think "I'm too grown up for the little kid stuff, give me the big kid stuff!" It's human nature.
Also, adolescents, in my experience, tend to put a great deal of stock in their maturity (in some cases). Most tend to think that they're mature enough to handle anything. Labelling a game "Mature" doesn't exactly deter those trying to prove their maturity.
I hope this report doesn't spur on a backlash of some sort. I'd hope most people are smart enough to realize that this is just another example the compulsion younger people have to identify with things they percieve as for "older" kids. But I'm an optimist.
Hope that made sense.
/captain obvious, signing off
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And movies have provided a nonstop buffet of violence - horror films, action films, you name it. In all ratings except G (and even then - some Disney movies have fighting afterall). And they have BEEN REALISTIC for years. Hell, it goes back to the
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Seriously, did you even read the post you were responding to? Never did he say that kids going to the Colosseum was a good thing. All he did was point out that humans (which includes children) have been seeking out, participating in, and playing about violence for a very long time. The point was that we have always sought such diversions, long before video games came into being and t
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Manjula: Apu, they're doing it again.
[the babies begin to wrestle with one another]
Apu: Okay, okay, break it up. [gently breaks up the
fight by nudging the babies with his foot]
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It's not so much that they want it because the adults have it, they want it because they are being told they can't have it. It's the same reason adults buy lottery tickets and envy guys like Bill Gates for managing to strike it rich. Conversely, how often do guys like Bill Gates end up being bored because they've fin
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Now my good man... (Score:5, Funny)
Pokemon!
Pokeymon? Pokeymon! With the Pokey and the Mon and the thing with a guy comes out of the thing and makes a fwagwagwahah!
A word from a parent (Score:5, Insightful)
Get involved, come up with a hobby you can do together. Go hiking. Hunt used bike parts on the net and build a couple of custom mountain bikes for you and the kid. Figure out what really interests them and dig up books which are on the subject. Organize movie nights with borderline-too-mature movies and discuss afterwards, empowering them to process stuff which is a little too heavy.
I'm not saying it's easy, but I will say it's possible.
A word from a non-parent (Score:1, Flamebait)
I'm an adult.
I can't understand why you had 'em in the first place, it's not like Earth needs more people.
Stop breeding already.
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Stop posting already.
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I've got 2
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I also advocate compulsory, reversible, sterilisation of all pre-teens. Perhaps implants would do the job. Then people only get their fertility back once they have turned 21 and/or passed suitable training courses.
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Also it's a Strawman argument unless you are advocating the elimination of the birth control pill as well.
Contraception and disease control are two different things. Only one form of contraception has any role in disease control, and it happens to be the least effective form. If you read the stats you'll see that the risk of unwanted pregnancy doesn't seem to be slowing the randy little buggers down at the m
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Yeah that'd be a big drawback, what with that abstinence thing being so popular with kids these days.
Around here, abstinence is at a near-100% rate. You can say this has to do with social factors, but for some, it's compounded by the fact that they don't want to yet be a father.
"Normal society" is half-abstinent. While the age for initiation is on the low side, it's above the age of consent for most places. Read what you will here: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/PUBLICATIONS/fact sheet/fsprotective.htm [advocatesforyouth.org]
Also it's a Strawman argument unless you are advocating the elimination of the birth control pill as well.
Yes, I'm opposed to the pill as well, on moral grounds. This is another story.
It's not a true str
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However, since we are getting all deep and meaningful about this, I will respond. I'll try to keep the hand waving and generalisations to a minimum, but I'm afraid it is that sort of debate.
First to address the points you raised.
I can't refute the anecdotal evidence relating
Re:A word from a parent (Score:5, Insightful)
Most kids don't have yards or at least not yards big enough to enjoy.
It's all find to tell kids to "go out and play!", but what are they supposed to do in that postage-stamp sized plot of grass you have for them in your suburban neighborhood?
People are squirting out kids when they can't afford a home with plenty of property for a child to really enjoy their childhood. They are scared by the news that their kid is going to be molested or killed if they go anywhere on their own, like taking the bus to the library. Parents are too busy pulling in double incomes so they can afford that speed boat they take out every year for two days.
Videogames and television are a way they can keep the kids out of their hair and off the streets. At least, until we can invent some sort of space-tech that lets your children incubate in a giant pull-out drawer until they're 18 and you can just unplug them from the nutrition tube and wash your hands of them.
Re:A word from a parent (Score:5, Insightful)
I still think that the vast majority of the cases are more about lazy parents than something else.
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To be fair, I know its hard to work out good work arrangements these days, as well as good fair prices for rent or home purchases in conjunction with raising a child, but its a lot more to do with prio
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As another parent, I would have to say, it probably doesn't make a difference one way or the other. Whether the child plays in the park or plays GTA matters not one whit.
Psychologically maybe it doesn't matter, but in my opinion it definitely matters physically. Kids today are so freakin' out of shape and over weight that many of them will be lucky to make it out of college if they don't change their lifestyle.
Except people did bad things way before mass media. More boogeymen blown way out of proportion so that people will overlook the simplest explanation that our collective and individual psyches are totally warped from day one.
True, but I'd have to say that parents can actually prevent some of the psyches from being totally warped. But some of them aren't cut out for it.
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If you posed the same question as "Do you play football because there's nothing else to do?" you might get a similar percentage! Kids will very quickly see the current activity as the only one being worth spending time on. If you give them a series of questions about video games, they will imagine themselves playing their favourite video game, and find it hard to imagine "so
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This is news? (Score:1)
It's About Time! (Score:1)
Has Psychology Today weighed in? (Score:3, Funny)
why do you play video games? (Score:1)
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In this day and age, a young child is exposed to violence on television, in movies, and in video games. Much emphasis is placed on the glory and excitement of opening fire on the enemy with oversized gatling guns and flashy rocket launchers, but no parent is willing to do much more than say "violence is bad" to counteract it.
A psychopath is a psychopath, but some children are turning into them who didn't have to because of the way they're raised. (I almost did.) Images that should be disturbing are now com
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Also, from a Darwinian perspective, it seems strange to emphasize same-species killing over reproduction.
Guns & Weapons (Score:4, Funny)
Over *half*? What's wrong with the rest of them?
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See also: Playboy (Score:2)
In other news, studies (when I was a kid) show that kids like to look at Playboy ...
insufficent (Score:4, Insightful)
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Quality of the games? (Score:2)
It seems to me that quality of the game has a bigger impact on the games that people (including kids) will seek out than the rating.
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Meh. (Score:1)
"Nothing else to do?" (Score:2)
Our race is doomed.
And any moron can tell you that labeling something "mature" or "for adults only" is the best way to attract children to it.
I'm surprised (Score:1)
Now, that *half* the kids are saying they play them because they can't think of ANYTHING better to do? Oh man, we are doomed.