Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Games Entertainment

Kaiser Foundation Shows Little Video Game Violence Concern 39

Posted by Zonk from the parents-with-their-heads-screwed-on-straight dept.
Thanks to EvilAvatar for the heads up about a new Kaiser Foundation study showing that parents are simply not worried about video game violence. "Overall parents are more concerned about inappropriate content on TV than in other media: 34% say TV concerns them most, compared to 16% who say the Internet, 10% movies, 7% music, and 5% video games."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Kaiser Foundation Shows Little Video Game Violence Concern More

Kaiser Foundation Shows Little Video Game Violence Concern

Comments Filter:

  • Concerned about what's on tv? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sparkie ( 60749 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @09:35AM (#10556087) Homepage
    If parents would be a little more concerned with their children, rathar than concerned about what's on TV, then there'd be no problem.

    i.e. watch your own kids and the tv won't have to baby sit for you.

  • Thanks Janet (Score:5, Funny)

    by StocDred ( 691816 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @09:36AM (#10556093) Homepage Journal
    Special thanks to Janet Jackson's tit for taking the heat off of us for a while.
    • I was offended that her breast wasn't very attractive.
    • "One specific incident that sparked a great deal of controversy - the Janet Jackson incident at this year's Super Bowl - was of less concern to parents with only 17% "very" concerned about the impact of the incident on their children." Did the heat really get taken off us? I think all this bull shit is being overblown by lawyers and politicians...

  • This happens every couple years... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by vasqzr ( 619165 ) <vasqzr@nosPAM.netscape.net> on Monday October 18, 2004 @09:42AM (#10556128)
    Remember Mortal Kombat? Night Trap?

    Date: Wed, 1 Dec 93 11:21:59 PST

    WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., supported by
    television's gentle ``Captain Kangaroo,'' said Wednesday the video game
    industry is contributing to violence in America with its graphic
    depictions of force and sex and warned it to regulate itself before the
    federal government does.
    ``We're talking about video games that glorify violence and teach
    children to enjoy inflicting the most gruesome forms of cruelty
    imaginable,'' Lieberman said.
    Lieberman, 51, the father of four children, said he will introduce
    legislation calling on the video game industry to set up a uniform,
    credible system to warn parents about the content of such games as
    ``Mortal Kombat'' and ``Night Trap.''
    Shown at a news conference, ``Mortal Kombat'' involves a martial
    contest with blood gushing from a fighter's head, and the winner
    decapitating his opponent, then displaying the head attached to a spinal
    cord. ``Night Trap'' involves hooded men seizing a sorority woman in her
    nightgown and draining her blood.

    Every couple years a game comes out and people try to put blame on it. More kids have killed each other imitating 'pro wrestling' than video games.

    You don't see anyone trying to shut down the WWE, do you?

    • Re:This happens every couple years... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Otter ( 3800 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @10:05AM (#10556289) Journal
      You don't see anyone trying to shut down the WWE, do you?

      The WWE has toned their act down considerably in the last year, under FCC pressure. They get plenty of complaints, from both the right and left.

      I used to watch semi-regularly but it got so repulsive a few years ago that I just couldn't stomach it anymore. As a parent, I'd be far less likely to let young kids watch pro wrestling than play almost all video games.

    • Don't forget about other medias. After the broadcasting of War of the Worlds, radio got slammed and blaimed for causing a panic despite repeated notices of the broadcast being fictional. Then television media got turned down in the 80's and 90's after news reporters started running ahead of military personnel, getting themselves shot at, and then complaining about not being protected. Returned to the radio, again we see the radio being slammed with censorship against critics who protest against the governme

  • Article Completely Misinterprets the Data (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Andy_R ( 114137 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @10:04AM (#10556279) Homepage Journal
    The survey [kff.org] does NOT imply that parents are "simply not worried about video game violence."

    It states that 89% of parents are very, or somewhat concerned about inappropriate content in entertainment media, and 34% of parents rate TV as the medium they are most concerned about. It says nothing about their other concerns, and how strongly they rate them.

    Reading the survey, it is possible to reach the conclusion that somewhere between 5% and 89% of parents are very or seriously concerned about video game violence. Hardly a level of confidence that should be used for a headline!
    • Yet they are not worried enough to turn the damn things off.

      What does that tell you?

      • Yet they are not worried enough to turn the damn things off.

        Some do "turn the damn things off" (or just refuse to have tham in the house), but that doesn't erase the concern, because home isn't the only place kids spend time.

        So, how do you handle this issue with your kids?

        • If they watch a program that I have told them not to, they are punished.

          It's that simple and just because people are bad parents doesn't mean the rest of the responsible adults should be punished just so they don't have to do their most import job.

          • If they watch a program that I have told them not to, they are punished.

            And you know that how?

            It's that simple and just because people are bad parents doesn't mean the rest of the responsible adults should be punished just so they don't have to do their most import job.

            Certainly not. Being concerned about a problem is not the same as advocating draconian solutions.

            • Listen to what they talk about and they will drop hints.

              • Listen to what they talk about and they will drop hints.

                Good point. Kids really are not very good at hiding things for very long. Doesn't change the fact that there is cause for concern, though, because most likely you won't hear about the issue until after it's been going on for a while. If they know they'll be punished, they'll keep it quiet for as long as they're able -- and as they get older they get better at it. The real trick is to build trust and convince them that if Dad says they shouldn't

  • Re:More than that (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by StocDred ( 691816 )
    And you have to have respect for other faiths. Respect that you did not show in your parent post, which directly states that Christianity is the only option.

    It's not. Please go dredge for new converts somewhere else.

    And for a revelatory look (pun intended) at the bible, please see skepticsannotatedbible.com [skepticsan...dbible.com]. You should probably take a lok at that site and actually investigate some of the crazy crap in the bible, instead of just feeling good with your glossed-over Daily Inspirational Calendar.

    • Yeah! Christian bashing. You can't go to one forum without that being in there. Sigh.
      • I'd happily participate in bashing of other religions, except that members of other religions don't show up on slashdot to lecture me about what I should or shouldn't do, say, or think.

        If Christians don't want to be bashed, they shouldn't go around trying to shove their beliefs down people's throats, whether or not those people are interested.

  • New generation of parents? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Jakhel ( 808204 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @10:41AM (#10556568)
    What would be more interesting is to see what the age range of the parents is. You have to remember that today's younger (as in 30's) parents were more than likely yesteryears' occasional/hard core gamers (since games didn't really become popular until late 70's early 80's).

    The fact that they grew up around games and are more comfortable with them than previous generations would surely have some effect on their view of how violent games are as well as their concern for that violence. An interesting parallel would be that of the music industry and parents concern about the type of music their kids listen to.

    If you were to ask an older generation of parents if they were concerned about the disco their kids listen to, they would probably say they were very concerned. However, ask a generation of parents who grew up around disco and they would more than likely say they are more concerned about the rock music their kids listen to than the disco. Ask the next generation about rock music and they would be more concerned about rap than rock..etc.

  • You don't subtract bad exposure, you add good. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by vhold ( 175219 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @11:46AM (#10557085)
    The kids I knew who were banned from watching hardly any TV were all relatively more intelligent then their peers, but also were lacking socially quite badly.

    The kids I knew who were not banned from watching TV, but had hardly watched it because they had constructive hobbies and parents that supported that, were relatively more intelligent then their peers but also had friends.

    • Re:You don't subtract bad exposure, you add good. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Deagol ( 323173 ) on Monday October 18, 2004 @12:17PM (#10557397) Homepage
      The kids I knew who were banned from watching hardly any TV were all relatively more intelligent then their peers, but also were lacking socially quite badly.

      You're shittin' us, right? Or are you equating popular culture with socialization? Or perhaps that the kinds of folks in your neck of the woods that would forbid their kids to watch TV are more on the extreme side of things (such as hardcore Christian fundies or something). Don't assume causation with the correlation of your observations.

      My household hasn't watched broadcast TV of any kind for 2 years. My family, when it watches the tube, watches movies or TV shows we own or rent from Netflix.

      My kids are pretty well adjusted, having friends and all.

      I have noted a slight disconnect from pop culture and its memes and references, so I assume my kids do, too. I can't think of specific examples right now, but it would be akin to me not knowing what "master of my domain", "sponge worthy", or "going commando" meant had I not watched TV during the heydays of Sienfeld and Friends.

      While I do think cultural references of this kind are slightly enriching for the human experience, I can't reasonably argue that their absense is something to be concerned about.

      • My point is that the parents who make a big deal out of preventing their children from exposure are creating a void without neccesarily putting anything there, and that the parents that instead try to fill their kids' lives with something positive are indirectly pushing TV out of it because there is simply no room.
      • If you read his comment correctly and realize (again, correctly) that it's a contrast between two approaches to parenting, you'll see the difference.

        One group of parents is illustrated to be excessively strict, yet distant and unsupporting. They ban their children from watching TV, yet do nothing to fill their child's time.

        The other group of parents is illustrated to be more balanced in their approach, not banning TV, but discouraging it, all the while giving their children something better to do.

        The fir
      • My parents never restricted me from watching TV when I was growing up. Today, I probably "watch" about 3hrs of TV per week, and that's only because I'd be in the living room while my roommate watches TV. The interesting thing, is that my roommate's parents restricted her from watching TV when she was growing up, but today, she watches alot of TV. This is also true of people I've met who had similar restrictions or people who did not have cable TV when they were young. My point is that I haven't seen that
  • Great!

    Now back to Bloodrayne 2... I've figured out the combo where you whip them into the fireplace, but I don't have the angle right to throw them into the elk antlers where they get impaled...
  • We have yet to rid violence from this planet, either by persuasive arguements or main force. Video games are no where near has violent as your back yard is for the insects that live there.

Slashdot Top Deals

Our policy is, when in doubt, do the right thing. -- Roy L. Ash, ex-president, Litton Industries

Close