Unit 6 Assignment 3

There are a lot of violent and graphic video games currently widely and easily available across the world. For example some of these games are:

• Dead Space
• Mortal Combat
• Medal of Honour 
• Call of Duty Black Ops
• Assassins Creed : Brotherhood
• Halo
• Grand Theft Auto V

There is no way we can get solid proof that video games that have violent content cause people to be violent themselves. Games such as Call of Duty, Medal of Honour and Halo are all army/war games. These game feature graphic scenes of battles, people being shot/blown up etc. and you can shoot people yourself. People see these games as violent because for example, when you shoot someone you seen them fall to the ground, there's blood on them and even sometimes you can hear them scream in terror.
There was a quite recent story in the news of a man who had claimed to have trained himself on Call of Duty to kill 73 people in Norway and also bomb government buildings. I do think that this is possible because of how realistic the game is. When you're are playing the game you are effectively looking through the eyes of a soldier, you see what they see so it would be easy to learn how to for example become a sniper, you could also learn how to creep about, hide and make a get away.
I think this man has responded in a violent way to call of duty because he had mental health issues but for someone with those health issues it is very easy to be influenced by a video game of this nature because the games are made so realistically.
But video games aren't all bad, consoles such as Nintendo Wii can be very educational and good for your health. The Wii has games like Wii sports and Wii fit where you can do yoga, boxing, running and general sports. As well as fitness games Nintendo have created educational games as well such as Brain Training where you do different games to test different parts of your brain to effectively make you a better learner. I think that people have responded very positively to these games and has altered the way they feel about video games by realising they aren't all completely bad and actually quite beneficial to children and adults.

Oppositional Readings to video games: http://neuronetlearning.com/blog/video-games-autism-a-source-of-problem-behavior-in-boys/

This artical does not suggest that the effects model could be a fact becvause it contains a study on 169 autistic boys aged 8-18 and it found that playing video games does not effect their behaviour. "The findings support that the amount of time spent playing games is not associated with problem behaviors in boys."

The effects model is a theory that when you watch/read media it can affect your behaviour and beliefs. I don't agree with it because i think that you should of been brought up to understand that copying things that people do in media products isn't always right, people should teach their children that scenes on games like call of duty are dramatised and it doesn't make it okay to kill people. People should be intelligent enough to know that television does need to show graphic, violent etc. things not because the media are bad but because some issues need to be highlighted people need to be educated on those kind of things. This doesn't mean in the slightest that we have to or we should copy negative media.

The uses and gratifications theory is an idea that people are not influenced by the media and what is shown on TV and in films. I agree with this theory because i think that people have their own minds and they can choose for themselves what they will and will not do that is shown in the media. Parents should teach their children that they don't have to copy the negative things shown on TV because sometimes the negative and graphic things shown on TV are to inform and portray what can happen in real life and not to put ideas into peoples minds.

Some video games can be educational and beneficial such as: 

• wii fit
• brain training
• nintendogs
• call of duty

People have used these games to keep healthy, keep their brain active and help with brain development, learn how to look after pets and love animals and also call of duty had been proven to help eye sight. 

Oppositional readings to video games:

http://www.parentsagainstviolence.org/

• This was written by parents who want to protect their children from use of violence in video games . They think that violence in the media has influenced children and put ideas into their heads about violence more okay than it really is. They talk about the Sandy Hook shooting where a man massacred children and teachers. He already had existing metal health issues but also learnt how to use a gun through playing video games. These parents think that games where you are the first person shooter are the worst kind because it could be used in a realistic situation.

http://cognoscenti.wbur.org/2013/01/17/video-games-ethan-gilsdorf

• This article suggests that we should be keeping violence that occurs in video games in our imaginations. This article believes that the media blame game developers for gamers becoming more violent after playing their games and that the excitement and kicks we get from playing these games can be the reason for more violent behaviour in gamers. It also mentions that gamers use violent games to let out anger but by doing this on a video game they could want to do it in real life.

http://www.apa.org/research/action/protect.aspx

• This article is about the effect violence has on children. It suggests that children have become less effected by violence, seeing people in pain or suffering and has made them more passive. It says violence has desensitised people and we no longer find it out of the ordinary and sometimes can even find it comical. The article tells us how in an experiment, those observed going into adulthood and had watched violent TV programmes from as young as 8 were more likely to be arrested for criminal acts when an adult due to the stuff they had watched having such an influence on them.

These articles could suggest that the effects model could potentially be fact and not just a theory but I don't believe in the effects model so I don't think it could be fact. 

I don't believe that video games can make people violent. There are lots of other factors in a persons life than can effect the way they behave and i believe that if people have chosen to use video games to do violent things then its down to the way they have been brought up and the beliefs that they have. I don't think that violent videos should be banned because even though some people believe that they cause people to be violent I also think that if people don't see these kind of things how can they ever learn that they are wrong.