A European Union report on Wednesday concluded that video games can in fact be good for children, and also said that there was no definitive link between violence in video games and violent behaviour."Video games can stimulate learning of facts and skills such as strategic thinking, creativity, cooperation and innovative thinking, which are important skills in the information society," the report said.
According to Reuters, the report did say that some violent video games could "stimulate" violent behaviour in specific situations. It also noted that while not all games are appropriate for children, some books and movies are aimed at older audiences as well.
The study, by the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, urged the bloc's 27 member states to work together on strengthening the Pan European Game Information, or "PEGI", game content rating system.
Although the report did not elaborate, it suggested that video games should also have a "red button" that would allow parents to disable inappropriate games, stressing how important parental supervision is. According to the BBC, more than half of European children are left unsupervised when using computers.
Toine Manders, a Dutch liberal lawmaker who drafted the report, said, "Videogames are in most cases not dangerous and can even contribute to the development of important skills."
The report also stated that not only children play video games, with the average age of a European gamer being 33.
I disagree. They're not necessarily *good* for children. Perhaps games like Civilization. But I don't see DOOM 3 or Crysis doing a whole lot of good.
Video games back in my day were ok . . . the 80's and early 90's. Otherwise, READING is good for children. And Playing outside.
I would say that DOOM 3 or Crysis is much better option for children than Bible or Koran READING about infidel killings.
I'd much rather they read the Bible or the Qur'an, or better yet, both.
Besides, both of these texts are the focal points of a lot of scholarship. No doubt, children will have questions. Here is an opportunity for some critical thinking to take place.
As for fundamentalist teachings, you don't need books or reading for that. Just an authority figure ready to explain why you should continue to hold that rifle.
Last edited by LTD on 13 Feb 2009 - 16:52
I'd much, rather they read the Bible or the Qur’an, or better yet, both.
Besides, both of these texts are the focal points of a lot of scholarship. No doubt, children will have questions. Here is an opportunity for some critical thinking to take place.
As for fundamentalist teachings, you don't need books or reading for that. Just an authority figure ready to explain why you should continue to hold that rifle.
While i do agree with playing outside and reading is good ( and yes we did more in the past than nowadays that we as parents buy a freaking xbox or a ps3 so the kid can shut up , dont play outside cos he can be injured and get dirty ( and Mom will get ****ed
But Games are good for children as it can improve their way of thinking etc etc ( Doom3 and crysis maybe for reflexes
See the speed some kids can type with their age compared to you or your parent
I'd much rather they read the Bible or the Qur'an, or better yet, both.
Besides, both of these texts are the focal points of a lot of scholarship. No doubt, children will have questions. Here is an opportunity for some critical thinking to take place.
As for fundamentalist teachings, you don't need books or reading for that. Just an authority figure ready to explain why you should continue to hold that rifle.
Well said. I think it's important for people who may not understand fully what you are saying, and I'm hoping I'm grasping it correctly, that the texts aren't exactly the problem with religion as it is those who attempt to "read it for you" and give you "the truth".
In fact, there was a big fuss I believe when printing was readily available as people could read things like the Bible for themselves and say,"Hey, that's not what that says!" It's safe to say that they could print faster than the books could be burned thankfully.
Other things though that should definitely be read in depth in every country are your rights and what you're truly allowed to as opposed to what they, the government, says you are. I know in the US for sure that our rights are truly being stepped upon again and again, and only those that are aware of what they truly have a right to will be able to defend themselves (somewhat at least). Though, as people have said before... they have all the guns, and by that I mean more than you...
As for video games, I see no harm. There are plenty of games that require a lot of different skills. World of Warcraft even, despite what many would think, can bring real concepts you may or may not learn about in school to a simple enjoyable game. Whether you're doing number crunching through theoretical formulas to determine your damage per second and such, or picking up on the fundamentals of a basic economy and using it to your advantage through the auction house. And that's not even getting into the quick thinking, strategic planning, and ability to multitask required for PvP or Raids.
However, if that has become easy for you, there's no question that, aside from the developers finding new ways to challenge you, that you should be challenging yourself and putting your brain to good use elsewhere as well.
Then theres people that spell stuff wrong to match their accents or something... (source facebook)
"LMAO, no must we mi di fight fo dat 1st" -i have no idea what this even means.
Honestly, i would like to see these people right a paper report. No, not in word or anything, because EVERYTHING has automatic spellchecking now that fixes your mistakes so you dont even know you're misspelling stuff....
lol
You must understand that the concept of "good" for a government is a passive citizen that pay their taxes.
Sierra On-Line figured this out in the 80's and their children's games won critical acclaim. The company's goal then was to get kids off the TV and onto the computer where they would exercise their minds. They hit their goal with astounding success.
The EU (for the first time in history?) is right, games can be great for children. And kids. And teens. And adults. So long as the material is appropriate. Crap like GTA and Doom clones don't help kids much. But when I was a kid we even had games on the Apple //e's at school. Games like Number Munchers and Oregon Trail. They never got old.
Let's also remember that no game can substitute a child's imagination so, as LTD mentioned, whatever happened to playing outside?
GTA, Soldier of Fotune, Crysis?
Or
Civilization, SimCity, Myst?
Yes, we had violent games back in my day. Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFJHOz3TSgg
So much for "violence" and "realism." Compare that to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrdWkoBMZVE
or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17qKsHWEDqY
Part of the problem is this insistence on "realism", along with the gratuitous violence. Kids don't need this particular kind of "realism" in their games. It can very easily blur the lines with the "realism" outside. No, pulling little Jimmy of the swingset and then beating his head in with a rock is not OK.
These games exist for mature adults - it's "escapism" for you and me. But our entertainments are way too accessible by kids. This isn't a porn collection you find at 10 years old. This is serious stuff. But because we (apparently) like these entertainments and insist on having them, our children suffer. I'm perfectly happy to give up and never see garbage like GTA and the like if it means that we raise a generation of children that aren't brain dead and completely desensitized to everything by the time they reach college-age.
Last edited by LTD on 13 Feb 2009 - 19:40
Also I played Doom and Doom 2 from before I was 10 and GTA games from about 12. And I've never committed any crimes, I went to uni and got a degree. Violent video games had no negative effects whatsoever on my development. The reason for this: I knew there was a difference between real life and what I was doing on computers. Unless I am an exception, you would have to be an extremely ignorant kid and have plenty of problems before you even went near a violent computer game for there to be any problems afterwards.
Would you mind providing some evidence that violent computer games are/were responsible for 'a generation of children that [are] brain dead and completely desensitized to everything by the time they reach college-age'? I probably would give up games like GTA as well if we got a generation of people that did not commit crimes or cause society problems, but the truth is computer games have very little to do with the cause of those things - they have been going on for centuries, millennia or even eons before even the most rudimentary mechanical computer was even dreamed of.
Most kids are very smart and will know that there is a difference between computer game life and real life. And btw the reason I knew that the actions carried out on a computer game are not acceptable in real life wasn't because my parents told me; I figured it out for myself - it never even crossed my mind that I should commit those or similar actions in real life.
P.S. Civilization, SimCity and Myst, most kids would find pretty boring, they probably won't bother with them half as much as they would GTA. And the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrdWkoBMZVE I found funny, not inspiration for something to keep me entertained when out in the real world.
Last edited by duneworld on 14 Feb 2009 - 20:04
Besides, my point wasn't to defend GTA, at least not entirely my point. And that's one (minor/understandable) spelling/grammatical error in how many words?
anyone saying the other way like LTD i see them as ignorant as a kid that cant distinguish from games to reality.
i played carmaggedon, gta and sooooo many violent video games in my childhood, and im no thief, murderer or rapist today, if your kid is developing the problems you describe, then the problem is YOU for not educating him right.
yeah right, society problems are video games! (sarcasm)
heck, even in civilization you kill people! in myst people died, and atrus sons were murderers!
The game is disgusting to watch or play, and no matter how much you stick your finger in your ears and yell "LALALALA" you know you ****ing hear me.
You can't kill massive amounts of people in a video game and then say it has "no" effect on you whatsoever. It's ridiculous. Am I saying video games are the cause of violence? No, I'm not. But I am saying that there is no way in hell this game does anything good for the world or the people in it. To even say you believe otherwise is a sign of sheer ignorance.
It's only disgusting to play or watch if you choose to believe that the characters in the game represent real people, but I don't see why you would do that because no matter how good the graphics are, they don't come anywhere near to what your eyes see when they look at real people.
Here's some free advice your you Eis, if the game disgusts you so much, why don't you do something other than watch your friends play it and dwell on it by making posts fighting against it. Because you arent going to convince anyone who is a fan of it that you are correct. Also I know I don't take any unnecessary interest in the things which I find disgusting and I'm am a very well rounded individual; believe me or not, it's true.
Except people do change their mind about certain things, and even if I just get one more parent to realize that "hey, maybe letting my kids kill people all day isn't good for them!", then I've done what I set out to do.
Though I understand--I have an opinion that differs from your own, so why not logically conclude my side isn't worth arguing over?
Coward. Make points not assumptions and generalizations.
you are so ignorant about reality and the society problems.
Damn that's stupid. That's just straight-up stupid.
i rather have my kid playing gta with me than going out with some jerks like your friends that get "mad, lonely or frustratedplaying", sorry no offense, but if your friends are like that you are in the wrong place.
or maybe they dont have what it takes to do the game quest rather than racing cars and killing people.
Here's another piece of free advice, if you want people to engage with you and take your opinions seriously on an online discussion forum, don't throw around insults. Because I am not ignorant, and I don't remember making any assumptions and have made plenty of points on this discussion, maybe not as many as you, but that is entirely down to the respective volume of posts we have both made.
Last edited by duneworld on 20 Feb 2009 - 18:07
The title is "games are good for children", not "over 18 mature games are good for children". I totally agree, games are one of the best personal and get together with friends experiences around. Complete stress releaver, and just fun for me at times.
Most mediums have scales of rating, content suitable for children, and content suitable for adults.
On the other hand though I defo don't want my future kid to be in front of a computer all day playing games instead of playing outside or doing some sort of physical activity. But when it comes to indoors, games > TV anytime.
Ever felt irrationally angry? Lonely? Frustrated for no reason? Almost everyone I know that plays video games a lot is a very easily upset person, and every one of them is in denial of it. All the anger and frustration from video games changes the chemicals in your brain to be more geared towards these emotions. Your brain can't tell the difference between fake game anger and real life anger.
Video games are fake, but the emotions involved while playing them are quite real, and they do change who you are.
Last edited by Eis on 19 Feb 2009 - 03:01
if the people you know goes that way because of videogames, time to look for a shrink urgent.
video games, violent, non violent, strategic, puzzle, whatever, make me amuse and have fun, not get angry, frustrated or lonely
YOU ARE SICK!
Of course, you say that you are an absolute fine person, yet when you speak you don't sound fine at all. When confronted with an opinion that differs from your own, you don't even argue. You actually get emotionally involved and practically yell and beg me to take your side of the argument. Not only that, but you've somehow managed to come to the conclusion, based of 2 or 3 internet posts, that I am deranged in some way for not wanting my children and the children of others to kill someone on the TV.
I don't get it.
i dont want people like you in my side and i didnt say you were deranged, you said that
who gets killed in the tv? no one! its a game!
see, thats what im talking about, you dont differ from fantasy to reallity, plain and simple.
movies are much more REALISTIC than videogames, and you can see some serious mature themes in movies, but i dont see no one bitching about it.
by the way , you are mistaken about me, and you dont know all the people in the world that plays video games to make statements like that, neither know me, neither you have experimented with everyone, if you had cases of mentally ill people , well, sorry for them.
i dont know you but from what i can see you are one more from the ignorants in the society that believe they hold the truth because of some university degree.
beg? oh my, lmao
think any way you want, i hope your kids get it right
how many times science has lied just to get profit from something even if people has to die, get over with, video games dont do no more harm than being alive in this world full of **** that we live.
for talking **** about video games , search for a thread like "video games are bad" this is "video games are good"
have a nice day
Also, you're pretty much the exact type of person that I've studied. I'm not spouting out bull****, I'm telling you proven facts. Clinical trials and tests are what we base scientific breakthroughs off of, and if you somehow believe the results are some tinfoil conspiracy than you should reevaluate where you get your information from. Except you won't, will you?
More assumptions and generalizations? I thought we talked about this. If you really want someone to understand your point of view, and I'm assuming you do because you keep talking to me, then you should try using facts. Not concrete facts, just something that doesn't sound like it was wrote by a grounded teenager.
I'd love to jump the fence and see if the grass is greener on the other side, but you're going to have to help me out here, bud. If you want to try to convince me that violent video games don't cause emotional problems later on in life, try not convincing me of my own point just by talking.
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