Along the lines of the previous discussion involving Rap music and its influence on adolescents, I’ve decided to bring up a similar issue, but under a different focus.

If you check the YN portal you will see a link under the title “Gamer ¿Serial Killer?”.
If you click on this link you can watch the video. video

The first thing that called my attention to this wasn’t the issue itself, but how it was portrayed, instead of presenting an objective title that gives equal validity to both sides of the argument YN chooses to present gamers as potential serial killers, thus the question that derives isn’t “¿Are Video Games a Bad Influence?”, but “¿Are Video-Gamers potentially Dangerous Individuals?”. I’m sure most of you will be able to see the more than evident bias.
Summed up to that, the content of the video is also incriminating and completely subjective. It displays verbal interviews with various teenagers, and with two adults that appear to be high school employees.
One of the first things that is made evident is that neither of the teenagers is very intelligent, or learned on this issue, one of them goes as far as saying that “Violence is what makes Americans what they are” and “Every time I see someone get hit on the head in a game it makes me proud”.
This wouldn’t arouse my interest if there where different point’s of view presented, but the most mild response from one of the teens when questioned about possible influence of games is a hush voiced “…maybe”, note that the teen that gives the response is standing under a tree and his face is not visible, kind of funny when they could have moved 2 or 3 feet back where it would be. On the other hand, the teen that is prone to making stupid remarks is given the most time on camera out of all of them, and his face and idiotic grin is quite visible when he makes a fool of himself.

Another interesting point is one presented by one of the adults, specifically the woman working at her computer, she says we have “a vivid enough imagination”, now, while I understand what that signifies, I can’t be sure of the implications it holds, but I can make a guess.
First of all, she makes a moral judgment by saying that games are overly explicit, games may be considered explicit for her, but she generalizes her qualifications of them, this is typical behavior of the unlearned. She thus proves that she has no knowledge on the gaming industry, and conveys that the only exposition she has ever had to video games is probably limited to violent games, thus her incomplete perspective on the issue.
She is also one of the many people that seemingly ignored evidence presented by psychologists in the aftermath of the columbine school shooting, that clearly showed that gaming and violent conduct are unrelated. What psychologists revealed is that people with inherently violent conducts are more likely to be attracted to certain types of games, not the other way around.

I could continue to take this issue apart to examine it more closely, but I think watching the video will be enough for most of you to know what I’m trying to say.
Youth Noise clearly gives more weight to one side of the debate that to the other.

If this post is removed I’ll understand it, but it will further prove my point.

Heck no video games aren't a bad influence.
reason #1 (not really a reason lol) if video games r a bad influence then music, movies, books, the internet (its wat ppl post on the internet), and everyday life is a bad influence if u want to know how just look around you and on tv you might be scared of wat you find.
reason #2 its the parents fault for buying the *beep* thing in the first place, they have age ratings on the game case for a reason ppl if you dont know where its at look on the bottom left of the case and you will c it.
reason #3 look at all the teenage killers on trial of everyday life like maybe 1 out of 1,000 of them even mention they get their killing methods from a video game =.=
reason #4 (this is just a heads up)lastly for parents who know their kids mimic stuff off of t.v., y the you-know-wat-word do you go and buy the kid a violent video game
just to let you know i've been playing violent video games from when i was freakin 5 and im still playing them now but you dont c me walking around killing my neighbors just because some dude did it on the game i was playing.

So a few kids go crazy, kill people and they blame it on the fact that they played vidgames... I don't see the correlation, maybe if a significant amoung of people did things like this I might believe it...

Videogames are merely a tool in a larger societal shift. I think that the problem of the increase of violence by and involving youth is orchestrated by the naturalization of violence in all types of media--from Grand Theft Auto to Bumfighting to Jackass to pro-wrestling to people getting kicked in the nuts on any number of movies, TV programs or YouTube channels. By making such violence (to others and to ourselves) "okay" by putting it in the mainstream, it seems less awful to perform in real life.

Yes, videogames can be dangerous to the health of America. But they can also be fun, and when one lives by the ideal of moderation in all endeavors, they may even be good for us. I think the key is better enforcement of videogame age limits, not letting that 3-year-old kid play Grand Theft Auto--the younger that violence seems 'normal,' the more normal it will feel, and therefore the more prevalent the violence will become.

Video games are most likely what leads to some violence and morbid thoughts of women. But i think that is only if you are addticed to the game. Otherwise, no

Do i think games are a bad influence? The answer to that is no.


Allow me to explain I’ve been playing violent games from the age of 6. I’m 22 now and i rarely acted violent in my life. The few times i actually lashed out was after years that right YEARS of provocation. And even that one time i did get in a fight i only threw one punch. Do you know why that is? PARENTING. My mother and father sent time with me and while growing up the pounded the fact that games are not real and i should never do the non-sense i see on them. Shoot even to this day they still tell me. They sent time with me and as such they (like all pArents should) knew when something was bugging me and would talk it over with me they never yelled, and they always listened. They never once had that attitude that most parents have (you know, they think that just because you’re younger that can say what they want and don't have to listen to you). I don't think people realized how many teens have some kind of problem in life that's just festering beneath the surface and the parents will never know. Teens may try to vent those frustrations by using games but sometimes it won't work and they just lash out. And when they do video games get blamed when in reality the blame should be on parents who don't take the time to find out what's happening in their child's life. They don't understand them at all (baring in mind no can truly understand someone else)


I hear people like jack Thompson always talking about how games are turning the young into killing machines. Even bringing out statistics that show soldiers that were trained with games found it easier to fire their guns at an enemy as opposed to a few years ago when they used plywood with a painting of an enemy solder on it. I NEVER see them bring out stats that show the difference in the way parents took care of their kids form then and now. Look far back before the age of TV and you'll see that the parenting at that time was much better but in toadies world parent spend much less time with their children.


Long story short: TAKE PROPER CARE OF YOUR KIDS! It’s ridiculous so parents don't even know their own child's favorite color, sport, or pastime. And would simply let the TV baby-sit their children when they should go out and spend time with them.



NOTE: I’m well aware that there are times when a kid was broth up well but still committed acts of violence there will always be exceptions



Now I’m going to throw a bone to jack Thompson and say games do in fact make you do violent things.
The number one question is this: how do children get these games? It’s simple the parents buy it for them. People make such a fuss about games being too violent yet no one is asking how children are getting these games. Sure they say the store venders would sell M rated games to anyone, even a 6-year-old. But i hardly find that to be an excuse. If you see your child with an m rated game you should take it away from them, it's as simple as that. So it all boils down to what i said before PARENTING IS KEY.



All this is nothing more than blame game. Parents can't accept the fact that they failed their duties as parents as they try to place the blame on games. To all parents who may read this post, who think games are a bad influence GET YOU HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS! If they are such a big influence just get rid of them.

my cousing has been playing grand theft autos since he was 3. i have been playing since i was 9. now i'm addicted...........so is my cousin...........he's 6 now

Video games are only dangerous if you don't follow two basic rules, one for the parents, and one for the gamers. For parents: read the damn rating label. It's there for a reason. You don't buy Black or Vice City for your twelve or fourteen year old. And one for the gamers: don't be stupid. Videogames are not a script for life. You can't frag the weak in the real world. You have to help them up.

I pretty much agree with you, Speed. In my eyes, blaming psychotic behavior on violent video games is a bit like blaming sluttiness on pregnancy. And yeah, that video was horrendously one-sided. Though I think the "Violence is what makes Americans what they are" kid wasn't so much an idiot as just trying to be a comedian, à la Stephen Colbert.

It's been my experience that YN does show/link to/promote a lot of one-sided things, but they bring the one-sided things from all sides, if you get my meaning. If they found a controversial video tomorrow claiming that violent video games are actually good for kids, I believe they'd post it. They just try to put provocative things out there to get people talking.