By Seneca Reynolds
Kids growing up today are not prone to violence and sexuality. We are too quick to blame violence on the exposure to Internet and video games. And many who point their fingers towards easy Internet access when looking for a reason for the promiscuous behavior of our youth. Instead, we should point our blame at the adults who seem to be lax on monitoring the exposure. And who is to say that exposure is everything? There are nations with little or no Internet access who seem to have cultures full of more violence and corruption than ours. Therefore, it seems to be that exposure is not to blame.
When it comes to the exposure to violence, we seem to be in a world of misplaced blame. It is absurd to blame school shootings on video games, and it is ridiculous to point fingers at the gaming industry when wondering why some children seem to be confused about how to behave. Not all video games are violent and not all violent video gamers are full of outrage and misguided anger. It is up to the parent or guardian to not buy those violent video games for their child. It is up to the parent or guardian to teach their child about violence. It is not the responsibility of the gaming industry to teach children what is right or wrong.
Historically speaking, the society that we live in today has not been exposed to even close to the same amounts of violence as that of societies before us. If you look at civilizations dating back before the 1900s, you will be surprised by the violence that was so present in everyday life. There were days of unimaginable everyday exposure to violence. And let me tell you, there were no violent video games to blame for the gruesome days when Vikings ruled. We live in a world today that in comparison contains far less violence than you will find in the history books. Long gone are the days when the whole town would come to watch the beheading of a local outlaw.
In an article in Science Daily, “... Kierkegaard explains, there is no obvious link between real-world violence statistics and the advent of video games. If anything, the effect seems to be the exact opposite and one might argue that video game usage has reduced real violence. Despite several high profile incidents in US academic institutions, 'Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s,' says Kierkegaard, 'while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use. For example, in 2005, there were 1,360,088 violent crimes reported in the USA compared with 1,423,677 the year before. 'With millions of sales of violent games, the world should be seeing an epidemic of violence,' he says, 'Instead, violence has declined.'”
If anything, media sensitizes us to the issues surrounding violence. Death is brought into the home on the television and the soldier killed overseas is given a name and face. Tales of war are not left to imagination and wonderment. The people are being told and reality is hitting close to home. Awareness and exposure go hand in hand and they do not desensitize the situation; if anything, they do the opposite. The media and exposure that goes along with it seems to have actually pushed the notion of universal human rights. You can now go on the internet and see what is going on in the world and how people are being treated. We are bringing up a generation that is more educated and informed than any this world has seen before.
In terms of sexuality, we seem to be a nation that chooses to look the other way at inappropriate or disapproving behavior yet come down strong when the consequences are not what we might call acceptable. There is no system of intervention set up for the youth of today, only a system to deal with the consequences of their actions. What if we lived in a world where those undesired consequences did not exist because we, the grown-ups, talked to the youth about what “could” happen? The school systems today seem to be surrounded by an abstinence only campaign. Youth are told simply to not act on their urges until they're married and to ignore their desires. And the result is a historical rise in the teen pregnancy rate and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases among preteens! Twelve year olds are not getting herpes because it is too easy to access whatever they want on the internet. If anything, this high-tech generation is misinformed on the consequences of their behavior, or not even informed at all in the first place. We can not blame media and exposure for the mishaps of our youth. The adults in this world need to stand up and take responsibility for not being involved enough in the lives of our children.
(Read the opposing argument)
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1 comment:
Very interesting arguments. I would say that both pro and cons arguments discuss very important points. I would have to say that i agree with the con argument because I strongly believe that parents are some of the biggest influence in childrens lives. As many things that can easily influence sex and violence it is up to the parents to expose their children to that at such a young age.
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