Parents Must Prevent Children's Exposure to Video Game Violence

1873 Words4 Pages

In recent years our society has experienced many tragedies in which teens have committed heinous crimes for no apparent reason. What inspired these attacks by teens on innocent victims? We live in a violent world and young people are exposed to this violence whether it's by television, music or the Internet. Video games have come under increased scrutiny as to whether or not the simulated violence in video games numbs children and teens to the consequences of real-life violence.

Some psychologists theorize that violence is a learned behavior. Children learn by imitation. If this statement holds true, then are we not responsible to mandate the regulation of violent video games accessible to our children? The level of exposure and alarming growth rate of violent behavior being portrayed as an acceptable form of entertainment for children need to end. Children are a blank canvas; what parents, peers and society paint on them will help determine how they will live their lives. Parents need to step up to bat and accept responsibility for the decisions made within their parental control regarding the allowance of detrimental influences in their children's lives because we are entrusted with their welfare.

Do we have a moral and ethical obligation to regulate video games and movies? On Martin Luther King Day 2002, the new video game "Ethnic Cleansing" was released by Resistance Records a company owned by the "National Alliance", the largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in the United States. The objective of the game is to kill "sub-humans"-i.e. Blacks and Latinos and their "masters", the Jews. "Patterned after popular mainstream games such as 'Quake' and 'Doom', the game turns racially motivated violence into entertainm...

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...ames society. Shifting the responsibility of our children's upbringing and their future for lack of parental accountability is inexcusable. We need to take responsibility for the decisions in our lives and the lives of our children. "To thine own self be true".

Works Cited

Ashcroft: Video Games are part of violence problem. 23 March. 2009.

USA Today. 2 Dec. 2009. http://www.usatoday.com/

Crawford, Chris. The Art of Computer Game Design. 2007.

Choi, Suzanne. "Computer Games and Violence: A Child's Friend or Foe?" 2010.

Dvorak, John C. "The Doom Factor." June 29, 2009.

Kagan, Jerome. 2004. Conscience and Escape From One's Own Conscience. 3 Dec. 2009. http://mhnet.org/psyhelp/chap3/chap3n.htm.

Racist Groups Using Computer Games to Promote Violence Against Blacks, Latinos and Jews. 3 Dec 2009.

http://www.adl.org/videogames/default.asp.

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