Video Game Violence Goes to the Supreme Court

My last two article are about the ongoing court case that is a the Supreme Court right now about a Californian law that makes selling ultra-violent or sexually explicit game to minors illegal.  The latter of the two gives you kind of a background information on other laws against video games and on the Californian law that was repealed.  The former article out of USA Today, talks about the right of the video game industry to make as violent video games as they deem fit.  However, it is the parents right to decide what their child can and can not play and a law stating such is a good thing.  It also mentions a poll that was taken that said that three-fourths of parents would support a law like California's.

A Source from my Annotated Bibliography

I have been doing research over video game violence and the effects on children and I would like to share one of my sources with you out of my annotated bibliography.


Walsh, Mark. "Mortal combat: video game makers fight for their right to be as bad as they wanna be." ABA Journal 96.11 (2010): 22+. Academic OneFile. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.  The article describes a Californian law that was recently overturned in an appeals court.  It continues on to describe briefly why it was enacted in the first place, what is currently going on with it moving toward the Supreme Court, and what lasting effects the decision could have.  This article is written for the American Bar Association journal.  As such its target audience is lawyers and those involved in the process of the judiciary.  This article is a current example that my topic is relevant and effecting us today.  It shows how we as Americans feel about the topic and how the decisions from this may affect our future.

A Source from my Annotated Bibliography

I have been doing research over video game violence and the effects on children and I would like to share one of my sources with you out of my annotated bibliography.


Steyer, James P. “Opposing view on First Amendment: Protect kids, not profiteers.” UsaToday.com. N.p. 28 Oct. 2010. Web. 12 Nov 2010.  The article is written in response to the Californian law that has been in review by the Supreme Court.  It was written by   James P. Steyer who is the CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, making this source slightly biased.  The writer says that producing violent video games is fine but also, that it is up to parents to decide what their kids can or cannot play.  The purpose of this article is to persuade readers that the California law is constitutional and should be passed.  I will use this article as a possible, more moderate, solution comparison to what I suggested in my project proposal, for proper handling of the video game violence issue.

Video Games

This site is a moderately okay site to use if you are curious about what both sides are saying about the effects of video game violence on children.  I think it fairly accurately portrays both sides without any bias meant.  It has some great statistics, including charts for helping you to visualize what the data is trying to explain.  However, this brings up a point I talked about a couple post ago about possible biases of certain studies that have been done.  Many of the statistics are from the Entertainment Software Association which is the trade association for the video game industry in the United States.  So you should take just about everything you read with a grain of salt and if you see something that interests you I suggest you do more research and dig deeper and come to your own conclusions.

A Source from my Annotated Bibliography

I have been doing research over video game violence and the effects on children and I would like to share one of my sources with you out of my annotated bibliography.

“Video Games.” ProCon.org. N.p. 18 Feb. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.  This website is an unbiased source that looks at both sides of the video game violence issue.  It has a list of many pros and cons side by side. It also has a chronologically listed account of the major events that started some of the controversy.  The purpose of this website is to inform interested parties about both sides of the argument.  This website is unique as it tries to keep and unbiased approach while showing the facts.  I will use information from this article to show pros and cons from both sides.

Rated V for Violence

This article informed me that not all states have legislation in place the limits the sale of video games rated for violence to minors.  I had just assumed since it was restricted where I lived that it was restricted everywhere.  I also had not realized that the Californian law that had been overturned and is now going to the Supreme Court was signed on October of 2002, it has been 8 years and it is still going through the court system.  As well as talking about how little some parents actually understand the ESRB rating system, or how many actually use it to judge whether or not their child should be playing a game.  The article throws in that with easter eggs in games, like Grand Theft Autos: Hot Coffee, is the ESRB rating system even valid.

Much Ado About Nothing

The Much Ado About Nothing article is from Psychological Bulletin and is really rooted in the scientific method and many difficult to understand points.  However, I also found the parts I could understand to be very informative about why the authors believe that many of the studies that have been done over the topic of video game violence and the effects on children are inconclusive.  They mention things like the bias of the public, to politics, and even large corporations paying to have studies done that can display the finding in a certain light to make them look however they want them to look.  Despite it being difficult to read at times and maybe a little dry, I believe that this article is probably the most unbiased source that I have come across while researching.

A Source from my Annotated Bibliography

I have been doing research over video game violence and the effects on children and I would like to share one of my sources with you out of my annotated bibliography.


Ferguson, Christopher J., and John Kilburn. "Much Ado About Nothing: The Misestimation and Overinterpretation of Violent Video Game Effects in Eastern and Western Nations: Comment on Anderson et al. (2010)." Psychological Bulletin 136.2 (2010): 174-178. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.  This article discusses how bias from the public and politics is making getting a solid scientific study done.  The article also talks about how lack of a consistent measurement on what scale violence is rated allows the studies to show skewed results.  The main premise of this article is that violent video games have almost no effect and have been blow out of proportion by bias and a lack of a consistent measurement on what scale violence is rated.  This article is unique that it comes from a psychological bulletin and while he tells his point he is always comparing it to another groups study.  This article is against my main thesis but has many good points rooted in good, scientific method.

A Source from my Annotated Bibliography

I have been doing research over video game violence and the effects on children and I would like to share one of my sources with you out of my annotated bibliography.


Irwin, Mary Jane. "Rated V for Violence." PC Magazine 25.4 (2006): 152-153. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.  The article talks about the rapid growth of video games as entertainment and how because of some of the content they are under attack.  It tells of some of the unnecessary violence and explicit material in Grand Theft Auto IV and how little some parents know about ESRB ratings.  The general purpose of this article is just to inform the reader about some of the legislation and controversies that might affect the video game world.  This article was published in PC Magazine and is aimed at people who are interested in the world of electronics.  This article is unique because it is in a PC Magazine but almost seems in favor of the laws being passed and not with the games.  This article has some good statistics and other information that I was unaware of and should support my case.

Does game violence make teens aggressive?

I just wanted to talk about the article from my previous post a little.  This article supports my statement that parents should be watching what their children are playing.  "Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine say that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal – and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition and attention."  The study was inconclusive if the effects are lasting or worse permanent.  However, one of my science teachers once told us that some scientists believe that the human brain does not forget anything we see or study but that we just lack the proper way to recall what we have learned.  If this is true then all that violence is just floating around in our sub-conscience waiting to get out.

A Source from my Annotated Bibliography

I have been doing research over video game violence and the effects on children and I would like to share one of my sources with you out of my annotated bibliography.

Kalning, Kristin. “Does game violence make teens aggressive?” MSNBC.com. National Broadcasting Company. 8 Dec. 2006. Web. 1 Nov. 2010.  This article was written to discuss new findings from an experiment conducted at the Indiana University School of Medicine.  The article talks about the finding about brain activity after playing violent game compare to non-violent.  The purpose of this article is to inform about what a study has recently found and inform people that not all studies are objective, some can be influenced by big corporations, and that more research needs to be done in this area.  This article is unique because it uses brain scans and not just opinion polls to gather information.  This article will help my argument about video game violence a little; however, more research needs to be done for more conclusive answers.

Protect the Future

I do not think that anyone can deny that our children are the future.  It is the cycle of the world the old pass away to make room for the new.  I also believe that it is the parents duty to help to nourish and protect that child from any threat that may arise.  Parents should be monitoring what video games their kids are playing a little more closely.  Some of the video games are really just pointless violence and children do not need to be exposed to that at least until they are mid to late teens.

Also video game manufacturers should take more responsibility for their products.  They could put forth a little extra effort to make more educational games that would be both fun and mentally stimulating.  I also think that legislation could be passed either reducing the amount of graphic content in video games or making parents play a demo of a video game before being able to buy it for a child under the age of 18.

It's been a while -- Project Proposal

Hello again!  I had gotten busy and caught a nasty cold and never got around to updating some of the ideas and things that have been happening on my blog.  In consequence, today is the day that I hope to catch all my readers up the thoughts I have been having over a project I have been working on for my composition class.  I am going to start you off with my project proposal paper, and then take you on a journey through my thoughts from there.

Video Game Violence Proposal

Problem

            How much do children really learn from playing video games?  Does the abundance of violence and gore in a video game make children violent and desensitized?  Video games may very well be the cause behind childhood violence and if so, should possibly be made to be less violent and more educational.

Context

            A possible example of the effect of video games on the behavior of children can be seen in one of my best friends from my childhood.  We met in kindergarten and were together through high school.  When we were in kindergarten through fifth grade he was happy and we played on the jungle gym, and when we were older soccer, during recess.  After school we spent time riding bikes or were not together but were both avid book readers.  During the sixth grade he got a gamming system and began to play many shooter based games.  During the next couple years what we did together began to change.  Our time spent together usually revolved around his gamming console and when he would be getting a new game.  He became more and more interesting in shooting things and going hunting.  In high school his father bought a 9mm pistol for him to use.  We went with his father out in the woods and did some target practice with it and a .22 revolver.  After that every now and again, when his father was away at the National Guards for the weekend, we would sneak the hand guns out of the house, because we were too young to legally shoot them alone, and go and shoot at things in the woods.  It soon became hard to hang out with him because all he wanted to do was either play video games for countless hours or go and illegally shoot at squirrels in the woods.

Research

            I plan on using my blog space as my artifact by posting over different technological topics that may cause childhood violence or any contradicting information that I may find during research.  I will look on some of the library’s academic article search engines looking for related articles on the affects of video game violence on children.  I also plan to search the World Wide Web for other credible, and hopefully recent, sources of information over video game violence and its effect on children.  

Analysis

            I am unsure on what my findings would be.  I think that my findings would be to indeterminate to say that video games specifically or solely the contributing factor to violence in children.  Movies and even television have become increasingly violent and profane.

Solutions

            If video games are the cause of increased childhood violence then regulations should be put in place and enforced.  Games could be made to be less graphic in their displays of death because there is very little chance of them completely removing fighting games.  They could also make the regulations on graphic games more strict and pass legislation to stop parents from buying their under aged children the violent games.  They could also promote the production of educational or cognitively stimulating games by offering subsides to help combat the negative effects of video games.

I was Raised by a Treky - Paper Part 2

My father loved outer-space.  He even tried to become an astronaut when he was younger and might have, had he not needed glasses.  My father also had a great love for science fiction shows which has greatly impacted me.  One show in particular stands out from the others as his favorite and most watched and talked about, Star Trek.  I found that www.startrek.com’s database on Star Trek the original series had a good description of the show:

The original Star Trek series focuses on the 23rd century adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701), a powerful interstellar spacecraft dispatched by Earth-based Starfleet Command to explore the galaxy.  Kirk commands a crew of 430 men and women aboard his starship, which can travel at speeds surpassing the speed of light.  Kirk’s five-year mission—and his mandate from Starfleet—is to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.

My father was deffenantly a Treky, but not the kind who went as far as dressing up and going to conventions.  My father has quite a few books that are based on the Star Trek series, he has a few collectable things, and he has watched all the other television series of Star Trek not just the original series.  I find myself still loving many of the old Star Trek television shows, and even some of the other really old, cheesy, science fiction shows.  My father has cultivated a love for space and action in me, and maybe a hint of geekiness.

            My father has also influenced my interest and love of technology.  My father actually went to college to get some sort of degree in computing.  After he had actually graduated though, he decided to return to the family farm and work there.  However, he brought that knowledge of technology back with him.  He always tried to keep a relatively new computer at our house and had many kid games my siblings and I could play.  I developed an interest in computers and soon began to read some of the technology books that my father had bought.  It is that love of technology that drives me now to get my degree in Management and Information Systems.

            Unlike my friends I have accepted and even love that I am like my father in many aspects.  Sometimes my friends think my mannerisms and sense of humor are a little strange, and sometimes I agree with them, but I would not change them if I could, I love who I have become thanks to my father. 

I was Raised by a Treky - Paper Part 1

Many of my class mates and friends have vowed or mentioned in front of me that they are never going to become like their parents.  I always laugh because I expect that they are probably a lot like their parents, but unlike me have yet to come to grips with reality.  I have been influenced by my father, by being around his Trekiness, being subjected to his strange mannerisms and sense of humor, and many other ways in which he lives and relates with others have rubbed off onto me.

I was raised in a small town of around 200 residents, in a mainly rural county in northeastern Kansas, where I was raised in a Christian home by my father and mother with my siblings.  My father was around 35 years old, 5’ 10”, and 200 pounds with a head of thinning hair.  He was young with a respectable amount of energy and spent a fair amount of time playing with me and my siblings in our backyard.  My mother was 34 years old, 5’ 9”, and 120 pounds, full of life, always experimenting with recipes in the kitchen and forcing us, while helping us, to do our 4-H fair projects.

I don’t remember exactly what age I am when I can remember that my father’s actions had a measurable impact on me but I think I was around 7-8.  I would ride my bike to my grandparent’s house, which is also the family farm, and try to find something to do like play in the shed, chase wild cats, or explore out back.  When it was the right season like mid spring or late fall, I would ride with my father a tractor, combine, or semi truck for hours.  We listened, and occasionally sang to Oldies ’95 on the radio, talked about crops, or what was going on in school.  I believe that it was during these countless long hours with my father that I developed my deep enjoyment of the Oldies and know most of the lyrics for many songs quite well.

Another thing that I remember that my father has influenced me in is his rules.  They were not always the normal house rules that my friends parent’s had but ones that I thought were a little much at the time.  One such example is the rules that when we ate together.  Everyone had to be seated at the table, the television had to be turned off, and you were to sit quietly unless you had something to say about school or if mother or father asked you a question.  Much of the etiquette at the kitchen table I felt was a little strict at the time but now I find it difficult not to say things to people if they are not following those rules.   Another place where my father had a rule, which I thought was strict, was when we were watching television or a movie.  Fairly often we would sit together as a family and watch, well… whatever dad wanted to watch, whether the news, a television show, or a movie.  When we were watching television, or in the room that had the television when father was watching something, there was to be relative silence.  Talking over commercials was permitted but even then the subject matter of what you talked about was usually subject to idea of whether or not now was the time to be talking about such things.  This is something that has really stuck with me, even with really good friends I tend to shy away from having discussions while a television is on, and I despise people who talk during movies, even if I have seen the movie more than once it just upsets me when they talk during it.

Fatal Printer Setup Error!?!

Ugh...  I am in an assistant, tech position in the residence hall of the University that I attend, and I loath setting up personal printers on our school provided laptops.  Most printers have no problem being set up.  However, for some unknown reason HP printers occasionally have a "Fatal Printer Setup Error!!"  There is an alternative method to try and set up the printer the only way to get the printer installed is to try repetitively until by chance it successfully installs.

I was Raised by a Treky

We are currently writing a paper for my composition class about any picture we want that in some way has some importance to us.  I chose this picture because it reminds me of my father.  My paper will be about how my fathers Trekiness and strange mannerisms have shaped me into the man that I am today.  This also includes why I am interested in technology and pursuing a career in Management and Information Systems.

Dissagreement

For my composition class I was to find a blog post that I disagree with and discuss it.  This is not over my usual topic just in case anyone was still expecting something along those lines.

COLLEGE!: CHALLENGE!: "Well congratulations everyone you have made it through the toughest week of classes... the second! In my experience with college the second ..."

I disagree with at least the first two sentences of this blog post, if not the entire first paragraph.  I find that either each week of classes gets consecutively harder, or that each week appears to be the hardest because I have pasted the last week and the next week is not yet here, so right now is definitely the hardest week of classes.

Portable Music Players

I was listening to my iPod the other day just enjoying the music when the thought came to me...  I remember when I listened to music on a "portable" cassette player, that was probably just a little smaller than one of my shoes, played songs in order, and had terrible battery life.  Furthermore, I am positive that I thought it was wonderful.  Then came CD's with all their majesty.  The portable Walkman, with the ability to skip around the CD, and if you were really cool it had the anti-skip protection.

Here I sit taking this slim, easily pocket sized, pick which song you would like to play next, with a 24 hour battery life for granted.  It astounds me how fast technology changes and how quickly accept them as just everyday things.  Its nice when life slows down enough for you to enjoy the things that you have for a little while.

Automated Calling

I despise automated calling machines.  The automated calling machine is so impersonal.  It is like a call that says "I don't know who you are and I don't care but I either want your money or there is something you can do for me."  I was ecstatic when they made a no call list because the random calls at random hours was quite aggravating.

Even the politicians are using automated calling machines to reach out to voters.  It is my belief that if you get an automated call from a candidate running for election they should automatically lose my vote.  It just proves that they don't really care about the voters or they would have called the voters, him or herself.

Snooze

The alarm clock, my dreaded foe.  It's sound signifies the end of my time of rest and the beginning of hours of classes and homework.  The alarm clock, despite my resentment towards it, is a good piece of technology to use.  Were it not for the alarm clock many people, including myself, would waste most of the day away in bed.  However, do not be dismayed if you wish to spend a couple more minutes in bed.  Just hit that snooze button and lay back down your head.

WoW Freak-out

I understand that video games are loads of fun, but I think that this guy needs to sort out some priorities of what is deserving of this kind of freak-out.  Its just a game, life still goes on.

Forecast: Overcast

In my last post I talked about the cloud, internet, and how it was an amazing technological work that really impacts our lives in a positive manner.  However, their are two sides to every coin and if the internet is not used in moderation it can take over your life.  Don't let the cloud cover your skies all day get out and do things.

I know many people that spend almost every waking hour playing games and occasionally talking to people on Facebook. Facebook itself is a great tool for networking, staying in contact with people that live a long ways away, and keeping up with people but it also rids people of actual interactions with other people.

The Cloud

Its time to talk about the single greatest technological advancement since the dawn of man... "the cloud".  More commonly know as the internet it is my belief that I could not live without this bit of technology.

But in all seriousness I think the internet that we have to day is a marvel of human ingenuity.  The ability to access data that someone else has placed on a computer called a server basically anywhere in the world relatively immediately is mind blowing.

The internet  has permeated almost every aspect of our lives.  We use the internet in our workplaces, at home for leisure, at school, and now we can access the internet on the go with our cell phones!  The internet has improved our lives in many ways, however if you do not keep an eye on what you use it for and how often you use it can be a bad thing.

Friendly Household Computer

I will be excluding the internet from this post and using it in a later post because I feel that it is deserving to be a separate entity from a computer.  

The computer is an amazing piece of technology that has really come a long way over the years.  From the first computers that weighed tons and filled entire rooms, to computers like the Mac Air or a Netbook which are small, lightweight, and portable.

Computers have made the ability to type and edit papers, make spread sheets, edit pictures, and store and retrieve massive amounts of data.  Computers can also store all our favorite music so that we do not have to keep taking CD's in and out of the CD tray.  Finally and probably my favorite thing is the free games that come installed and any games that you wish to play to pass the time away.

Go-go Gadget

Since I have been alive a can hardly remember when I did not have every thing I wanted at my fingertips.  There is so much information that we can access faster and in more places than ever before.  Technology can be a marvelous tool if utilized correctly; however, it can also be the ultimate life destroyer depending on what it is used for and to what extremes.

Why I Chose My Subject

First a little background information on me.  I was raised in a farming family, however my father had gone to college and majored in a computer related field.  He bought us a computer and gave us some simple games, showed us how to use it, and I really became interested in how it accomplished all the things that it did.

Now that I am in college and pursuing a major in Management and Information Systems and a minor in Networking, computers are a main focal point in my life plans.  However even if I did not have a computer centric major and minor technology has advanced to a point that it is nearly impossible to go a hour without utilizing some piece of technology.

I chose the topic title of Androids because we as Americans, but also as a planet, are daily integrating our lives more and more with technology.  From our alarm clocks to get us out of bed to the smart phones we just can't live without, we have integrated them so fully in our lives I wonder if, sometimes, we aren't closer to androids than human beings.