WORTH THINKING ABOUT: VIOLENCE AND THE MEDIA
The recent school-shooting tragedy in Littleton, Colorado, has sparked
a wide-ranging debate about the role played by TV, movies and video games
in fostering a climate of violence. One prominent contributor to that
debate is Canadian consultant and information technology enthusiast Don
Tapscott, whose recent book "Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net
Generation." Here is a passage summarizing Tapscott's views on the subject:
"Though it may be discomforting to admit, throughout history children
have always played violent games. Early in this century, young boys played
'war' with lines of tin soldiers, knocking them down one by one, or in one
fell swoop, in a simulated battle. The next generation played cowboys and
Indians or cops and robbers, where the youngsters themselves fell down and
played dead. When parents stopped buying soldier figures and fake guns,
children created their own weapons and continued to play out good guy/bad
guy plots. Children are attracted to violence and critical studies of
older media forms, including the fairy tale, suggest it is not always in
children's best interests to remove from their cultural experience all
material that parents deem is too provocative or violent.
"This is not a simple issue.
"Clearly much of the concern about violence in video games and other
media is misplaced-the main sources of violent behavior lies elsewhere.
These include parental violence toward children and violence between
nations which portray the use of force in the real world by important
institutions-parents and government-as an acceptable way to solve problems
or vent anger.
"Nevertheless, the impact of video games, television, film or other
media violence (such as the gory details of murders in the print media)
probably has a negative impact on violent behavior in society, as does the
proliferation of weapons.
"The impact of media violence on an individual child's behavior is
probably very specific to the child and his or her social context. There
is no evidence, for example, that the use of 'Beat-'em-up' video games
leads to violent behavior of well-adjusted youth coming from loving
families. The impact is also probably specific to age. Just as it makes
sense to restrict a 10-year-old's access to movies with extreme violent
content, so it makes sense to restrict age-inappropriate video games. Age
ratings on video game packages do appear to be helpful and appropriate.
"Most violent games today are cartoon-like. This will change as games
become more realistic and, 3D, and eventually realistic of virtual reality,
ensuring that this issue will not disappear.
"It is inappropriate for children of any age to spend significant
parts of life using violent video games, or any video games for that
matter. Conversely, for most children it makes little sense to deny access
to age-appropriate games simply for fear that these will lead to antisocial
behavior. Successful parenting is a question of balance."
[From Don Tapscott's "Growing Up Digital" (McGraw-Hill), available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0070633614/newsscancom/ ]