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Re: Littleton - violence in media



Hi all,
We can all acknowledge that violence is all around but is this
any different than say 50 years ago? How about the studies that show
cartoons almost double the number of violent acts than prime time shows
(I know - who defines a violent act)? Or even the studies that show the
number of violent acts in prime time have stayed steady over the last
three or four decades at least? There are studies that show violence
observed (study was only on TV) causes kids to commit violent acts. The
study showed after watching TV that kids were more likely to beat up
their teddy bear than if they had watched the Care Bears or something
like that. One could argue that the violence is becoming more extreme
but to me violence is violence and there is no discrete levels.
My belief is that there are so many problems. Will more laws
help? They didn't help in the first place. How many gun control laws
were broken? (I am not an NRA member and I will never own a gun but I
also believe you cannot legislate morals) Stopping violence in media is
a noble goal but how about all those movies that are already out there?
Do we censor the nation? It is a laudable goal but very unrealistic,
because then there are a select few deciding what we see. How about
Private Ryan? Should there be a stigma of war being glorious? Nowadays
with live TV coverage, war has changed. Why an air campaign in Kosovo?
To cut down on collateral damage because as we saw on the nightly news,
every single mistake is broadcast. It will soon eliminate any work the
special forces can do.
Now, my personal crusade in what I think caused all these school
shhotings up to, includeing Littleton, and beyond. It is a lack of or
improper fiction/reality filter in the psyche of kids today. That is
why violence in the media, video games, and other forms of it can lead
to ideas and eventually to violent acts. It is easy to understand with
how realistic staged violence is. How real do staged acts look on TV
compared to real violent acts like that car being shot up by the German
Army in Kosovo? How real are the video games? I know, because I played
Doom I & II, Quake I & II & III (beta), and other shoot em up games.
However, I know what is real and what is not, and what is right and what
is wrong. I have now focused more on strategy games to flex the brain
muscle. These games are basically conquer the world games like the
Civilization series and Age of Empires.
There is one other thing about violence is video games, and that
is the public perception of them. Video games have a negative
connotation based on one simple phase, Death Matches. This is the most
misused and misunderstand phase about video games. It is an option on
the game where you play against another person one on one (one against
many others is also possible) over the net where they hunt each other
down through the maze. It is a test of skill because your opponent is
not as predictable as the computer. I guess this is worse because you
are no longer shooting aliens.
Well, I have babbled long enough and will probably spark a
thread. Sorry, I couldn't get through to the talk radio station this
morning on this same topic so this is my vent.


Sam Held