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Ignorance Is (Not) Bliss

by March 8th 2008 10:13 PM CST3 Comments

WARNING: The contents of this article may be subject to causing boredom. I know, I said I was here to both inform and entertain you. Sue me. Humor will be inserted in order to make a point (or to just excite a laugh as usual) where I deem necessary, so grab your hardhat and put your serious face on, it’s time to show those naysayers what’s up!

Have you ever played Mass Effect? Have you ever watched a porno? Did you know that the two seemingly-unrelated things are pretty much one and the same? Or at least they were in the mind of developmental psychologist Cooper Lawrence. Of course, sexuality in video games isn’t the only hot-button issue; violence is the most fiercely-contested one. Why is it that video games are looked down upon while movies, music and television seem to get by unscathed?

The first and most obvious reason is that video games are a relatively new medium. In contrast to other forms of entertainment, such as TV programs and feature films, video games have only been around since the late seventies. They are receiving the same scrutiny that those forms entertainment were receiving when they were first introduced. What we have here is simply history repeating itself as it always does. I recall reading a comment somewhere that actually made a very valid point: “In 20-30 years, the world will be entirely run and governed by people who grew up with video games and understand them.”

A common misconception is that video games have led to prevalent violence in youth. Although it’s true that some of the teenagers who have committed violent acts — school shootings for instance — did play video games, the overwhelming majority of kids who play do not commit antisocial acts, according to research done by MIT professor Henry Jenkins. Besides, rethink that argument: some teenagers who committed violent acts did play video games. Does that statement have any logic at all? That’s no different than saying some serial killers like apple pie, so clearly apple pie should be outlawed. All right, so maybe it’s not that extreme, but I think you get my point.

Many people believe that games can desensitize children. However, this myth is quickly debunked by research which shows that ordinary and mentally-stable humans can recognize the change between the game world and the real world. Eric Zimmerman, game designer and co-founder of Gamelab, characterizes this game world as the “magic circle.” Jumping in and out of the magic circle is no different than, as Jenkins puts it, “sweeping a floor as in playing house and sweeping a floor as in actual housework.”

Skeptics also suggest that playing violent video games damages the empathy that children feel for victims in the real world. Again, Jenkins responds to this with “a child who responds to a video game the same way he or she responds to a real-world tragedy could be showing symptoms of being severely emotionally disturbed. Here's where the media effects research, which often uses punching rubber dolls as a marker of real-world aggression, becomes problematic. The kid who is punching a toy designed for this purpose is still within the "magic circle" of play and understands her actions on those terms. Such research shows us only that violent play leads to more violent play.”

Going back to violence in video games and how it “affects” young people, the foremost risk factors for school shootings, according to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General’s report, are mental instability and home life. This means that people that are just generally insane or people that were abused as children are more at risk to commit acts of violence than, say, that dude who sits in his basement for days on end playing World of Warcraft. You know, the guy who has all the zits and never fails to have a bag of potato chips out of arm’s reach.

Ultimately, the real reason video games are ridiculed more so than their movie and TV counterparts is that people feel it’s much easier for children to get their hands on them. In reality, it’s the parents who are buying these games for their kids, so the responsibility of monitoring what’s going on falls on their shoulders as always. The problem isn’t with the video games, it’s with parents. Parents need to hold back on using games as a scapegoat and take things into their own hands.