Opinions Needed..Should Violent Video Games Be Banned?

Originally Posted by Erevocanuck

Their is such thing as video game addiction and if parents don`t pay attention they may wish they had.
Here in Canada their was young man(in his teens) who ran away and died(exposure to cold).He was playing xbox live for atleast 8 hour or more a day and when his parents actual caught on it was to late.
I myself like World of warcraft,but I don`t think i could play it if I had children because of all negative talk about drugs,sex and racial s and homophobic slurs that are used on the global chat channels.
Also rating to have effect if stores like Walmart enforce their policy to not sell to minors if the E.S.R.B rating is mature.

Video game addiction is very real. I was addicted to video games since the 6th or seventh grade until the end of High School. Biggest regret in my life is wasting my time on that stuff. In High School, it was World of Warcraft and wow, what a waste of time that was. I'd play it 12-18 hours a day and it was a very real problem. Video games can be an addiction just like drugs and alcohol can be, minus the physical aspect of it. I finally smartened up, got a girlfriend, and no more video games for me. If, for every hour I played a video game I had a dollar, I'd have an extra 15-20 grand sitting around. Wouldn't that be nice?

And I've never bought anything from Walmart, but I know target and Gamestop enforce the ESRB rating around where I live. Also, on the ratings, it says something like "online experience may vary", but I think that should change to "Online experience may not be appropriate for those under the age of 18", because even E rated games can be VERY mature online due to the fowl language used by other players.

[JThiessen]

Originally Posted by Cody.McP

Video game addiction is very real. I was addicted to video games since the 6th or seventh grade until the end of High School. Biggest regret in my life is wasting my time on that stuff. In High School, it was World of Warcraft and wow, what a waste of time that was. I'd play it 12-18 hours a day and it was a very real problem. Video games can be an addiction just like drugs and alcohol can be, minus the physical aspect of it. I finally smartened up, got a girlfriend, and no more video games for me. If, for every hour I played a video game I had a dollar, I'd have an extra 15-20 grand sitting around. Wouldn't that be nice?

And I've never bought anything from Walmart, but I know target and Gamestop enforce the ESRB rating around where I live. Also, on the ratings, it says something like "online experience may vary", but I think that should change to "Online experience may not be appropriate for those under the age of 18", because even E rated games can be VERY mature online due to the fowl language used by other players.

So do you have bad parents?

Originally Posted by JThiessen

So do you have bad parents?

I typed out a long response about my childhood, but I figured I would just say this.
Yes, have bad parents, but I don't hold it against them.

[rawfuls]

Finished..
Not exactly how I wanted it to go, but, it's alright..
Probably trash in some eyes...
I had to really dumb it down, and repeat things to meet some requirements my teacher wanted me to hit..

C&C?
Link:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4338252/Pers...ssignment.docx

Unfortunately I wasn't able to hit a lot of your guy's ideas (believe me, I tried, I made a huge outline based off of it..) but it was mainly because I had so many statistics and info, I wasn't able to properly link all of them (definitely going to take out some info and expand and link all the ideas posted together... I'll be doing that this week when we are allowed to change up our draft. One of the biggest problems of that draft is that I squeezed so much information into a few paragraphs, it messed things up. ( my first speech research essay so I was tryin to follow an outline...

Oh well.
Could use some advice of placement and others....
Thanks guys!
It was a real help (and hopefully will still be) !

Just some C&C for you since you asked. I'm not a writer nor an English teacher, so take these with a grain of salt if you wish.

I would suggest you add in quotes for Dr. Lorenza Colzato's and Darcia Narvaez's studies, helps substantiate your claim and teachers usually love quotes (unless your teacher instructed you otherwise).
As for the studies of 22 teenage gamers at the bottom of page 2, maybe cite the actual study or the specific researcher/research group to give it more credibility.
On the last paragraph on pg 3, you might want to rephrase it say that video games cause heightened reaction in another way, rather than saying that without video games we won't have those heightened reactions; as sports and a host of other activities increase awareness and reaction time as well.
And finally at the end of page 4, you may want to show an example or supporting evidence that taxes will raise, as it is somewhat unsubstantiated in your essay.

Good job on the essay though, I would just suggest to add in hard evidence via quotes and specific studies to strengthen your argument. The more fact you have behind your argument, the better the essay. I don't know how your teacher grades, but you also may want to go through (slowly) and fix a few grammatical errors throughout the essay, as it might save you a few points (or maybe more depending on how much they like grammar). I can proofread it for you and send you a copy if you'd like me to, but there weren't really that many.

Again, I'm no English teacher, just my thoughts. Good luck with it!

Edit: Also, one thing I didn't touch on, you may want to try to split up your paragraphs even more in order to separate your arguments from each other.

[rawfuls]

I don't know abou quotes but he specifically said not to cite sources but instead say "According to.." etc.

You know I didn't think about other things that would also heighten these abilities, but now I know! Sweet.

I will definitely add some more hard examples and facts..

As far as the grammatical things goes, I usually have quite a bit in m papers when I'm thinking on a track, I just can't complete a word (I said person, not personal, etc) as I just keep continuing my thought.
I usually reread it a few times before submitting it or printing it but I'll be doing that tomorrow, so...

If it's no trouble, it's be very useful to get another copy!

Ah yes, I was debating whether I would segment it up, however I wasn't sure if myteacher wanted a strict 5 paragraphs or if I could split them up into segments... One of the things I was going to ask him tomorrow :D

Thanks again for the advice!

[JERRY2KONE]

I agree with the points he made as well. I forget who it was, but the last guy we helped a couple of months ago with his essay won some kind of monitary award. Granted it was still his writeup, but we helped him tweek it here and there until it flowed a little bit smoother, and the errors were dropped. I don't really have the time on this one to read through the whole thing and make adjustments myself. Sorry.

There are a few guys in here who could surely add some support to your efforts without rewriting the whole report. Like stated keep each paragraph on one argument and start another one for the next subject matter. Good luck with your reporting.

Respectfully, Jerry Seoul, Korea.

PS: oh and don't forget to come back in here and let everyone know how it worked out for you.

Originally Posted by rawfuls

As far as the grammatical things goes, I usually have quite a bit in m papers when I'm thinking on a track, I just can't complete a word (I said person, not personal, etc) as I just keep continuing my thought.
I usually reread it a few times before submitting it or printing it but I'll be doing that tomorrow, so...

If it's no trouble, it's be very useful to get another copy!

Ah yes, I was debating whether I would segment it up, however I wasn't sure if myteacher wanted a strict 5 paragraphs or if I could split them up into segments... One of the things I was going to ask him tomorrow :D

Thanks again for the advice!

No worries, I get the same way sometimes as well when writing papers. You want to keep going on with your thought before you lose it!

I will get to completely proofreading it tomorrow night if that is ok, it's 1am here and I'm too tired to be of much help right now

[rawfuls]

No worries guys, no need to rush; this was only a draft we had to turn in today, the real speech comes next week

BTW, I do believe that was tmaxxracer?
I remember a red avatar...

[TexasSP]

Remember if debating, the best way is to learn to win both arguments. That way, you are ready for what the other side will use and can point out the flaws. If this is just a speech, obviously not as important but I would think addressing some of the opposing view's claims and countering them would be helpful still. It shows you really studied the issue to come to a reasonable conclusion versus just taking the side you liked best.

[reno911]

No offense but you might as well start now while you have a good argumentative research paper to use it on. Look up MLA style and get to citing everything. The more you practice this at your age the easier it will come when in college and your professor will basically fail you for voicing any sort of opinion. Shame that in college, it is not what you know, since your too young and inexperienced to know anything says most college professors, it is what you can prove that you read on the subject that truly makes you intelligent in college.

If the teacher says otherwise well than go ahead. I would call that teacher out on his lack of preparation for his students for the years to come, but that is just me. I had no proper training or insight to citing text, I took a lot of creating writing classes in High School. Oops, should have took a regular formal class to prep for the wasteful crap I had to write in college.

Enjoy your opinion while you still have the ability to write it.

Back on topic. Sorry!

[rawfuls]

Well, talked to my teacher; he's really lookin for 4.5 or so, no more than 5 minutes, max..

I guess I've got a good page and a half to cut.
As far as citations go, it felt really weird to just repeat "according to" a zillion times without citations.

He's had us cite like crazy in our last two papers, and everybody was stunned when he specifically asked for no citations this time...
Oh well

Which means I'm gonna be linking a ton of the opinions, and removing some stats..

He doesn't want a hard copy, the only copy of the speech he wants is the verbal..

[TexasSP]

Sounds like he is testing your abilities a little deeper by changing things up. This is a good thing as you will need this ability to adapt and change very much through out your life.

[rawfuls]

Why Violent Games Shouldn’t Be Banned

I’m sure many of you have played games such as Mortal Combat, Zelda, or Street Fighter, well if violent games are banned, these old nostalgic games will also be banned. Violent video games are mature rated games that are rated by the ESRB, the Entertainment Software Rating Board. When I play violent games, I know the differences and consequences of killing in a game and in reality, which is the very reason why I don’t kill in real life. Now I’m just a regular teenager like many of you others, but after countless hours of research, I believe banning video games is counter-productive, ineffective, and is just an overall poor decision.

Banning mature rated games will only be a repeat of a similar ban, the Prohibition of Alcohol in the 20’s, where alcohol was said to be the cause of many unwanted crimes. By banning alcohol, they thought it would reduce crime but were surprised to find that crime increased, and many people had been making alcohol against all laws and regulations. The people who weren’t making alcohol were most likely purchasing some for themselves. In the end, when the illegal distribution of alcohol simply became too big with organized crime, underground activity, and smuggling, the prohibition was soon lifted. By banning mature games, a new black market would open up for these games, where people will be able to get their hands on a violent game one way or another and illegally sell them.

Mature video games have been deemed good for the eyes, hands, and even mind. According to Rochester University, researchers have discovered that violent video games can help improve a teenager’s vision. A study was done where 22 teenage gamers, half violent (CoD, Gears of War) were discovered to have a 43% better chance distinguishing close color shades meanwhile the non-violent gamers (Madden, NBA) were unable to distinguish the close shade colors. According to Dr. Colzato of Leiden University in Europe, violent video games help the brain and body develop quicker reaction time as well as improved motor skills. In addition, gamers tend to have better hand-eye coordination as well as situation awareness which can help prevent people from going into possible life-threatening situations by detecting them beforehand.

Banning violent video games will also greatly affect our economy. According to the Entertainment Software Association, the ESA, at least 68% of all households are gamers. According to vgchartz.com, the top four most sold games within a single week were mature rated games such as Call of Duty Black Ops and Assassin’s Creed, with Black Ops earning over $360 million dollars, and over 3 million pre-orders alone within a single week. In the year 2008, over $290 million dollars was earned because of said violent video games. The United States unemployment rate is 9.60% according to the Bureau of Labor Services. If violent video games were to be banned, all the violent video game companies will be forced to close, losing both company revenue as well as tax revenue for the state, which will also increase our unemployment rate drastically. With violent video games banned, more money will be needed to pay personnel to enforce these laws, raising the tax rate even more, which will inevitably dig the country into an even deeper ditch then we’re in now. However, because these mature-rated video games are still legal and selling, we are able to help out the local businesses and retailers who are still struggling to get a grip in this current economic crisis. Mature video games may also benefit the player; especially teenagers where they will learn how to set goals and earn them through trial and error.

Although violent video games are good for the mind and body; others may believe otherwise. Some may argue that violent video games can desensitize the players greatly. However, desensitizing somebody may be good in the long run, games full of gore or even flight simulators may prepare them for the Army, if they so choose so. The Army takes video games very seriously, so seriously in fact they have invested over $50 million dollars in the production of a video game. The video game, a virtual controllable Humvee, Apache Gunship, and Black Hawk Helicopter is able to train soldiers for modern combat. The Army is also able to recruit new soldiers through video games, who are willing to fight for our country, games which can also keep them safe, and allow them to survive in the warzone using war tactics they learned through countless hours of playing realistic scenarios. Some may also argue that parents don’t often know what their children are playing, however according to the ESA, parents monitor their children’s game play about 93% of the time. Others may also argue that games can be influential on minors; however Texas A&M University has been able to prove that violent video games can be used similar to a “stress ball” where after a stressful, long day people are able to relieve their stress and anger simply by playing a video game. According to the ESA, as violent content increases, violent crime drastically decreases. Studies done by many US authorities such as the Federal Trade Commission, and the US District Courts have found no definite link between violent content and violent behavior among the players.

Banning violent video games will simply make things even worse economically, and socially. By banning video games we are reducing company revenue, requiring more tax in order to enforce the ban on games, increasing the unemployment rate, potentially increasing crime, and digging our country into a deeper hole. So why must we ban something that can help improve somebody’s wellbeing? In the end, violent video games isn’t as bad as it is being hyped up in the media, as even the superior court ruled that the statue of banning all violent video games is simply unconstitutional. With all the studies and research done, it would be unwise to turn a blind eye to the studies which prove that violent video games are here to aid and improve human beings

[rawfuls]

Well guys, I must say, giving a speech is harder than it looks!
Went up there today, immediately my hands got numb, cold, and started quivering.. Weird, I know. Completely forgot my intro for a good 10 seconds (but I just acted like I was waiting for them to get ready to take some more notes hehe :D)
Also talked a bit quicker than I would've liked, but we had a strict time of 5 minutes, nothing over, no less than 4:30.
Hit right around the 4:45 mark..

My teacher randomly picked topics per day, starting Wednesday; so you never knew when you were going to go..

Anyways, I completely rewrote my entire speech because my original was just trash... Way too many statistics, not enough opinions, and not enough "tie-in"...
So, rewrote it, had it peer-edited by a person or two, and again by another friend who had my same teacher last year..

I missed some requirements, like an anaphora, or syllogism, but if I added them, I don't think it could've flowed as well..

Don't really need peer-edits anymore, C&C would be nice though.

Links for those who wish to download, other page has it pasted.

Word Document (.doc- for Office 1997-2010)
http://bit.ly/fES7xB

PDF Document (.pdf- for Adobe Acrobat and other PDF Readers)
http://bit.ly/eXEsIx