Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
No, I don't think it is that simple. Perhaps video games tap in to the latent violence that is already there, but I would argue that they do not create that violence. Violence has always been with us. What would we blame for the violence in pre-video game days? Maybe it is something really simple, like there are just too many of us living in such close quarters, that violence comes from friction. And on the question of "youth culture": is this not laying too much blame on "youth"? Surely much of the violence in our societies is perped by adults, the middle aged, and sometimes the old. Canada's latest mass killer, Robert Picton, killed god knows how many Vancouver hookers (they haven't finished counting yet) and it is probably the slimeball never saw a video in his life (apart from porn).
|
Whilst I agree with much of what you say in the work that I do with young offenders I ahve witnessed a marked increase in the extent of violence over the last two to three years. I fully agree that violence has wlways existed and I am not necessarily saying that the overall number has increased very much but what certainly has is the level of violence and the speed to which it escalates- particulalrly in youth on youth assaults. For example I have lost count this year alone in the number of instance where one or more young people have forced another young person to the floor and proceeded to kick them in the head. Did this happen yeras ago- yes of course it did- but the extreme level of violence some young people move quickly to has certainly increased. I think the reason is a lot more complicated than video games but feel that there is a contributory factor there.
The issue with youth culture I have is that many of the young people I work with dont feel that they have a right to aspire to anything- aspiration is in fact an alien concept to many. When you are then faced with the sort of gangsta imagery with all that entails many young people replace more realistsic goals with their hero worship of 50 cent et al. Consider the rise in gun culture across Britain and its correlation with this form of popular culture- cant be coincidence.