Grand Theft Auto IV, etc.
The stats tell the story here. First week's sales: $500 million. The sales of GTA dwarf movie premieres, CD sales, or, Bauerlein notes, book sales. All that video use, Bauerlein says, has hurt in the classroom, too. Thousands of Massachusetts public school graduates are ending up in remedial reading and writing classes in college, according to a Globe story.
The stats tell the story here. First week's sales: $500 million. The sales of GTA dwarf movie premieres, CD sales, or, Bauerlein notes, book sales. All that video use, Bauerlein says, has hurt in the classroom, too. Thousands of Massachusetts public school graduates are ending up in remedial reading and writing classes in college, according to a Globe story.
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Part one of my comment...It's so important that people get educated on the effects of video gaming because they are serious, and addiction could ruin your education and other things severely. In recent history, there has been several cases where video games have been the result of teenagers running away or murdering their parents because they had taken there video games or consoles. Daniel Petric, for example. Court reports declared that Daniel had sneaked up behind his parents and said, “Would you close your eyes, I have a surprise for you.”, then Daniel proceeded to shoot both of his parents for the sole reason that they had taken his Xbox and Halo 3. He is one of the youngest murderers in US history. A 14 year old from Barrie Ontario went missing several years ago after running away from his parents, who had taken his video game, after discovering that he had skipped school to play online tournaments. He was later found dead in a forest. Not only are video games addictive, (video game addiction is actually a legitimate thing), video games are distracting and are mostly always violent. If murder is illegal, and most murderers receive full-life sentences for their actions, why are people all ages and worldwide allowed to play the role of a serial killer on a video game? To say that video games are a big part of life for people 30 and under, is a understatement. Personally, I think that gaming is like gambling; it’s hard to stop after you started and it’s a adrenaline inducing game. Studies show your heart-rate increases drastically when playing video games such as Halo and Call Of Duty. Many of these things are relatively rare, but that should not matter because of how serious these cases are.
Firstly, they have health risks: In February 2002, a Louisiana woman sued the company Nintendo after her son died after suffering seizures caused by playing “Nintendo 64” for eight hours a day, six days a week, she lost the case. In South Korea in 2005, Seungseob Lee played Starcraft in a internet café almost continuously for fifty hours, resulting in a cardiac arrest, which he died from. There are many cases almost identical to these that have happened around the world.
Part two...
They are addictive: In November 2005 Gregg J. Kleinmark, 24, plead guilty for 2 accounts of involuntary murder. He left his twins Drew and Bryn Kleinmark unattended in a bathtub for half an hour, to go three rooms away and play his Game Boy Advance while his tenth-month old twins drowned. Education would be ignored when you are addicted to gaming.
People do ridiculous things and put gaming as a top priority and let other thing simply “go to the wayside”: Many from ’the dumbest generation’ is putting their education as a lower priority than video gaming and it will take it’s toll. Kim Sa-rang was a 3-month-old Korean child who unfortunately died from malnutrition after her parents spent hours each day raising a virtual child on an online game instead of raising Kim. 6 years ago a Chinese gamer was stabbed by other gamer to death because he had sold a dragon saber sword which he had been lent in Legend of Mir 2. The murderer was given a suspended death sentence. Xiao Yi was a thirteen year old gamer from China who threw himself from the top of a twenty-four story tower block, “leaving notes that spoke of his addiction and his hope of being reunited with fellow cyber-players in heaven”. He stated that he hoped to meet three gaming friends in the after life. His parents were not mentioned in the letters.
They have caused many deaths: Tyrone Spellman, 27 was convicted of third degree murder after killing his 17-month old daughter “in a rage over a broken X-box”. In 2010, Alexandra Tobias Jacksonville, Florida of pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for shaking her baby to death because “ the boy's crying had interrupted her while she was playing a Facebook game, Farmville. Kendall Anderson was 16 when in late 2010 he killed his mother by hitting her 20 times with a claw hammer while she slept, because she had taken his PlayStation. Kim Sa-rang was a 3-month-old Korean child who unfortunately died from malnutrition after her parents spent hours each day raising a virtual child on an online game instead of raising Kim. In Vietnam, the police arrested a 13 year old boy in 2007 from murdering and robbing a 81 year old woman so he could have money for gaming.
this one was kind of hard to comment for. surprisingly, I kind of agree with him here. all these video games are screwing people's lives. like claire said, it can lead to addiction and we all know that never ends well... like in all of claire's stories...
video games are really distracting too; instead of doing homework or studying, all kids want to do is play video games.
out of all the reasons he says we are dumb, this probably the most valid one. all this screen time hurts our brains. and most people would rather play video games than read a book nowadays.
BUT that isnt really our gerenation's fault. HIS generation are the ones who invented these things and introduced them to us. and video games nowadays are advertised/directed towards us teens.
AND, also there are alot of poeple in our generation who dont play any video game and know how to read and write properly.
Wow Claire, you make a really strong point. It frightens me to learn about all this information, so many lives ruined because of video games. I'm guessing the people you listed is only the tip of the iceberg, and BTW you wrote the one about Kim from Korea twice(part 2 middle and bottom).
I do think video games effects classroom in a big way, like instead of doing homework and projects at home people will play video games all day. Going on twitter and Facebook is the same as playing a video game, technology is distracting us. But at the same time we can gain vast amounts of knowledge from technology, instead of going to the libary and finding something in a 500+ page encyclepedia we can go on google and wikipedia instead saving us time and giving us more resources, it's really on how you choose to use the technology.
In my mini enrichment course, my class was coincidentally about video games! We learned about video game design, storyline, animation and etc., but anyways my instructor(Erika Layton) said that some games are actually good for you because they engage the brain or something.By some I mean strategy and games you have to use your brain (not like call of duty of course)for example portal 1 and 2.
As for the addicting concepts of video games I think that if parents were a little more strict we wouldn't have all these situations that Claire posted. It's not really the kids fault because we don't think much and we have little resistance, but I think if parents restricted the gaming of their kids this stuff wouldn't happen. For the examples posted by Claire those parents should have sent their kids to rehab, I mean what kid of person would tell their parents to close their eyes and then shoot them in the head?
Yeah I know it's crazy.Even though those stories are extreme the point is they happened and someone should be doing something so they don't happen again. I strongly think that parents shouldn't let their kids play video games that aren't educational... I used to have like "brain age" for Nitendo DS... It was legit the funnest game ever yet i wasn't shooting random people...
Oops didn't mean to write the Kim thing twice... :P
I think that Mr. Buauerlein is pretty right in this area. Video games ruin lives, for example a few years ago a kid ran away from home just because his parents wouldn't get him COD. A week later, he was found dead, died of hypothermia. Also plenty of kids stay awake all night playing video games. Video games already melt your brain, but not sleeping (which is bad) for doing brain melting things is double as bad.
But it is not just our fault that kids are addicted to these video games, I blame a few other people as well.
first off, if our generations parents also have a say in this as well.If this generations parents were more strict with rules on playing time then a lot of innocent kids would have been saved. For example; little simple rules like homework first or 30 min per day max playing time. These types of things would almost solve the problem.
Also the media is at fault, if the media did not always right about "the most sold game" or "the most played game" then kids would not be as exposed to the many games to buy. And we wouldn't know as much about COD or Halo etc. Im not saying you would never have heard of these games but you wouldn't have been exposed as much. So it would not be constantly on your mind.
3rd people the game makers; just because nowadays the graphics can be perfect the games can be realistic etc. But just because young people get addicted easily to violent stuff means that they should make money off young peoples flaw's? I think that is very bad because that is taking advantage of kids who can addicted to it and ruin their lives; no homework done, dropout of school, no college or university degree, no job and sometimes leads to death. and don't forget the health problems with vision mental problems etc.
In conclusion we can't simply just blame this generation there is more facters.
First of all let me say WAY TO GO CLAIRE! (This is a positive "way to go", not negative) finally somebody else had to use two parts for their comments; I was feeling a bit stupid as it stood. But anyways, back to my comment.
So I didn't really understand what he meant by this part, to be honest. It could just be it was worded poorly but I’m pretty sure he was talking about video game addiction. I don’t actually find myself to opinionated for this one. I usually have a clear opinion but I don’t for this one. I think I’m more leaning towards agreeing with this because video gaming IS an issue with lots of people and DOES cause bad things to happen.
I read the first little bit of Claire’s comments and saw the story about the guy letting his baby twins drown and it actually didn't shock me. See, I view this story to be one of those Buaurlein moves where you take some evidence and use it to your own purposes (no offense intended, Claire). The way I see it, that was more of a case of ignorance, rather than gaming addiction; not a lot of people know that babies will drown if left alone (sad, but true).
After seeing all of the lives ruined by video game rage, I believe I can guess as to why it happened: when playing a video game, you get really into it and no matter how irrelevant it is, it almost seems your life depends on "getting that last achievement" or "beating the level". Especially if it's an online game because competitivity is also a huge factor in this addiction. When someone obstructs that by breaking your console or taking it away, then it would induce a huge amount of rage, which could, in fact, make someone angry enough to kill. Now, that may sound a bit stupid to you, but it wouldn't to someone who had a massive addiction; having an addiction changes you mind-set.
Some people say that playing “Call of Duty", "Halo" or other violent games, makes you more aggressive. I disagree with that. I think ANY video game would make you aggressive. If you are addicted, then you would be angry at whoever stopped you from playing, whether you were playing "sub-zero space" or "super Mario bros". It’s all the concept rather than content.
Back on track. Having an addiction is definitely a problem for school. Like I said, when you are addicted, nothing else matters but to finish whatever you were playing. "Who gives a damn about school? I need to get more points on my game to buy a new weapon." You wouldn't really think about your future when you're addicted. I think that why they go downhill so fast once they're trapped in the game.
Now, for some reason, I cannot fathom, video games have a positive effects on popularity. When I observe things, it appears that playing violent games like Call of duty and halo actually BOOST your popularity. I don't know if it's some contest to see who’s the most violent or what? It’s beyond me. That just what I see. But that also leads to addiction.
I’m not saying ALL people who game are addicted but that where it starts. (I notice that a lot of the people who openly play call of duty a lot get worse grades. I wonder if there's a pattern there or if I’m just over-thinking this.)
But, it's also kind of weird that he accuses us of this, yet, everyone his age are PURPOSELY screwing us over with all these advertisements. I mean, do you KNOW how many of those bad boys we're hit with everyday? (I’m just kidding, of course you do.)
In conclusion, I have one saying that fits in perfectly. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." (I think that how it goes. oh well.) Anyways, they fooled us once for making we play the games (shame on them). But they DEFINITELY fooled us twice when we kept playing even knowing what was happening (shame on us.).
The end.
Video games are there for pleasure and relaxation. Once they become addicting, that's where the problems start. As it has already been said, there are so many other things you can do other than video games like playing outside or reading a book. You could have been using this time to enrich your minds! Video games have have turned into a serious problem because it is causing people to lose their sane minds (like in Claire's examples). The kids and the parents should work together to find ways to solve this addiction and set limits so that they can enjoy a balanced life.
Video games are a problem to society, they ruin lives of millions of people across the planet; they lower marks, they hurt kids health, they cause drop outs and and fails in high school and they sometimes cause death. Here's an example(i didn't read all of claires examples so I'm not sure if she already has it) A couple years ago a kid our age wanted Call of duty so he asked his parents, when his parents said no he ran away from home and 2 weeks later he was found dead: he died of hypothermia. I know this was an extreme case but how do you know that extreme case could've happened to me or you. Besides it being our fault, I blame 3 other people in this equation.
First and foremost we have to blame the parents. Parents who are never around or not strict enough about time limits towards this stuff have a lot of responsibility on this subject.If they made a little effort with putting time limits on the hours spent on play stations or x box a lot of innocent kids would be alive or not have dropped out of high school. Or learning about the games the kids play. Like games that are not inappropriate or violent etc.
Number 2 is the media. If the media didn't always inform us on "the best selling game" or "the most played game" then teens wouldn't be as informed about the new C.O.D. coming out in 2 days or the New Halo etc. If they didn't inform us as much we wouldn't have as big of a problem.
And 3rd the game makers. Just because the graphics can be so real and the blood so realistic does that mean they should make games with that. If they know there making inappropriate games because they know they can make money off our being addicted to violence. Doesn't it feel bad that people are taking advantage of our generation to make money? I think this is ridiculous and how are they allowed to do that.
P.S. I already commented before it didnt work so this is my second time.
Video games are fun, totally agree with that! Being addicted is completely different. I totally see why the sales were $500 million, it's somewhat obvious, kids/teens love video games. There is also a big difference between educational games, “fun for everyone” games, and “rated M for mature” video games like COD.
Scary things can happen when people are addicted to something. Claire shows it in her posts above. I was watching the news, and I heard about the boy from Barrie being found dead because his parents took away his Xbox and he ran away from home. I've gotten my Ipod and laptop token away because I was grounded. I didn’t run away from home. I impatiently waited for 2 weeks to get them back. But see that's the difference I was not addicted to my Ipod or computer or anything! While this boy was addicted... COMPLETELY, and suffered horribly.
For me my experience playing COD was scary actually my first time freaked me out. When I got killed (which happened all the time cause Maddie kept shooting me.), it was just weird and I guess after playing it, I can see why some people are addicted to games like that. When you play here and there for fun or to pass time it doesn't mean anything, when you start to play because you feel it's real. You've got a problem.
It could effect students in classrooms, people not caring for school just impatiently waiting to get home so they can turn on their Xbox/PlayStations so they can start their killing rampage. But really I think all it does (if it effects anything school wise) is make kids/teens not do their homework because they are to busy killing people on their televisions.
One thing that got me really annoyed hopefully I'm the first person to mention this is that the article about students from Massachusetts are having to take lower reading and writing in college. THIS COULD MEAN ANYTHING!!! Seriously, do these people who have to take these remedial classes suffer from video addiction, no!! Well, maybe but we wouldn't know because the article is 3 sentences long!! Students from any generation could have to take these courses, but Bauerlein states this under is argument of video games when clearly the information was not made for that sake.
In conclusion, video games can be very harmful, and addicting. Parents should be watching what there kids play on the consoles. Maybe video gaming can effect school but Bauerlein doesn't show a proper study to prove his point. We all know video games can be dangerous and all of us should just watch out how violent or addicted starts to show. Definitely try to stop before anything devastating happens, like the articles in Claire's post.
Stop blaming everything on everyone else. (I agree that video games are bad for you.)
I'm not going to repeat what everyone here said. we all know video games can get addicting and blah blah blah.
By the way , i would like to say adding a lot of studies on video games doesn't really mean much. your basically doing the exact same thing Mark did for this book ...
I agree that GTA is affecting many kids’ lives, and it's our fault for choosing to spend our time on them.
However, we didn't invent the Xbox or the games you play in it either. It's actually both our generations (Mr.Oickle and us) fault. Like Raj stated on a different post about screen time on the computer “We chose to misuse it."
But I don't think the same thing goes with the Xbox. Is there a proper way to use an Xbox?
I sort of agree with Mark Bauerlein on this specific subject. Video games do run and ruin some peoples lives; suicide, murder, sickness are just a few of the things that fall alongside video game addiction. I don't know anyone with a video game addiction, so i can't exactly relate. But if i did then I'm sure it would be affecting their school work.
I also disagree with the first part of Mark's comment. sure, the video game Grand Auto Theft IV sold about $500 million copies. But whos to say that all those 500 million people are/ were addicted to it? Again its a huge generalization of the entire teenage population.
Video games can affect the way you act. For example, when people play 'COD' for a while, they tend to be more aggressive and violent. So, it can screw peoples lives up, as Lydia has said. They can also become addicting, so you would spend all your time just playing, from the time you come home to diner to when you go to sleep. It can also interfere your learning, I'm not sure how, but the video games can affect your brain so it's harder for you to stay focused ion classes and get distracted more easily.
Even after all what we have said, video games are really fun and I'm pretty sure most of our class would rather play video games than do homework. But, like Aggie said, we can't blame everything on their generation, because it's our generation who is choosing to use them.
Ok, yes I know I’m late but I do have to agree with Claire’s comments. Here is the thing we can get addicted to these games but what is wrong with getting into the game? Nothing right, so as long as we don’t get over excessive in use of these games they aren’t bad. Since I am posting late and last there is nothing for me to say. The rest of you covered all of the possible things I think at least. You all did a great job of covering everything. This is all I could write and say :( byee
I agree with Mr Bauerlein here because while technology is becoming more and more advanced people are (obviously) spending more and more time using it. Which means they are blocking out some important things in their life like school, friends and some even throw away life itself!! So while the teacher at school is talking on and on they are concentrated on the clock or thinking about how they are going to beat their highscore. That is my input everybody else basically said the rest.
I completely agree with this one here. Video games weren't made for people to play 24/7 and do nothing else. They were made to enjoy for a short amount of time,just have a little fun. Well I think it's pretty obvious that we have turned that little bit of relaxing fun into a whole different thing, it's becoming and addiction. After reading claires and doing my French discour on video games it really has changed my perspective on video games. I can't believe how many people have had their lives ruined! I also saw some people saying, well there generation made them so it's there fault, I have to agree with agatha, we need to stop blaming them and take on responsibility. Also, because we are such heavy video game users I think that the people who sell the video games are trying to get us addicted and we are falling for it, therefor backing up mark Bauerlein's point that we are the dumbest generation. I can't remember who said it but they said that this is mark Bauerlein's strongest point against us, I agree.
Okay, so I agree, with the people who said that video games are good and sometimes can be a way to relax and get your mind off of things until you get the point, to where it is an addiction, and it keeps getting worse and worse. But I don't think that rule ONLY applies to video games, because there is a saying that, too much of something, isn't good whether, it's healthy to begin with or not. For example the internet, some people said, people get addicted to Facebook, Twitter or even just playing other games on the web. And the thing is, the new technology isn't helping those people facing an addiction, there is a new phone out, that has a similar PSP function where you can play games, so the industry really isn't helping, if not it's making it a lot worse, than it should be.
I would have to agree to him since playing "violent" games when your young will make you think that if you do it, it'll be the same as in the game. If they get addicted, they'll think about the game more (making strategy/game plan etc.) and won't really be paying attention in school.
"Video games were first invented to create entertainment to go along with movies. But later, they were viewed as fun."
In my opinion, people should make a scheduele for stuff like homework, free-time and everything related.
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