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by hahnmeister from East Side, Milwaukee

Last Post 154 days, 23 hours Ago


Grand Theft Violence and Kids...propaganda it seems.
May 3, 2008 | 4:29 PM
Category: News
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This reminds me of the 'anti-global warming' campaign or the 'can youprove smoking causes cancer' propaganda:

From Thomas McDonald:

"Have you heard about the 3500 research studies that show a positive relationship between media violence and violent behavior?  Its an old cudgel often used to bludgeon the gaming industry in the debate about violent games.

It also turns out to be a complete fabrication.  Those 3500 studies simply dont exist.  In extensice research for their own study, Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson (founders of the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital and professors at Harvard Medical School) searched the available literature and found only about 300 studies on the topic.  In their new book, 'Grand Theft Childhood', Kutner and Olson conclude that most of the previous studies were either inconclusive or flawed, with none providing the smoking gun linking media violence and real-world violence in an incontrovertable cause-effect relationship.

They decided to go looking for the link themselves the created what is arguably the most far-reaching and thorough study yet.  The results may not be what either side of the debate wants to hear, but after reading their results, it's hard to deny that Kutner and Olson's is scrupulously fair - and thats it's a bombshell.

They begin by making the crucial distinction between youth violence, which they define as an attack on a person of thing with the intent to injure or break it, and the less easily defined aggression, which includes antisocial behavior, bullying, and delinquency.  Their research reveals two key facts that are relavant to the debate.

FIrst, there is no link between young people who play violent games and actual violence.  In fact, as gamer culture has grown, incidents of violent crime have dropped significantly.  They also debunk the myth that school shootings such as the ones that took place at Columbine (blamed on Doom) and Virginia Tech (Counter-Strike) were caused by games.  Instread, they learned that the Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho didn't play games in college, which tallied with one of their more interesting discoveries:  Kids who DON'T play games are the social outcasts and misfits.  Games help kids fit in and form relationships.  Their study did, however, find a connection between aggression and violent games, and we'll explore that more in detail next month."

I am waiting myself on the results of 'next month', but the results I saw were showing that violent games are a sort of therapy for those with aggression problems, and some other things.

SO, looks like a bunch of propaganda about nothing to distract us from the more important issues once again!  Buy your kid Grand Theft Auto and help him/her fit in at school!!!  Okay, maybe not that, but what are your thoughts?

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Member Comments Total Comments: 9
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desertwindrider read my blog view my photos
May 4, 2008 | 7:58 AM

So what is your theory on the problem of violence in our culture?
Belial811 read my blog view my photos
May 4, 2008 | 10:42 AM

Improper upbringing.
hahnmeister read my blog
May 4, 2008 | 12:46 PM

There has always been violence, its part of human nature. As the population gets larger, space gets smaller, so the likelyhood of violent crime in a given area goes up, not to mention a higher population's subtle effects on our aggression/terrirorial nature. Media exposure also provides us with more reports of the violence than before (even though maybe 2/3-3/4 of what happens doesnt even make the news). As for 'why is inner city crime higher than others', well, density for one, but social structures are the other. Growing up 'black' means you are going to be exposed to external stresses that otherwise wouldnt exist. These things cause higher rates of mental illness, diabetes, heart disease, as well as even infant mortality. Even if a black person has an upbringing in the country/suburbs in a wealthy environment, they still have these problems because of the subtle effects of racism. Upbringing... sure, thats partly true as it cant help, but when a social group in general isnt allowed enough time to raise their kids because they have to work two jobs to provide an income, these things happen. Having kids under those circumstances is not right either. As a society we breed pressure though. We dont have any day to day methods to relax in most of our daily routines. Its 'work work work', and if thats not good enough 'more more more', and if you cant then its 'angry angry angry'. If you suggest someone takes a break, its 'no time for that!'
jgravelle read my blog view my photos
May 6, 2008 | 6:08 AM

I'll be celebrating the clarity and brevity of Belial811 by doing the Peanut Butter Jel-ly.

If you don't get the reference, then rest assured that you're probably already doing your part to protect yourself from counter-cultural media influences. The downside to that sort of isolationism is, I suppose, that if you go on a killing spree, you won't be able to blame a video game...


-jjg
DailyScoff.com
adoseoftruth read my blog view my photos
May 7, 2008 | 6:04 AM

Reminds me of the all the Global Warming.........Oh wait, the what's actually occuring isn't fitting the models...........Oh.......temperatures haven't risen.........well, must be natural variance........but just you wait..........we will instead call it Climate Change...........cause no matter what happens we can blame ourselves.......

I'm sure data is never manipulated, or studies skewed to get the "desired" result.......Right????
Trickortreat91108 read my blog
May 7, 2008 | 6:45 AM

This thing about Grand Theft Auto is o-l-d news. The game has been around f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Also, the first person shooter games are far more violent, in my opinion. But, oh well.


http://community.myfoxmilwaukee.com/blogs/Trickortreat9
1108
hahnmeister read my blog
May 7, 2008 | 1:49 PM

Trickortreat, what exactly do you find about this that is old news? If you read the article, its talking about ALL violent video games... they just used GTA as part of the title to make it catchy.

A dose of truth, I dont want to get sidetracked, but as someone who has first person access to the data and scientists, I can tell you we are seeing climate change and warming trends. You are correct in that we dont know exactly how it will effect us 100%, we can bet on warming, but as ice/water gets released from the caps, there is alot of potential energy taken away by that (evaporative cooling). There are several possibilities, including current shifts, more extreme and unpredictable violent storms, global dimming (which is proven), etc. What I have seen first hand, data, and from diving, if proof enough for me, if nothing else, that the human population has grown too large and is destroying the natural habitat that is left. Our government has set up quite a 'can you prove it exists campaign?', going so far as to hire its own 'scientists' to generate more doubt. This is mostly because signing on to the Kyoto Protocol would have really put a dent into our economy, but its true that much of the 'doubt' is government generated, and unique to this country alone. The fact remains, if we like it or not at this point, we must comply or we could face even more problems with the rest of the world. The economics of it pretty much spell out that we should go 'green' if nothing else because it would be cheaper than using limited resources. But I dont want to get any further o
hahnmeister read my blog
May 7, 2008 | 1:49 PM

But I dont want to get any further off track here. There are plenty of reports and documentaries exposing how the government started this 'anti-global warming' campaign in the 90's, and that if anything, it is a huge hoax. At this point, if we do nothing about it, treat it as a myth, the consequences are severe if we are wrong. If we do 'go green', and we are wrong about that, no harm done really. We get off oil, we have sustainable resources under our own control, we make the rest of the world happy... its a no-brainer.
adoseoftruth read my blog view my photos
May 8, 2008 | 1:19 PM

I didn't mean to get you on a soap box about global warming........really, I didn't. I would like to discuss climate issues with you sometime as well as your contention that the government started an anti-government global warming campaign in the 90's..........wasn't that the Clinton years????? So, for another day then???

Back on topic: it is fascinating that studies such as what you reference can so easily be manipulated. I think one could very easily come up with a valid study "linking" gaming violence to youth crime........heck, go to juvenile detention..........bet the vast majority of the kids have played alot of video games. BUT, does the connection alone lead to a valid conclusion absent of all other factors???? I doubt it.
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hahnmeister

31yrs old. East Side Milwaukee (UWM students could use a spanking). Electrical Engineering VP of Wisconsin Reef Society Hybrid of Democratic Socialist/Libertarian/Ind
ependence Parties Pro-'Green' Any other 'yankee whites' here?

Member Since: 3/18/2008


 

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