Video Games and Free Speech
Transcript: An addiction to online games can cause a tremendous amount of consequences to the gamer. Gaming addicts willingly forgo sleep, food, and real human contact just to experience more time in the virtual world. Gaming addicts sometimes play for ten, fifteen, or twenty hours straight in a single gaming session, every day. Video games teach adolescents how to effectively analyze tasks in real-time They are also taught how to memorize, dismiss, and utilize vast quantities of information. An understanding of various "life lessons" can be learned from games -Cause and effect reasoning -Long term winning vs short term gains -Complex system behaviors -Value of Persistence -Using obstacles as motivation These ideas can prove to be more useful than academic information in real life. They can lead to increased aggression and violence in teens. Their addictive nature is harmful to players, and those around them. In line with the problem of addiction, video games can be detrimental to student's by being a distraction and directly altering their behaviors. Because of these potential harms, video game creators have an obligation to their players to reduce violence and the all-around addictiveness of their games. Playing video games a lot does not necessarily imply addiction; a person may simply be deeply engaged in the game and attempting to hone their in-game skills. There is no legitimate psychological phenomena known as "video game addiction" as there is with gambling (i.e. gambling addiction). Not all people suffer from the various ramifications of "addiction". It depends on the person's level of personal responsibility and time management skills. Some players, particularly children, play video games as a means of escape, as a coping mechanism to deal with harsher life events, or as a way to de-stress. In another study, 64 boys were selected with the promise of a PlayStation 2 in exchange for participation in the study, and half of them received their PS2 right away, and the rest got them 4 months later. It was found that the new gamers had lower reading and writing scores than the non-gaming boys. This is not good. They may suffer a number of health problems from back strain, eye strain, carpel tunnel syndrome, and repetitive stress injury. "There are worse culprits than video games, and animated films are a great example," said Feinstein. "If it wasn't made by Pixar, you're hurting an animal for a laugh, or hurting someone for a laugh. There's a general crudeness, a general meanness that creeps into culture, and that has nothing to do with video games." Long-Term Impact There is insubstantial evidence to conclude that they lead to increased violence. There is more reason to believe that they reduce violence due to their potential as a relaxant. The addictiveness of games are linked to the individual, the consequences are a failing on him/her, not the developer. They have a great potential to teach the player pragmatic skills of reasoning and understanding. Increased moderation of games that would lead to the self-censorship of a developer would infringe upon their legal right to freedom of speech, given that video games are considered an expression of art. Youth come to believe that aggression is normal, appropriate, and likely to succeed. Become prone to viewing the world as hostile. Emotional desensitization to violence and aggression. Being aggressive becomes normal after repetition. Adolescents and Academic Suffering Video Games Should NOT Be More Regulated Because... Intro to Violence: Short Term Effect Increase in aggressive thoughts, emotions, and bodily arousal that can lead to dominant behavioral tendencies. Also, youth can learn new aggressive behaviors by observing them and reenacting them. Video Games SHOULD Be More Strictly Moderated Because... Addiction Video Games and Their Effects Decline in Teen Aggression Not an Addiction: Positive Consequences Violence and teen aggression: Does it promote or deter? Addiction: Are video games addictive? Is this bad? Adolescents and Learning: Cognitively impairing or not? There have also been studies that demonstrate that although there may be some neurological changes from playing video games, their effects on behavior and the real world is still unclear. Previous studies that have shown the long-term and short-term effects of video games used research that encompassed "violent media", including watching television and films, rather than strictly games. There are currently no conclusive answers about the effect video games truly have. Helping With Learning In 2011, the US Supreme Court was faced with the task of evaluating the aforementioned research, in the case of Brown versus Entertainment Merchants Association. After much testimony and study, the court concluded, "Studies purporting to show a connection between exposure to violent video games and harmful effects on children do not prove that such exposure causes minors to act aggressively." The gaming may come to