Virtual reality; not so virtual anymore
Is virtual violence violating our youth’s behavior? Violence should not be an accepted quality in our bright young children, yet we publish video games that showcase violence to our kids. Parents have a right to censor harmful content from their children's lives. This generation’s future depends on our actions that we make right now. We can’t let our youth down. Let’s not create another generation of violence, video game content should be regulated more intensely. Since video games have been introduced, school shootings have been increasing steadily. This cannot be a coincidence. Even the president commented on the normality of school shootings, saying that it has become the norm (Cohen). Scholars from Harvard School of Public Health noted that public mass shootings have, on average, occurred every 172 days since 1982 (Cohen). In general adolescents spend more time playing violent video games, rather than spending quality time with family and friends. Kids are now consumed by the virtual world instead of living in reality. This can create potential problems for the future. For instance, our society could become ruthless and reasonless because of the violent behavior that was instilled in the children from a young age. This could lead to future wars that are even more violent than the ones that rage right now. It could also prevent our society from finding solutions to problems because they will be so blinded by violence and anger. Participating in more violent crimes, the youth seems to be getting more violent. Due to the violent nature of video games, our children are prepositioned to do sinister acts and have erratic actions. Young children should not be subjected to the violence that videogames can display. Children should be allowed to choose whether to play a game or not, if one were to, then they should be given a child appropriate game when they have matured past the recommended age. When I was a child I was allowed the games that could do no harm to my mind. I was granted the freedom to choose, and I chose that I wanted to play a game such as Mario and Spyro, these titles are harmless fun arcade games that show little to no acts of violence. [ In general, a child should not be allowed to play inappropriate games for their age. Instead the parent should buy games that meet the requirement for their age, and that are not based on violence.]Children as old as 12 have been accused of performing violent crimes such as aggravated assault, murder and rape(Youth Perpetrators…). This is evidence of video games affecting the actions of our children. 12 year olds should not be committing such violent crimes. They should be learning and making friends. Violent games and movies alter the brain. Violent media has been shown to increase the aggressiveness of adolescents(Archer). “After only one week of playing a violent video game. In particular, there was a significant decrease in the activation of prefrontal portions of the brain and a greater activation of the amygdala”(Archer). Here is a little lesson, the prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain where the thinking takes place. The Amygdala is where the emotional triggers in the brain are located, including anger and depression (Archer). This means that after playing a violent videogame the thinking part of the brain is less active and the emotional side of the brain is the most active. For instance, if there are two switches connected to a bulb, and only one can be switched on and the other off. Both cannot be on at the same time, whilst playing violent games, the lesser important switch is on, leaving the other off. This means children playing violent games such as Call of Duty and other games will think less rationally and make bad decisions because they are not using the thinking part of their brain as much as they should be when making decisions. Violent media also affects school behavior. Osswald of Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany conducted a study on children where he asked them to pick a game of pro-social or aggressive game of tetris, and after eight minutes the experimenter reached for a stack of papers and “accidentally” knocked it over. The children who played the aggressive game of tetris didn’t pick up the pencils as much as the children who played the pro-social game of tetris (Toppo). This means that during school the children who play violent video games on a daily basis will be less helpful and less friendly than those who do not play violent games. If children are violent and less responsive, especially in the lower grades, it can disrupt the learning process which the children need to be successful when they are older and in the working force. Violent videogames are a strain on family bonds. Brigham young University scholars wrote a paper on the strain that video games put on the bonds between families. He stated that the reason family bonds are so weak is because young adults and children remove themselves from social situations to play video games, And the people who don’t play video games have to search for companionship somewhere else(Video Games Linked to..). Family bonds are really important because they are a great model for what someone’s future relationships should be like. They also model how someone should talk to a certain person in a certain setting. This is important because it could be used in the relationships of not only the boss, but co-workers and future friends that someone will have. Family bonds also help the emotional state of the brain, because they are the ones that someone spends the most time with since they all live with said person. Violent video games reek a lot of havoc on the youth and their future. The physical effects and the emotional ones are not worth the small amount of joy that this media brings; the risk outweighs the reward. If we want to stop the devastating crimes that are happening at this moment, then we need to start with the persuadable youth, and stop them from seeing violent acts in their games and movies. The future of our children depend on this one decision, so why not make the right one?
0 Comments
Out of all the quotations that were on the wall I picked Benjamin Franklin’s quote “Lost time is never found again.” This quote stood out to me because of all the time that someone has lost in my life. The quote really made me think about how in a few years the person is not gonna know who I am as a grown woman, and I can’t help be sorry for them, Mostly because that person is my mother. To me this quote is the whole and honest truth. Because we have a limited time on this earth, and you can never get lost time back.
“ And it is only after death of every delicate body, every heart, and every life tossed into dirt fields, that men classify as their trophy of peace.” -Suskiwen I picked this quote not only because it is very poetic, but because this quote says what people don't want to say. After you die you are worth more to people, and only then do people really appreciate what you have done in your lifetime. To me this quote means that death is not horrible and agonizing, but peaceful. Lotus of Life
The lotus flower’s story has a very humble beginning. In the bottom of a mucky, and muddy lake, where no hope for beauty resides, lays a seedling. Although the seed is surrounded by insects and all around dirty conditions; the seed remains strong and pushes things out of its path towards the light. The flower is only a small stem with a few leaves, but as it makes it’s way towards the surface the flower’s system grows larger with every moment. When the lotus finally breaks the surface, it blooms without a stain of filth on its petals, and through all the filth it endured the flower finally finds it’s light. This story is much like my own for many reasons. I started with roots in a nasty home. My home, neither as bright or nurturing as the others, was nevertheless where my story began. The dinners were not family oriented or full of chatter from the day's events. Instead dinners were as quiet as a graveyard. With only the occasional praise of the meal to be heard, I ate as quickly as possible to escape the awkward air. My relationship with my mother was not loving but distant. I didn’t have any funny stories about that “time we shopped until we dropped”, I had stories about “that time when my mother never came home”, but just as the lotus flower, I grew. During my years as a middle schooler, I tried to figure out who I really was. Friends was the first task on my list that I was able to cross out. Although by this time people had whole gangs of friends, I was very lucky to have the two that I was given. My two companions helped me in my journey of self finding. They introduced me to music and beliefs that helped me inch my way further to the surface of the lake that I call life. My progress, although slow, was still progress. Highschool is when I started to rapidly grow; It’s like my pedals were slowly unfolding with each year that passes by. I started to become more involved with school and sports. The final straw that made me break the surface was joining the Competitive Cheer team. Having another family for support really helped me find who I am. I had people who believed in me, and people who trusted me. It was the moment that changed my life for the better. The story of the lotus flower isn’t only my story, but the whole world is entitled to this story; from the bullied preschooler to the great doctor with a bad childhood. We don’t all start and end in the same place in life, but the way we reach towards the light is often the same. I don’t believe in destiny or fate, I believe in self empowerment, because every great story starts only when the author decides to write it. Without the author there is no story to inspire the youth, or delight the elderly. The story of the lotus flower is very similar to my own story, but what began the story was me, and without that I wouldn’t be here to tell my rollercoaster of a story that I hope will delight many, and empower all. Week ThreeA year or so ago my best friend showed me this song, and ever since then I've wondered what the song was inspired by. according to songfacts.com The band received a letter that a highschooler wrote before he committed suicide, the guitarist (Tom DeLonge) said the following when asked about the song. "The story behind this is Mark read a letter someone sent him as an email, that a kid wrote before he committed suicide to his parents. We kind of got together and wrote this sad, slow song. It came out sadder than we ever thought it would, which is good too. Any song that moves you is good. Some people listen to it and go 'Wow, that's a real bum-out of a song.' But it's one of those things, a story of a kid not being happy in his life, crossed with us being really lonely on tour. At the end of it there's a better way out, there are better things to do than kill yourself." This song, alt least to me, is a message that life gets better, even in you're worst times things can only go up from there.
As I sit in my favorite spot, I gaze out the dusty to see a very familiar view. Trees in a wide variety of colors and shapes scattered for what seems like forever. Their fall leaves seem to bring a sense of home to the whole scene. The tree canopies rustle from a light breeze, seeming to make the forest alive and moving. The grass is damp from the early morning dew that fell upon each individual blade, it's color is somewhere between brown and green. Animals bustle around, busy with the task of preparing for the approaching winter when the ground is covered in a soft, white blanket.. Colorful flowers that once bloomed in these woods have long since shriveled and joined the Earth again as a chance to fertilize new life. Many will re-appear in the spring, resurrecting beauty that once died when catching word of the nearing cold. I look down at my lap where my novel resides at page 329. I get up soundlessly and cross the rickety old floors to a bookshelf and place the book back from where I retrieved it. I don't feel like reading today; I feel like staring out my old dusty window.
|
Details
Archives
January 2016
Categories |