Dear Editor,
Violent video games cause the children that play them to not be able to be aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them, and should not be played by teenagers. Violent video games should not be allowed in the house because they can blur the line between fantasy and reality, they can promote antisocial behaviors, and they can desensitize the players and can increase aggression.
Violent video games are not the type of game kids should be playing. When kids are playing video games that involve killing something, parents should keep their eye on them.
There are some reasons why most violent video games (or just video games in general) are good, and some reasons why violent video games are bad. Some reasons why most violent video games (or just video games in general) are good is because all video games teach kids to have good hand-eye coordination, improves fine motor skills, encourages civic participation, encourages participation in related offline activities— such as reading or sport— and develops skills in reading, math, technology and problem-solving.
When playing violent video games, however, the player gets into the game really good and then outside of the game they start to see bad things that have happened in the video game and think that it is okay. Violent video games can blur the line between fantasy and reality, and the gamer becomes lost. The article “Violent Video Games Affecting our Children” in Pediatric Nursing said in 2000 that, “over 300 studies show that the boundary between fantasy and reality violence, which is a clear line for most adults, can become very blurred for vulnerable children.”
For adults it is easy to tell the difference between reality and fantasy violence, but for children it is hard. When children are playing violent video games, they tend to zone everything around them out and focus only on the game— nothing more.
Kids should not be more concerned about a game than they are about their family. When children no longer start to care about their family, and care more about their game, then it is a sign that the boundary line is becoming blurred.
Your children need to be more aware of the boundary line between fantasy and reality violence.
—Ashley Klein
(Ed. note: The preceding letters were written for an assignment in Debb Proctor’s Freshmen English class. Please send any responses to these letters to *protected email*)