M.I.A. TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE - TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES

I've been M.I.A. but that's okay because I have actually been doing really productive things with my time. Work, school, volunteering, and sorting out details for my new apartment have consumed me. 

But enough with the excuses, today I wanted to talk about video games. In psych we were talking about whether video games caused aggressive behavior or not. I was really curious to hear everyones opinions. 

We had to watch a news cast about a 14 year old boy who killed two cops and his excuse was he did it in the video game Grand Theft Auto. (Let me just say that I throughly enjoy this game.) But there were two questions I had regarding this boy.

1. Who bought him the game? - You must be at least 18 years old to buy this game in store.

2. Who neglected to teach this boy right from wrong? - Was it the same people that bought him the game?

I remember like it was yesterday I was obsessed with playing 007 on the Sega. My Dad sat me down one day and asked me if I understood that what I was playing was a game, and that killing or hurting people in real life was not okay. 

A few articles that I read argued that someone so young who's mind was still forming should not be subjected to violent video games because the more they play the more the violence becomes ingrained. For the most part, I think this is bologna. I grew up playing tons of video games, especially in my teenage years and so did my friends.. and we all know that it is not okay to hit someone with our car or run from the cops. 

Another article explained that it does make you more aggressive because of the adrenaline rush you are getting when you are right in the middle of all the action. I can agree with this as I have seen plenty of xbox controllers smashed to pieces. But don't sports do the same thing? Football can be a pretty aggressive sport, but you don't see football players killing people because they are still on an adrenaline rush from their game. (Don't even think about mentioning Jovan Belcher.)

I just think maybe some parents are relying on video games to raise their kids just like some use TV. Or maybe some parents don't know how to communicate this to their kids. Either way, someone should be teaching them right from wrong. Also, the parents should know well enough if the child's mental state is capable of handling violent video games.

All I'm saying is I've played my fair share of Gears of War, Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, etc. And I have yet to commit a crime other than tea bagging.

I really want your opinion and y'all know I like it straight up. Do you think I am out of line by putting so much responsibility on the parents? Do you think video games make you more likely to commit crimes?