Q&A
The Agenda Behind Computer Games
by
Tristan S. Boardway
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Question:
On my 8-year-old grandson’s birthday, he was given an iPad and since that time, he plays a lot of games that are violent. He and his parents don’t seem to think it is a problem because they see these games as not being real. I don’t agree with them. I wanted to know what you think about all these violent games and do you think it affects children in a negative way.
Tristan’s Answer:
I agree with you too because violent video and computer games do affect kids negatively. I think these games are a way of training kids that it is okay to harm and kill “pretend” people and even monsters that they see on these games because they are not real. When a person plays these games, they are on their electronic device or using a controller for their TV game and it separates them from their actions. Like they are somewhere else killing people or monsters and it doesn’t matter anyway because it is not real. It looks like a harmless game because a person is “pretending” to kill others but think about it, are they being trained for something in the future like sitting in their offices, programming their computers to control drones to strike and kill people in other countries?
I think it is called a programmed conditioned response because from an early age through playing these “pretend” video games, they have learned that nothing and no one can be harmed if they are seen on a computer or TV screen. Is it really a game or a training simulation?
written 8/2017
