Everything Tagged with 'media'
Of Riots and Revolutions
With the riots that have broken out across England continuing for a fourth night in a row, Andrew Sullivan has culled together highlights from how the United Kingdom’s major press outlets are responding to them. It’s interesting to see the wide range of ways we as human beings process and characterize events like these, as well as the motivations of those behind them. Consider, for example, the difference in these two characterizations:
They are essentially wild beasts. I use that phrase advisedly, because it seems appropriate to young people bereft of the discipline that might make them employable; of the conscience that distinguishes between right and wrong. They respond only to instinctive animal impulses — to eat and drink, have sex, seize or destroy the accessible property of others. Their behaviour on the streets resembled that of the polar bear which attacked a Norwegian tourist camp last week. They were doing what came naturally and, unlike the bear, no one even shot them for it.
It is meaningless complaining that many teenagers show no respect without appreciating the reality that they too are often treated without respect.
Society’s Bias Against Video Games
Scott Steinberg, an author and advocate for the video game industry, in an op-ed for CNN:
In 1993, the Senate’s hearings on video game violence gave birth to the Entertainment Software Rating Board and the industry’s current rating system: E for everyone, M for mature (17 and older) and so on. Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will test the constitutionality of a California law that would make it illegal to sell violent video games to minors.
But what gaming insiders find most surprising isn’t that such arguments remain topical. It’s that some 30 years after video games became a popular form of mainstream entertainment, we’re still liable to hear less about games’ positive impact on kids’ lives than sensationalistic accounts of their hidden dangers.
“Games are an amazing invention that entertain and inform in ways different than traditional media,” says Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “But many critics have little or any experience with them and therefore don’t understand where there could be artistic or educational value. No different than with film and TV, media sensationalism and ignorance can contribute to the fear that games are harmful to children.
Addicted to Video Games?
The Washington Post reports on a newly-published research study on video game addiction from Iowa State:
In what is described as the first nationally representative study in the United States on the subject, researcher Douglas Gentile of Iowa State University found that 8.5 percent of American youths ages 8 to 18 who play video games show multiple signs of behavioral addiction.
The study purports that these youth’s “game addiction” negatively impacts other areas of their lives – such as their performance in school, willingness to do chores, and so on. Other items to note: Boys are four times more likely than girls to be pathologically addicted to video games; kids with addiction lie about the time spent playing, and sometimes steal games or money to play more; and finally – and perhaps here’s the key – the research couldn’t say whether kids play video games because they perform poorly in school (and thus seek out an area where they can establish a feeling of mastery), or whether they perform poorly in school because of playing video games.
It seems like a fairly valid, well-researched study, but here’s my question: if 8.5% of American youth are addicted to video games, what is the percentage of adults in America who are also? I’d wager the number is just as high, if not higher for adults. So why divorce kids from the broader social problem? And, given the ample research which testifies to the benefits that equally accompany video game play for children, are major news outlets such as The Washington Post just fueling more skepticism and fear toward video games by focusing on research studies like this, instead of acknowledging that video games can have a great value for people of all ages when viewed individually and with a more nuanced lens?
There was at least clear voice in the Post’s article speaking on the study, though, who sought to connect the issue with the broader social realities around American children:
“I think kids use this just the way kids watch television, the way kids now use their cellphones,” said Michael Brody, chairman of the media committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. “They do it to relieve their anxiety and depression. It’s all a matter of balance.”