Is violence/fantasy in the entertainment media is fine for children or not?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Yuki, that's very true.

I can watch fairly graphic violence in movies or TV series (not often but sometimes). But years ago I was on a bus and saw a young man get beaten to a bloody pulp and that scared the crap out of me. In no way was I desensitized to the real-life violence.

[Midori]

Well, not all M rated games are the same either. Modern Warfare 2 =/= Bioshock. There's very little gore and language in the former, and it's a story of good defeating evil. I'd be much more concerned over a parent buying Bioshock for a kid.

Huh. That doesn't quite fit with what I've heard of Modern Warfare 2. I've heard MW2 is very controversial for the intensity of its violence, including a part where you have to gun down a crowd of civilians in an airport.

[Jingo Jaden]

If violence inherently was evil then the OT is certainly no good book. Well, true enough that I do not read the OT for entertainment purposes, but there is certainly a lot of violence that goes around. The OT is often read by children, and the material inside it goes far beyond your average action flick. Albeit that reading about something and watching something often sends out mixed signals.

I would say that sometimes there is an exceptions. Schindler's list is an amazing movie for example that is rated for 15+ I think. Whereas I would remove that label as it is an important film that certainly teenagers could and should watch. The old testament contains much material that would have deemed it inappropriate by today standard, but it is historical, educational and thank God it paints the picture the way the picture was rather than sugarcoating it. Now, I grew up with a very tolerant family on these terms. As long as I proved that I was doing well, I got to watch nearly all the material I wanted. This eventually lead to me watching films like Titanic and The Green mile quite early, and I can't say I regret it. We also saw Schindler's list in junior high and I commend the teachers who organized it. I think there are limits and exceptions for mostly anything. Violence itself is not inherently evil, as violent acts are often carried out by the best of us in very justifiable circumstances. Violence is also a very real thing that kids often experience rather early. This is often were bullies do wrong and innocent are harmed, but the latter learns that life is not fair, and will never be so. A few even learn how to stand up for themselves.

In the end violence/fantasy is a gray zone. It can be perfectly fine or horribly inappropriate. Different people digest these things in different ways and there is no perfect middle ground. Again, there are exceptions due to historical relevance, cultural significance and moral teachings. We saw the crucifixion 'a fairly graphic version' long before junior high and I think that considering the importance of Jesus, as well as the basic foundations of morality which encompassed the mini-series we learned to hate what was unjust, and love what was good more than the opposite.

[Nate]

I've heard MW2 is very controversial for the intensity of its violence, including a part where you have to gun down a crowd of civilians in an airport.

Actually, in the "No Russian" mission the mission objective is simply to keep pace with the terrorists, you don't actually have to shoot any civilians. The mission itself also can be skipped completely.

Other than that, yeah, I agree with you completely, Modern Warfare 2 is a lot more controversial than Bioshock, at least in the sense that you can gun down innocent civilians, all enemies are humans, etc. I haven't played Bioshock so it may be more controversial on a theoretical level (as in the themes presented and the background story/goings on in Rapture), but at least as far as real life goes, Modern Warfare 2 was hammered pretty hard by mainstream news sites for the "No Russian" level, I don't recall any such incident for Bioshock.

[MomentOfInertia]

Well, not all M rated games are the same either. Modern Warfare 2 =/= Bioshock. There's very little gore and language in the former, and it's a story of good defeating evil. I'd be much more concerned over a parent buying Bioshock for a kid. Even my mom likes to watch us play some games and we all thought that Bioshock was just... too bit much. Still, video games in my house are nothing new. My mom, dad and siblings all enjoy them and my little brothers don't scream obscenities on Xbox live or are violent bullies. My youngest brother was like... 7 when Halo came out on XBox and we all played it split screen. It was a blast.

Huh. That doesn't quite fit with what I've heard of Modern Warfare 2. I've heard MW2 is very controversial for the intensity of its violence, including a part where you have to gun down a crowd of civilians in an airport.

A more apt comparison might have been Halo 1 =/= Grand Theft Auto 4

The issue is really something that must be handled on a case by case basis. so what we need is parents to stop being idiots and pay attention to what is going on with their kids.

[Sapphire225]

Like many said before, it depends on the child and their temperment and ability to use decisions, as you wouldn't allow an influential child in the wrong environment to get there hands on any GTA. For instance, I watched some scary movies with my aunt who were was into the 80s gore movies (which is probably why I like gory movies, but moving on...). I wasn't really afraid, as I watched it with her and the protagonists were total jerks, which kind of kills the empathy factor. My parents, however, were a little bit more strict on me than that. But they did allow me to read books like Soylent Green and My Brother Sam is Dead, but I gues they regarded books a little differently from movies, given the latter is more visual. Given, they were not really violent but had adult themes. I was about 10 at the time by the way.

However, it also depends on the level of violence and rate, as well as the factors played into it. For instance, I would say it is too much for a child to play Bioshock, Fallout, or L4D. Or watch Dexter or 24 (which isn't for children and requires some degree of maturity and knowledge to understand it) But I would allow them to play Batham Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare (2 may be a stretch as, like other said, civilians are involve), and Halo.

[Edward]

Yuki, that's very true.

I can watch fairly graphic violence in movies or TV series (not often but sometimes). But years ago I was on a bus and saw a young man get beaten to a bloody pulp and that scared the crap out of me. In no way was I desensitized to the real-life violence.

This. I can play a game like Ninja Gaiden 2 and have no problem with it, but when I see pictures and interviews of the things that went on in the Vietnam war, like I am in US History right now, it makes me feel sick inside.

The difference lies in the fact that with NG2, I know it is completely fake, and the violence is so over the top, it's almost funny; seeing pictures from Vietnam is horrifying because I know that it actually happened.

Obviously, children shouldn't be playing a game like NG2, and parents should be more discerning when it comes to what entertainment they allow their children to use, and tailor that according to the individual child's maturity level,.

So no, I don't think violence in media is harmful, as long as the person in question is mature enough, and knows that is fake. Like others have said, there are some adults who shouldn't play violent games. However, seeing pictures/video of (or, God forbid, in real life) someone dead/dying could very well be harmful for anyone, especially children.


And I don't really understand how fantasy themes could be harmful, unless someone is afraid their kid is going to become a Wiccan after reading Harry Potter, or something like that.

[TopazRaven]

I'll admit I'm a bit over protective when it comes to children, maybe because my mother tried to shelter me as a child. It's really a good thing she did though as fictional violence does disturb me even now to a certain degree. I could never watch a scary movie like Saw. I can't even handle intense anime gore which is why I never even made it through the first episode of Elfen Lied. While I do agree with most of the people saying it depends on the child, I really don't think anyone under 13 should be aloud to play/see extremely violent games, movies or TV shows. Even then it still depends on how mature the child is. I just remember I was always disturbed by how much pleasure a kid I used to babysit would take out of killing people on his war video games when he was 10 and his little sister would sit there and watch him play. He obviously was not a good canidate for these games at such a young age considering he already had behavior and fighting problems at school. So yes, this is probably all just my own personal bias. Like I said, over protective here. If I ever have kids I already feel sorry for them.