Alan Titchmarsh Video Game Debate

1.a) In the debate on the Alan Titchmarsh Show about violent video games corrupting our children, one of the main points that the anti-gamers came out with was that these games are too easy to get hold of for children. This criticism was knocked back by the editor of CVG with the point that video games do have ratings just like DVDs, and it is in the hands of the parents to ensure that their children are not playing inappropriate games. The arguments against video games were flimsy at best, they didn't really seem to know what they were talking about and most of their points were backed up by pseudoscientific statistics plucked out of thin air.

I believe that violent video games should not be let into the hands of children in the fist place. Parents should take a more active role in the upbringing of their children. Some parents see it as an easy, effort-free way of entertaining the kids, so just sit them in front of an xbox and give them whatever game they ask for. Parents need to research the games they are buying for their children and stick to the ratings - they're there for a reason! I'm sure they wouldn't dream of sitting their 11 year old in front of the TV and popping Saw II in the DVD player to keep them occupied for a couple of hours... but some parents don't realise that video games can be just as violent.


b) The Hypodermic Needle Model can be applied in that the debate suggests that children can be corrupted by playing these games so they are taking a passive stance when reading a text. Also, the Behavioural Learning Model can be applied as it suggests that we learn as children by watching adults and immitating their actions (Bandura et al.)


2. This train of thought can be seen in the past with the James Bulger case. The murderers were thought to have been influenced by the movie Child's Play 3, although it has never been proven that either ever even saw the film.


3. I believe that in the future, they will make it much more difficult for violent video games to be played by children with much more efficient parental controls on the games consoles and give parents more information about the content of the games that are available.