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Game over--and over

26 Apr 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

A sizeable percentage of young people who play video games--almost one in ten--may resonate with the cry of help we hear in this Sunday's psalm: "You who relieve me when I am in distress; have pity on me, and hear my prayer!" A new study suggests that 8.5 percent of young video game players exhibit signs of addiction to gaming. Douglas A. Gentile, a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor at Iowa State University in Ames, said the study is the first to document the prevalence of video game addiction using a nationally representative sample of children and adolescents. "What's most concerning to me is really the total percentage, just the vast number of kids that are having real problems in their lives because they play games, and they may not know how to stop it," said Gentile, whose study appears in the May edition of Psychological Science. Experts say that when playing video games becomes compulsive and results in kids skipping school or not playing with friends it could signal other mental health problems. "What you usually find with these kids is this [video game compulsion] is just the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. Michael Brody, a psychiatrist in private practice in Potomac, Maryland and chairman of the media committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "Underneath you usually find a lot of depression and anxiety." Source: An article by Karen Pallarito for HealthDay Reporter

Children teenagers young people mental health adolescents douglas a gentile gaming addiction video games

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Supreme Court views violent videos as protected speech

03 Jul 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s first reading promises that the savior will banish instruments of violence such as the warrior’s bow and declare peace to the nations. On Monday the highest court in the nation ruled that the sale or rental of violent video games to minors cannot be banished from the marketplace, striking down a California law that attempted to do so. The Supreme Court voted 7-2 that the California law violates the First Amendment. It was the latest ruling by the high court to take a broad view of free-speech rights. "Even where the protection of children is the object, the constitutional limits on governmental action apply," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in his 18-page opinion. The decision scrambled the court's typical ideological lineup. Scalia, a conservative, was joined by Justices Anthony Kennedy and three justices on the court's more liberal wing--Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. Justice Samuel Alito wrote separately in favor of the same outcome, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, but the two expressed some disagreement with the majority. Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer filed separate dissents. Scalia said that as far as the First Amendment is concerned, the viewing of violent videogames was essentially the same as reading books. "Reading Dante is unquestionably more cultured and intellectually edifying than playing Mortal Kombat," he wrote. "But these cultural and intellectual differences are not constitutional ones." Alito and Roberts, while agreeing with the result, questioned the breadth of the majority's opinion. "The court is far too quick to dismiss the possibility that the experience of playing video games (and the effects on minors of playing violent video games) may be very different from anything that we have seen before," Alito wrote. The church’s perspective on violent videos was perhaps summed up by Cardinal William Keeler, former archbishop of Baltimore and a U.S. Bishops’ Committee for Communications consultant, in an interview several years ago. “The media's escalating use of graphic violence in speech and action” has desensitized many to the harm of such exposure, he said. “Families need to protect their homes. They wouldn't welcome visitors who trashed their homes, and they shouldn't welcome visitors through media who trash their minds.” Sources: Articles by Jess Bravin for the Wall Street Journal, Brett Molina for USA TODAY,Alan Liptak for the New York Times, and USCCB.ORG/comm/keeler.shtml

Violence Children video games supreme court freedom of speech first amendment antonin scalia minors william keeler

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Video makers game religion’s reputation

11 Mar 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“You shall not kill” is among the commandments the Lord delivers to the people in this Sunday’s first reading. Apparently, video-game makers didn’t get the memo. Many video games have begun incorporating religion into their story lines, and a new study finds that these representations often equate religion with violence. Greg Perreault, a doctoral student in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, examined five recent video games that include religion heavily into their scenarios: “Mass Effect 2,” “Final Fantasy 13,” “Assassin’s Creed,” “Castlevania: Lords of Shadow,” and “Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.” Perreault found that all of these games closely link religion with violence. “In most of these games there was a heavy emphasis on . . . 'Knights Templar' and crusader motifs,” Perreault said. “Not only was the violent side of religion emphasized, but in each of these games religion created a problem that the main character must overcome, whether it is a direct confrontation with religious zealots or being haunted by religious guilt.” “It doesn’t appear that game developers are trying to purposefully bash organized religion in these games,” Perreault said. “If you look at video games across the board, most of them involve violence in some fashion because violence is conflict and conflict is exciting. Religion appears to get tied in with violence because that makes for a compelling narrative.” Source: An article by Nathan Hurst for the University of Missouri News Bureau

religion Violence video games university of missouri school of journalism greg perreault

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