Games

Jivona Rose Amy Spearman Eng. 1010 Basic Writing 17 July 2008 Game Over Video games have been a great way of entertainment for everyone, but lately parents are question if these games are good or bad. While in the article “Parents Need Help” Barbara Whitehead only states the negative side of video games. On the other hand in the article “Breeding Evil? Defending Video Game,” The Economist shows the good and the bad side of video games. So do the good out weight the bad? Both author feel very passionate about video games. Weather it be the affect that its having on teenagers or that there should be an age restriction so pre teens cant get a hold of these violent games. Whitehead makes a good argument that video games have major affects on your teenagers. She uses the example of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and a game where you kids becomesLee Harvey Oswald. She states that “These games include depiction of blood and gore (mutilation of body parts), intense violence (human injury or death)’ and sexual violence (depictions of rape and other sexual act)” (672). With these startling facts it’s perfectly understandable why parents believe that video games are bad. However, The Economist also speaks about Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in his/her article. The author states that “the resulting outcry (mostly from Democratic politicians playing to the center) caused the game’s rating in America to be changed from “mature,” which means you have to be seventeen to buy it, to “adults only,” which means you have to be 18, but also means that big retailers such as Wal-Mart will not stock it” (656). As you can see parents, steps are being made so that teenagers won’t have access to theses violent games. So who’s to blame for these violent games that teenagers are playing? Whitehead believes that the state is at blame. “No one denies that parents have the primary responsibility for monitoring their kids” (672). But, “the sophisticated technology of video games makes that...