--Original published at Site Title

I would have to disagree with Skinner’s belief that there is no such thing as free will. To me, I see operant conditioning as the way life flows. As humans we either continue to do things, or stop doing things based on the response to our actions. Obviously, if we get punished for doing something we will not do it anymore, and if we get rewarded for something, we will continue to do it. For operant conditioning we still have to think about, and have control over the actions we are doing. I think the  loss of free will comes into play with the concept of classical conditioning, where a certain stimuli makes us do automatically do something without really thinking about it.

--Original published at Rachelsblog

Technology has been taking over our world for the past 20 years, but not necessarily all in a good way. Over these years, the amount of violent video games has increased. There are many negative criticisms towards these violent games. It has shown to have negative effects on the child playing the game. Young children and teenagers are playing these games and resulting of it, they have a more aggressive behavior towards real life people because they are aggressive to the characters in the game, so they think it is okay. I agree with this and think that young children, who have not had the chance to have their brains matured and developed, should not be playing such violent video games. This could lead to them thinking it is alright to be violent in real life.

In class, we have touched on the parenting styles and how the environment a child grows up in shapes the child. If parents allow and encourage their child to play these violent games, it will cause the child to be more aggressive and be negative towards the people around them. I do not think these video games should stop being sold, they just need to be monitored and sold to the correct age group.

--Original published at David's Blog

For this week’s impression post I decided to talk about option two violence in video games. The claim is that the violence and detail in video games manipulates children in being violent. These accusations are making people crack down on violent video games, from just regulating them to out right banning them. I myself find both of these ideas not necessary.

Personally I play video games almost daily, I think them to be a stress reliever or simply just a way to have fun. Now i’m not going to say video games can’t have an affect on children, I definitely think they can. What the problem is with violent video games go back to the parents and how the teach there kids to understand them. First of all parents need to realize that the violent video games have ratings on them telling you your child shouldn’t play the game till there a certain age. Further more if you do purchase these violent games for you child as a parent you need to explain to them this game isn’t real. Also teach them that if they replicate the actions in the game there are real world consequences.

So do I believe we need to ban violent video games, absolutely not. We need to reinforce the parenting to children who play these violent video games.

--Original published at Taylor'sEtownCollegeBlog

I believe violent video games are beneficial to an extent. The violence in video games allows for an expression of anger so the people who play the games do not show the physical violence. Violent video games are a way for those with anger issues to release this said anger and relax. These games also often require lots of problem-solving skills and team work and many citizens who play these games can benefit from the improvement of these skills. I do not however, agree with the amount of guts and gore of the video games. I believe the graphicness of the games is not needed and only adds a gruesomeness to the game. Also, I do not think that children of any age should be allowed to play these games because they can be influenced by the amount of violence.

I do not believe violent video games should be allowed to be permanently banned. This is a civil right to play these games and the government should not be allowed to take that away. I personally do not play violent video games; however, they are often a crucial part of many teenagers lives along with adults. The games are often interactive between other people from different countries and cities and towns and helps to foster interact that could otherwise never happen. For people who are self-conscious and shy around others face to face, the violent video games often provide an option for interaction between those who are not as comfortable with face to face interaction.
~Taylor

--Original published at Tyler's Ideas

Today, video games are very popular among children and young adults. The level of violence in these video games has risen, as stated in the prompt. I believe the fact that this level has risen has impacted the level of violence in everyday life. The number of shootings has sky rocketed recently and it may have something to do with the violent video games so many have becoming almost addicted too. Seeing and hearing gun shots and killing may have an effect of the mental state of the children.

Although I do not believe the answer is to ban video games, I do believe there should be stricter rules on the age requirement. A child of a young age being exposed to this type of violence may make them think it is okay when it absolutely is not. Something must change in order to lessen the gun violence. I am not saying that violent video games are the only reason, or even a primary reason to the gun violence but I do believe it plays a role.

--Original published at Zachs College Blog

The increase of kids playing first person shooter games and gore games has had a dramatic increase over the past 20 years. It has led to many negative criticisms and associations with children. Some negative affects that have been associated with kids playing violent video games is that they see increases in aggressive behaviors and actions in their daily lives. It also shows increases in aggressive thoughts and angry feelings overall making kids more negative than normal. I believe that kids playing violent games can spark an increase in violence but isn’t the only reason why some kids act out. Another big reason of why kids become aggressive and violent is due to the environment which they are raised in. If a kid is raised in a household with parents who are physically and emotionally abuse each other their kids will have a much higher chance of being violent and abusive. Violent video games might be a way for kids to lash out on make believe characters and games instead of actually doing it in real life which is very beneficial for kids. Although violent video games have proven to show an increase in aggressive behaviors and thoughts, I do not believe they should create a ban or stop selling these types of games to young children because it gives a way for people to  get away from the violence they see on a daily basis in their homes. Its also a great way for kids to get their anger out by killing computerized characters and not acting out in real life.

--Original published at HarrysCollegeBlog

Video Gaming as a whole can have many reasons why people are drawn to play them, whether they are to escape reality’s harshness, or just to have a fun time playing the game. Even before video games existed, violence did. Violence  has existed much before we have, and it still will. Video games, although may be a contributing factor to the rise of violence, are not necessarily the only reason. A game can be violent, and graphic, but without the factor of fun, it looses its meaning. We play video games because we find them to be fun, and plenty of people who play violent video games don’t end up committing crimes.

The Main contributing factor is how people are raised. If they are raised under bad conditions such as child abuse, alcoholic parents, then they might be more inclined to violence. These also can lead to them finding video games as a way to escape reality’s harshness, but more often than not, they become more addicted to the game, than their desire to do harm, as that desire is fulfilled by the violent game they are playing. Gaming can be cathartic, despite its violent nature, and its better to ensure a happy, safe environment with good parents than focusing on banning video games.

--Original published at Chey's Blog

I thought that B.F. Skinner made a very valid point when he said that people do things because there is a reinforcement for their actions. He used people gambling as an example. Skinner stated that, “…people gamble because of the scheduled reinforcement that follows.” According to Skinner there is no such thing as free will because of this. I believe that free will does exist and ties along with his reinforcement and operant conditioning theory. Of course people do things because there is a reward, but I do not believe that they did not choose to perform whatever action it is that they were performing. I believe that everyone has the ability to choose what they do and when they do it. If free will did not exist we would all have the same morals and follow each others actions. I think having free will makes us all individuals. I have the ability to color my hair. I choose to do so frequently. The key here is that I choose to color my hair. I make that decision because I have the power to do so. And that it was I believe free will is –the power to choose. You can choose to do something because you get a reward for it. You just can not choose the consequences of your actions. So, I do agree with Skinner’s theories, but I do not think that those theories mean that free will does not exist.

--Original published at Makayla Hockenbrock

Video games are a common extracurricular activity now-a-days. The most popular ones, however, involve violent gestures. This rises a huge discussion between individuals. The ones who play the video games avidly, are the ones who support the game and see no problem in them. Others, who don’t play them see a problem with the violence. I do not play them; therefore, I do see a problem with them. However, I also believe that video games are not the main source of the problem. People who commit shootings cannot be solely blamed on video games, because more than half of the time there is another cause behind it, such as a mental illness. Do I believe that video games are becoming too violent? Yes, I do. Do I believe we are introducing all this violence to kids to young? Yes, I do.

Even though I believe all this, I do not think banning the video games will solve any of the problems at hand. If a child wants to have violence in their lives, they will find a way to have that whether it’s with a video game or something else. So, the reason why people want to ban video games I find invalid.

Best,

Makayla

--Original published at Caroline's Blog

Violent behavior has increased as violent video games have become more popular, however, I believe that the video games are not the direct cause for the violent behavior. Personally, I am not an advocate for violent video games. I do not believe that they are beneficial for anyone or for society as a whole. There is already so much backlash against our society because of the increase in crime and horrific events that have been occurring more frequently across the country in places that we would least expect. Creating more violent video games with even more violent images and actions in the games makes us look like we do not care about the events happening around us and as if we want to provoke people to be criminals. However, I do not believe that kids are becoming more violent simply because they are playing violent video games.

The games may partly have an effect on the minds of young children because they see these horrific actions and are able to hurt someone in a video game without getting in trouble in real life. However, I believe that other things occurring around the children are making them violent and harming their mental health. Violence could be present in their family and their minds are influenced to think that violence is the right path to take. Friends, peers, and social activities can also influence them to become more violent.

I believe that having violent video games permanently banned will neither help nor harm the situation. Children may still have other influences that make them more violent or more prone to acting out in violence. There are also many other possible reasons behind violence other than seeing gore in blood on the screen, so banning the video games will not completely eliminate violence in youth or in adults.