A few thoughtsandrew_eisenJanuary 11 2006, 11:39:47 UTC
How we unwittingly are raising trained killers
Oh, we’re off to a promising start.
The military succeeds at the difficult task of getting people to overcome their natural barriers to committing unthinkable acts of violence. It uses video games to train our servicemen and women for the rigors of combat.
Overcoming natural barriers to committing unthinkable acts of violence and combat training are two completely different things, silly.
Yet currently, a 10-year-old could purchase a Mature (M-rated) or Adult Only (AO-rated) video game.
Very unlikely. All the “stings” I’ve read about use kids around fifteen years of age.
There are voluntary guidelines that tell retailers not to sell these products to children, but they have been a failure due to their voluntary nature.
Come now, are we going to condemn the entire restaurant industry because a few employees don’t wash their hands after using the restroom?
If these games are marketed to and manufactured for adults as the industry insists, then their sale to minors should be restricted.
Fredrick’s of Hollywood markets and manufactures underwear for adult women. Should their sale to minors or men be restricted? No. Just because you're not the target audience doesn’t mean you can’t consume the product.
We place similar restrictions on the sale of firearms, tobacco, alcohol and pornography. This is no different.
Firearms: kill people Tobacco: unhealthy for you and those around you. Can lead to fatal health problems Alcohol: not very healthy either. Irresponsible drinkers can hurt or kill themselves and others Pornography: unless we’re talking snuff, rape, or child porn…this won’t hurt anyone Games: don’t hurt or adversely affect anyone
A year ago, the Parents Television Council conducted a secret shopper in several cities across the country and found that more than 50 percent of stores selected were willing to sell M-rated video games to children under 16 without asking for identification.
Under 16? I take it you mean 15? Maybe 14? Twenty bucks says you didn’t even try to get an eight-year-old to buy an M-rated game. I bet another twenty that you would’ve been overwhelmingly unsuccessful.
The Parents Television Council also polled parents and found that 40 percent were unaware that there are no legal restrictions preventing children from obtaining these games.
Now there's a real problem, silly.
The children of Florida are being bombarded with sexual and violent images through video games.
And video games alone. Lord knows there’s no sex or violence in movies, music, books, art, theater, or the daily news.
Re: A few thoughtskeddrenJanuary 11 2006, 16:05:11 UTC
All good points. The blinders are fully in place with these people. What we need are more people to pen opinion pieces and submit them to both major and local newspapers as a counter-point to this sort of nonsense.
Also (completely off topic) does CHDS mean anything to you, Andrew?
Re: A few thoughtsandrew_eisenJanuary 11 2006, 20:45:16 UTC
Well, my first though was C.H.U.Ds but I’m sure that wonderful slice of eighties horror cinema is not what your talking about. It’s also an acronym for the Center for Homeland Defense and Security and probably a bunch of other things. Why?
Re: A few thoughtsantiotterJanuary 11 2006, 17:51:40 UTC
"The military succeeds at the difficult task of getting people to overcome their natural barriers to committing unthinkable acts of violence. It uses video games to train our servicemen and women for the rigors of combat."
There is zero, zero use of video games in the military as psychological conditioning. I'm a scout in a recon unit. The only video game type training is used are simulators for vehicles or weapons, where real-world training would be unsafe (a pilot candidate who is not yet fully certified learning to fly a virtual helicopter) or would be too expensive (Usually for missiles or anti-armor rounds, where the individual weapons are one-shot munitions that cost tens of thousands of dollars a piece), or to cut down on mileage, wear & tear, and fuel consumption on complex military vehicles (like the M1A2 Abrams tank or the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter).
We also use electronic marksmanship simulators as a valuable training tool, as they contain sensors and feedback that even the most experienced human instructor could not spot with the naked eye. But the training is based on actual military firing ranges which use inanimate targets, not virtual people who bleed and die.
Oh, we’re off to a promising start.
The military succeeds at the difficult task of getting people to overcome their natural barriers to committing unthinkable acts of violence. It uses video games to train our servicemen and women for the rigors of combat.
Overcoming natural barriers to committing unthinkable acts of violence and combat training are two completely different things, silly.
Yet currently, a 10-year-old could purchase a Mature (M-rated) or Adult Only (AO-rated) video game.
Very unlikely. All the “stings” I’ve read about use kids around fifteen years of age.
There are voluntary guidelines that tell retailers not to sell these products to children, but they have been a failure due to their voluntary nature.
Come now, are we going to condemn the entire restaurant industry because a few employees don’t wash their hands after using the restroom?
If these games are marketed to and manufactured for adults as the industry insists, then their sale to minors should be restricted.
Fredrick’s of Hollywood markets and manufactures underwear for adult women. Should their sale to minors or men be restricted? No. Just because you're not the target audience doesn’t mean you can’t consume the product.
We place similar restrictions on the sale of firearms, tobacco, alcohol and pornography. This is no different.
Firearms: kill people
Tobacco: unhealthy for you and those around you. Can lead to fatal health problems
Alcohol: not very healthy either. Irresponsible drinkers can hurt or kill themselves and others
Pornography: unless we’re talking snuff, rape, or child porn…this won’t hurt anyone
Games: don’t hurt or adversely affect anyone
A year ago, the Parents Television Council conducted a secret shopper in several cities across the country and found that more than 50 percent of stores selected were willing to sell M-rated video games to children under 16 without asking for identification.
Under 16? I take it you mean 15? Maybe 14? Twenty bucks says you didn’t even try to get an eight-year-old to buy an M-rated game. I bet another twenty that you would’ve been overwhelmingly unsuccessful.
The Parents Television Council also polled parents and found that 40 percent were unaware that there are no legal restrictions preventing children from obtaining these games.
Now there's a real problem, silly.
The children of Florida are being bombarded with sexual and violent images through video games.
And video games alone. Lord knows there’s no sex or violence in movies, music, books, art, theater, or the daily news.
Andrew Eisen
Reply
Also (completely off topic) does CHDS mean anything to you, Andrew?
Reply
Andrew Eisen
Reply
There is zero, zero use of video games in the military as psychological conditioning. I'm a scout in a recon unit. The only video game type training is used are simulators for vehicles or weapons, where real-world training would be unsafe (a pilot candidate who is not yet fully certified learning to fly a virtual helicopter) or would be too expensive (Usually for missiles or anti-armor rounds, where the individual weapons are one-shot munitions that cost tens of thousands of dollars a piece), or to cut down on mileage, wear & tear, and fuel consumption on complex military vehicles (like the M1A2 Abrams tank or the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter).
We also use electronic marksmanship simulators as a valuable training tool, as they contain sensors and feedback that even the most experienced human instructor could not spot with the naked eye. But the training is based on actual military firing ranges which use inanimate targets, not virtual people who bleed and die.
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