video game violence and children...

A friend of mine, sent me this article on the effects of video game violence and I have to admit that my initial reaction was unfettered scepticism. The article (read it here) is essentially an interview with Gerard Jones the author of Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence. I think that Jones makes some very interesting statements not just about why children need make believe violence but about how new cultural phenomenon are perceived in public. Quotes:
“A lot of people are just sort of primed to see each new mass cultural phenomenon as a threat. Any time it’s new, there will be a period of people asking, "What is this doing to us’ Is this the end of the world’" As it becomes part of the landscape, people build up an intuitive sense that real life goes on as it was going to; it isn’t changing much. Then the alarmists cease to have the same effect.”
Basically, I guess Jones’ argument looks at the progressive acceptance of cultural phenomenon which are initially generally held suspect.
There was a day when elders from our church patrolled outside the movie theatre to ‘catch’ anyone who might even darken the door of such a disreputable establishment. Today, Christians will flock to see the Nativity in these same theatres.
We’ve seen a lot of research that points to how video game violence, first-person-shooter games, and sexual representation affect children toward mimicking behavior. My oldest son rented NFL Street last week and on Monday I rented crutches for my second oldest son after a game of football where my oldest son tackled him. I see a connection between the two especially because my oldest son does not generally have a strong interest in football. I think it is silly for us to think that what we ‘consume’ will not affect us – which we can somehow stay completely detached to what we see.
But we are no more attached to negative or evil influences than we are to positive ones (or seemingly so). It’s weird how this works. If we hear a ‘worship’ song that tells us that God solves all our problems – we don’t make too much of it. On the other hand if we hear the f-bomb in a song we get all sorts of bothered. We think well at least the first one is a ‘worship’ song it can’t actually be that bad. But the other song is by some woman in a skimpy dress so there can be nothing in that song that holds any truth. And sure lets admit that if we keep listening to songs with the f-word in them we will be affected by that one way or another. But I listened to a testimony recently that claimed that he had come to realize how God want to solve all the problems in his life – if he would just give them to him. Where did he get that theological perspective? Hmmm.
ACDC used to be the messengers of the Devil (Hells Bells) KISS were known as Kids In Satan’s Service. Back-masking was the big deal. These bands were on the sidelines (fringes) of society (certainly in Christian circles). But today there songs are thought of with a strange fondness. You know: “These are the songs that we were banned from listening to when we were kids.”
So I am left with some questions: Should some things always and forever stay wrong? Will we eventually accept everything as acceptable behavior? Is it healthy for us to constantly be ring the alarm bell over every new cultural phenomenon? How do we help youth make wise decisions about what they consume?