Stand Up Video Game Activists!

In the third and final Action Project for my Winter Term, my Humanities teacher asked me to create a fairly balanced argument of our choice. The point of choosing the argument was to look at it from the opposing point of view and not just focus on the logic in our own. Looking at the argument from an opposing point of view allows you to be at peace with both sides, while filling in the flaws and loop-holes of your own argument. The main thing we tried to achieve throughout this project was to synthesize and create a new agreement for the better; this was about as difficult as it was fun. Throughout my last two Humanities projects, I have been able to speak my mind and I am being taught different ways to do so. I find it awesome that our school is allowing us to change our community for the better, extremely cool!

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Thesis: Video Games are quite amazing in my eyes. There’s an onslaught of negative judgment against them, but I would like to propose that we give video games a chance. Video games have been quite a positive outlet in my life. Games allow time away from stress and everything else in the world that might alter your attitude negatively.

Support 1:

"In most video games people grab a controller and watch the screen, and act as fast as they possibly can according to what is happening on the screen. This helps people improve coordination, it improves dexterity, and in some cases, it even improves reflexes." - OCCUPYTHEORY. 17 January, 2015

Support 2:
"A lot of video games require the player to go through a determined puzzle to advance in the storyline or to get to the next phase of the game. This helps the development of problem solving abilities and logical thinking, which can be used in real life." - OCCUPYTHEORY. 17 January, 2015

Support 3:
"Multiplayer video games improve teamwork, cooperation, and in some cases are a great way for social interaction. While players need to work cooperatively and act as a team to win the game, they need to communicate with each other in order to achieve success. This type of teamwork can be used in real life to improve team activities and possibly facilitate employment." - OCCUPYTHEORY. 17 January, 2015

Antithesis: Video games are addictive and promote violence, poor health, and less physical activity. Video games corrupt the summer breaks, winter breaks, and spring breaks. Games have become a poison to the academic world. which leads to less performance in class and in overall mental ability. Jack Thompson is an American activist against video games. He stated once: "Many parents think that stores won’t sell an M-rated game to someone under 17. We know that's not true, and, in fact, kids roughly 50 percent of that time, all the studies show, are able to walk into any store and get any game regardless of the rating, no questions asked." This is a problem because although there can be an acceptance of violent games, that acceptance is if there's a limitation on the ages that are playing those games. If video game distributors aren't following this rule, then under-aged children will be exposed to violent content.

With every argument, there are questions. When there are questions in an argument, generally they come from both sides. Here is a simulation of a Q&A that I created between the opposing view points:

Questions for my side: Would you want your children playing games, endorsing killing and theft?
Answer: In all honesty, my children will be allowed to play any game they want by the age of 14. Obviously I'm not a father, but children are raised how you raise them. If your children will be influenced by video games and aren't mature enough for mature content, who's fault is that? The parent/guardian in that household.

Questions for opposing side: Would you rather our children be out on the streets with our free time?
Answer: Children are influenced by their household guardian as well in this situation and if your child is in the streets, maybe that's what he sees around him.

There's one golden question though. What can both sides agree on? Well this is how I synthesized the argument between both sides:

• Games are a worldwide phenomenon and our youth can be encouraged through other ways, not to resort to violence or profane behavior. Youth are motivated by the people in their household more than anyone or anything else. It’s almost unrealistic to take away all video games from children and teenagers across the world. We can continue to do what we can to motivate our youth to bring positive effects to our world.
• Knowledge is power and video games are expressive of expanding your mind. Whenever a video game is played, you learn something you didn’t know before, whether it’s the name of a defensive formation in basketball or a strategic plan to take down the Prime Minister. We can agree that video games can be quite informative.

Synthesis: Seeing as we can all agree on something, we should plan to move forward from this. By putting more limitations and restrictions on age, we can allow the playing of mature games. Maybe instead of ridding teenagers of video games that they love and video games that keep them from getting into trouble, we can teach them how to limit themselves and be good role models in their households. 

Below is a visual representation of my project:

Works Cited:

YouTube. SourceFed "7 Health Benefits Of Video Games," 11 March. 2013. Web. 14 March. 2016.

YouTube. AllTime 10s "10 Surprising Health Benefits Of Playing Video Games," 14 November. 2012. Web. 14 March. 2016.

OCCUPYTHEORY "Video Games Pros And Cons List," 17 January. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

ProCon "Do Violent Video Games Contribute To Youth Violence," 23 September. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

Penn State University. Qian Chen “Video Games: Cause or Cure For ADHD,” 23 October. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

ZME SCIENCE. TIBI PUIU “Do Violent Video Games Really Make Children More Aggressive,” 19 August. 2015. Web. 14 March. 2016.

Wikipedia “Jack Thompson (activist),” N.D. Web. 14 March. 2016.