Congress and games

Any time people are uncomfortable with something reported in the news, they look for someone to blame to make themselves feel better. This is what happened to the goths from Mr. Jenkins Goes To Washington. Politicians riding the wave of uncertainty to gain the approval of the masses led to video games and goth culture taking hits in the public view. Even though, as Jenkins points out, goths are actually peaceful people, they were singled out for being different. Different is scary. That is why when any new media form tries to emerge into a respectable form of art or competition, it is always met with resistance from the people scared that their children might be negatively influenced. There is often much more thought given to the harm that could befall children than how much media could actually help them.

The accessibility of the internet allows for children to leave the less-than-stellar life many endure in high school for something different where they can actually have fulfilling conversations with friends that care about them. When you take away the social misconceptions based upon a person's clothing, you have nothing left to judge them by but their personality. Additionally, it is easier to open up to a person online, because the repercussions of them not liking you are far less than a real life situation. There is no real fear of rejection, no social pressures to fit it. Each interaction on the internet is a pure combination of personalities, unlike the prejudices than many young people face every day at school.

How Washington Learned to Love Video Games shows that violent crime has been decreasing while video game companies have been growing. There is no solid evidence to support that video games lead to more violent behavior. Instead of fearfully trying to ban games from children, adults should recognize that this is an emerging culture and technology is only going to get better. Instead of trying to convince everybody that video games are inherently evil, responsible people will look ahead to see how video games can be used in our children's future for benefit. Games can change an individual's world view just as effectively as a movie, a book or a play.