A concise overview to the current situation on the view of media by society

A concise overview to the current situation on the view of media by society

Video games regularly find their way into news stories and are often shown in a negative light by society. Society is often looking at something to blame, and whilst there may not be solid evidence that video games lead to certain catastrophes in civilisation, it can be easier to blame video games than something much more complex; such as the psychology behind a serial killer. As a consequence, it’s not unheard of to find an article in a paper with a title such as “Call of Duty helped man to commit mass murder”. These sorts of articles often spark a moral panic, as groups of people are in partial agreement with the headline and therefore it may add fuel to the flame. Because of the nature of newspapers which write these articles, concepts are often exaggerated and thus the moral panic is exemplified.

Cheshire CC

Quite recently, there was a case where warnings issued by the Nantwich Education Partnership were sent to a group of 15 primary schools and 1 secondary academy in Cheshire. It was discovered that an alarmingly high number of young children were playing or watching games that contained unstable levels of violence and sexual content. One article in particular showed a good example of how situations are exemplified with the title ‘Headteachers threaten to contact police over children playing 18-rated games’. This caused a reaction of disgruntled parents who thought the situation was significantly worse than it turned out to be. Really, the situation was that really young children were playing the most violent games and in those situations where it was a more regular occurrence and the parents were aware, then it would be classed as a form of neglect. However, this form of reaction from parents was what the tabloid newspaper were wanting to achieve, as it is the role of the press.

Of course, the presumed intention was that the Nantwich Education Partnership was entirely innocent and was trying to protect young children from being made vulnerable to extreme violence. The problem however with this is that it is perhaps a step too far. A more ideal approach would have probably involved giving the parents information so that they were made more aware of the situation, as opposed to take one of the most extreme approaches. Consequently, the Nantwich Education Partnership received heavy criticism from many parents, as there is a line between parents not understanding something and them being neglectful.

Another article included the headline ‘Head teachers to report parents to police and social services if they let their children play Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty’. Once again, the idea of the press trying to create a moral panic can be seen, and such articles cleverly change the wording to make something seem far more extreme than it actually is. However, few articles for this specific case study actually included the letters to the parents from Nantwich Education Partnership, which if read – highlights that it seems like a far more acceptable approach.

However, at the same time, it may be hard for parents to try and govern what their child plays, especially in situations where parents are both in full-time employment and have little time to examine content of video-games. Therefore it makes the situation quite difficult, although the intended actions still appear to be proportionate, as it does say that if parents are aware of what is happening and don’t do anything; then it becomes neglectful.

Grand Theft Auto V (Five)

Grand Theft Auto V, perhaps one of the games you might class as being ‘infamous’, falls into the media quite regularly and is occasionally blamed for violent acts or made a subject of by the media. The game features many taboo/illegal activities including carjacking, gambling, killing and simulated sex with prostitutes. Resultantly, it is no surprise that the game receives heavy criticism and from time to time, is mentioned or featured by the press. Grand Thef Auto V also links in with the previous Cheshire case study, as Nantwich Education Partnership used Grand Thefto Auto V as an example of one of the video-games thought to be harmful to the younger children. However, since the game is rated with an 18 certificate by PEGI, it really is intended for those over the age of 18, and when children are so young, it has potential to be much more harmful.

Anders Breivik – 2011 Norway attacks

On the 22nd of July, Anders Breivik opened fire on the many innocent at a political youth camp, killing 69 people. In court it was heard that Breivik “trained” using the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with a holographic aiming device, which of course sparked up a lot of criticism about Call of Duty. However, Anders Breivik was 32 years old when he carried out the killings and so he was way beyond the 18 certificate, granted by PEGI. Because regulation is for the majority, and not the minority, it was completely acceptable for Call of Duty to be granted certification. It does not contain any serious content of which could cause harm to the man on the Clapham omnibus and therefore can be deemed as being relatively safe, so long as the classification is used appropriately and the warnings are taken into account. Arguably, if Call of Duty had not existed, another form of training equipment could have been aquired by Anders Breivik and the results could have been the same, similar or even worse.