I believe violent video games should not be banned because of its right to free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment. The debate of violent video games affecting society is part of a moral panic that has been going on ever since 1993. Moral panics over new media are nothing new. Stanley Cohen a psychologist states that a moral panic is "a condition, episode, person or group of persons [who] become defined as a threat to societal values and interests." There have been moral panics over jazz, rock n roll, comic books, and tabletop games. Ever since games like Mortal Kombat and Doom, bans for violent games have been supported by parental groups, politicians etc. You hear about how the Columbine, V-tech, and Oslo massacres happened because the killers "trained" on video games.
However, the proof that they trained on them is practically nonexistant Cho-Seung-Hui hardly played video games, if at all. Anders Brevik was a lunatic even before the video blame game, with his affliction for right wing extremist political views. The Columbine killers made Doom levels but they also victims of bullying, and teasing. The point is there are multiple factors for tragedies other than video games.
You have a good argument going here, but, it feels that there is a cliffhanger either in the middle or end of the post. You speak of the 'moral panics' in paragraph one, which could be mentioned for more detail points in paragraph two. You have a quote inside the paragraph, which is good, but don't forget to cite it (both inline and at the end of the post). One thing that I did like about the post is how you counter many of the argument points that those who are opposed to violent video games would use in their arguments.
ReplyDeleteTopic sentence- Very straight forward.
ReplyDeleteSupport- Good support here, "However, the proof that they trained on them is practically nonexistant Cho-Seung-Hui hardly played video games, if at all."
Transitions- You use "However", and "The point is." GOOD JOB!
Quote- You need citations.
Grammar & Spelling- Good job!
Strong Argument- You have a very strong argument, like when you explain, "The point is there are multiple factors for tragedies other than video games."
Compliment- You went straight to the point & made it interesting.
Suggestion- Make it longer. Needs to be at least 350 words.