Counterstrike on violence?
GEETA PADMANABHAN
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How does an overdose of videogaming affect you?
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Mohammed Yousuf
In a partition-less Sify i-way room in Chennai, 26 monitors flash blink. Boys between 12 and 22 years sit in chairs, fingers tapping, mouses clicking. As the game progresses the muted frenzy gives way to shouts and scramble as they jump to catch the neighbour's action. It is "Ragnarok" time.
"Video games like Ragnarok refresh the mind," claims Jobi, the games jockey. "Constant interaction improves communication. The game is built to promote teamwork and the quests help in strategising. They sharpen mental skills and develop social skills."
May be. But in video games these days, you can strangle someone with a garrote ("Manhunt"), pop off an enemy's head in a shower of gore with a sniper shot ("Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy"), and direct a teenager to shoot a demon dog ("Silent Hill 3"). You can run down pedestrians, let blood drip to the carpet and curse like a sailor. Have you tried "Counterstrike"? The question is, are games "relaxing" as the boys believe? Or are they teaching kids to be more aggressive, and in extreme cases, to kill?
Pros and cons
In the U.S., opposition to ultra-violent games began after the Columbine High School shootings. Parents and legislators now demand that some of these games be kept out of kids' hands. They worry that advanced technology makes the characters look very real and universal.
The game industry has strong arguments against any ban. There are reviews, they say. There is a rating system and CDs are marked "Adults Only". Eleven-year-old Akshay agrees there is violence in some games. "But in some there is a setting that will stop bloodshed," he says. For him and friends Diya (11) and Manav (6) e-games are regular weekend entertainment. Akshay's dad Dr. Ajit labels the games as "brainburn". "The kid plays the game again and again till he wins. Akshay is sometimes zonked out after two hours crashing bandicoots." Adds mom Dr. Soumya: "He's often irritable and sounds disconnected after a game." Manav's parents Sanjiv Subramanyan and Archana say, "We check the game and install it ourselves. Or we choose on the recommendation of other parents," says Archana, but admits that in sports-based games, a certain amount of aggression is necessary to win. Child psychologist Dr. Sangeetha Madhu is concerned about the attitude of parents buying video games for their pre-school kids. "Children prone to Attention Deficient Disorder get worse with excessive video gaming," she asserts. "And it endorses violence. There is evidence that violent urges are kindled. What they do in the games has a way of modelling up." She trashes the claim that video games improve "hand-eye co-ordination". "Give them a box of crayons," she suggests. "Or ask them to throw a ball at a basket seven feet high."
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