Violent Video Games at Elmhurst Public Library: The Debate
In response to requests from residents, the library says it is reviewing its policy and has released an extensive PDF with various opinions on the impact of M-rated games.
A group of Elmhurst residents is pushing for the Elmhurst Public Library to reevaluate its policy for carrying video games rated “M” (mature); in response, the library has released an extensive PDF document of information and varying opinions on the topic.
According to the documents, the group, which had originally sought for the library to stop carrying M-rated games, has revised its request to now suggest that the library review its criteria for purchasing games, currently based solely on popularity.
The Chicago Tribune reports Elmhurst resident and psychotherapist Elaine Fleming is spearheading the effort of a small group of residents. She has addressed Elmhurst City Council members and the Library Board asking that the library review its policy.
In a letter to the Elmhurst Independent provided in the library’s documents, Fleming writes that she was “disturbed deeply” by recent shooting tragedies and inspired by President Barack Obama’s call to research the psychological effects of video-game violence.
“We decided not to ask the library to ban these games, but to implement thoughtful and research-based policies and selection criteria around M-rated video games,” Fleming wrote. She also criticizes Library Director Mary Beth Campe, saying she “did not see the importance of having such policies that would be similar to those at other top-rated libraries in Illinois.”
In response, the second page of the library’s documents shows a list of all other Illinois “star libraries,” as rated by Library Journal, including Elmhurst. Of the 15 libraries, 14 carry video games and 11 carry M-rated games; of those 11, only Elmhurst and Schaumburg require an ID card for renting M-rated games.
The document also includes a letter to the library from Christopher J. Ferguson, an associate professor of psychology and communication at Texas A&M International University and a member of Vice President Joe Biden’s task force on violence in video games, in which he calls violent video games “the new ‘banned’ book.”
“Overall research is unable to support the conclusion that video game violence is related to societal violence,” Ferguson wrote. “After national tragedies it is quite common to see moral panics target media, and considerable bad information can circulate. … I strongly encourage you to resist the pressure from these individuals.”
About 130 M-rated games at Elmhurst Public Library are checked out on average 20 times a year. They include “Splatterhouse,” “KillZone 3” and “Call of Duty: World at War,” the Tribune reports.
The library’s packet also contains several news articles about violence in gaming and studies on the topic.
Read the complete informational packet here on the Library’s web site.
Adam
10:57 am on Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Why beat a dying horse?? Upcoming PS4 and Xbox720, due out later this year, will be all digital, no physical copies of games will be available. No more buying used games, no more rentals, no more game stores. Gamespot will most likely go out of business.
Cronan
12:25 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Maybe Elmhurst resident and psychotherapist Elaine Fleming and this small group of residents should volunteer all the time they seem to have and find a way to implement more teen friendly events....jus' sayin'
Ercie Berwick
8:28 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
“Overall research is unable to support the conclusion that video game violence is related to societal violence,” Ferguson wrote. “After national tragedies it is quite common to see moral panics target media, and considerable bad information can circulate. … I strongly encourage you to resist the pressure from these individuals.”
The above statement is, of course, sheer, unadulterated bull manure! This is a lie that absolutely defies the imagination! Only a person lacking the most basic common sense would make such a pronouncement, his/her education in psychology notwithstanding.
When my daughter was about twelve years of age, I took her to see that beautiful musical "The Sound of Music." For weeks after she had seen that movie, she walked on air, singing the songs and reliving so many of the beautiful scenes in that wonderful film.
THEREFORE, is this psychologist trying to tell me that, just as a child can be favorably impressed by a beautiful movie, that same child cannot be unfavorably impressed by a video that contains blood and guts and whatever else is ugly? I am a mother who raised three children, and nobody can tell me, psychology degree or no psychology degree, that a child cannot be driven to violence by viewing violence just as a child can be driven to beauty and peace by viewing beauty and peace.
As Sherlock Holmes always said to his sidekick after they had resolved a crime, "Elementary, my dear Watson."
Susan
9:53 am on Friday, May 3, 2013
I've played M rated video games before. Do I go around stealing cars in real life and beating people up? No. Have I ever held or shot a gun? No. Just because something happens in a movie or in a video game doesn't mean it's translated to real life.
If children were going to be driven to violence don't you think it'd be by what they watch on the nightly news? That's much more violent than anything I've ever seen in a movie or a video game. It's a parent's job to PARENT their children, not the library.
Ercie Berwick
6:06 pm on Friday, May 3, 2013
Not every human being has the wherewithal to withstand not being negatively affected by the violence that he/she views on videos. Just because you yourself were not affected is not proof positive that no other child will be affected. Children have been known to have been negatively affected by such violence so that it does indeed translate to real life. I think your comment about "what they watch on the nightly news" is a poor analogy, nor is it even remotely true that "that's much more violent than anything I've ever seen in a movie or a video game." If one is to be reasonable about this subject, then one needs to comprehend that the nightly news is a far cry from the violent video that keeps on going and going and going from beginning to end, with violence picking up speed and violence begetting violence and yet more violence until the child is saturated with it and in the final analysis often finds it difficult to separate reality from unreality. For you to attempt to buttress your opinion by comparing violent videos to the nightly news is a desperate attempt to put your stamp of approval on something that needs to be condemned rather than condoned.