General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: FOX has done to our parents what our parents thought video games would do to us. [View all]Caliman73
(11,666 posts)It is a bit of apples to oranges but I get with Marshall is saying. My parents actually never said anything about "video games rotting your brain" to me. I played Atari, and spent time at the arcades, but playing video games was never a paramount activity for me. My oldest son played/plays video games as do my younger children. My wife and I try to go out of our way (as I did with my oldest) to make sure that some of the messaging behind video games did not promote unrealistic images about women, violence, etc...
The difference with Fox News is that the specific and sole purpose of Fox News is to alter the reality of its viewers. I mean video games have a message, they almost all and almost always do. You can argue that Grand Theft sends horrible messages about crime, women, etc... Studies have also shown that exposure to those messages can desensitize people to violence if they are particularly vulnerable. Again, the difference with Fox is that it is DESIGNED to indoctrinate viewers to reject any other source of information and to view the conservative viewpoint as the only valid viewpoint. The biggest danger about video games is that they can interfere with other types of activity like physical activities, academic activities (reading, math, science, etc...), and social activities like talking with people face to face, which are necessary to become well rounded people. The makers of Grand Theft Auto are not telling gamers that GTA is the ONLY game they should play and everything else is a conspiracy. That is what Fox does.
I would much rather have a toothpaste brained teen around the house than a completely brainwashed, delusional, person who only watches Fox.