About television viewing. Here are some statistics.
Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5
Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
Percentage of parents who would like to limit their children's TV watching: 73
Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000
Percentage of Americans who believe TV violence helps precipitate real life mayhem: 79
Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
Number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million
Percentage of survey participants (1993) who said that TV commercials aimed at children make them too materialistic: 92
Rank of food products/fast-food restaurants among TV advertisements to kids: 1
Total spending by 100 leading TV advertisers in 1993: $15 billion
Witnessing repeated violent acts can lead to desensitization and a lack of empathy for human suffering
A study of 1792 adolescents ages 12-17 showed that watching sex on TV influences teens to have sex. Youths who watched more sexual content where more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities in the year following the beginning of the study. Youths in the 90th percentile of TV sex viewing had a predicted probability of intercourse initiation that was approximately double that of youths in the 10th percentile. Basically, kids with higher exposure to sex on TV were almost twice as likely than kids with lower exposure to initiate sexual intercourse. - Study Conducted by RAND and published in the September 2004 issue of Pediatrics.
Over 1000 studies - including a Surgeon General's special report in 1972 and a National Institute of Mental Health report 10 years later - attest to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children. Studies show that the more "real-life" the violence portrayed, the greater the likelihood that it will be "learned." - American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement, Volume 95, Number 6 - June 1995
By age 18, a U.S. youth will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence. - American Psychiatric Association
The average youth living in the U.S. watches television 25 hours a week and plays computer games an additional seven hours. - National Institute on Media and the Family, 1998 study
Media violence may cause aggressive and antisocial behavior, desensitize viewers to future violence and increase perceptions that they are living "in a mean and dangerous world." - American Academy of Pediatrics
Children younger than 8 "cannot uniformly discriminate between real life and fantasy/entertainment… They quickly learn that violence is an acceptable solution to resolving even complex problems, particularly if the aggressor is the hero." - ibid
Research has shown that "mindless" television or video games may idle and impoverish the development of the pre-frontal cortex, or that portion of the brain that is responsible for planning, organizing and sequencing behavior for self-control, moral judgment and attention. - American Academy of Pediatrics - Understanding TV's effects on the developing brain, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. (From May 1998 AAP News)
Television puts the viewer into an alpha brainwave state. A highly suggestive and hypnotic brainwave state.
Children often behave differently after they've been watching violent programs on television. Children who watched violent shows were more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, disobey authority and were less willing to wait for things that children who watched nonviolent programs. - American Psychological Association, Family and Relationships -Get the Facts: Children and Television Violence
Reducing the amount of time grade-school children spend watching television games and watching television can make them less aggressive toward their peers. - Stanford Report, January 14, 2001 -Limiting TV viewing reduces aggression in children, study says by Krista Conger
From wikipedia:
Research on aggressive behavior as an effect of playing violent video games began in the 1980s and 1990s and still continues to this day. Although under current debate, some researchers claim that these violent games may cause more intense feelings of aggression than nonviolent games, and may trigger feelings of anger and hostility. Several studies have supported such findings.[3] The theoretical explanations for these types of effects can be explained by several different theories; social cognitive theory, excitation transfer theory, priming effect and the General Aggression Model.
A 2009 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied a 2006 online survey of 552 people from Washington state. It found the average gamer from this sample was 35, male, overweight, aggressive, introverted and often depressed. Of online gamers aged 8 to 34, nearly 12% showed multiple signs of addiction.[4]
Violent video games have been tentatively found to decrease prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behaviors include activities such as giving to charity, volunteering and overall "helping" behaviors.[5] However this has not been supported by research in large populations, as a majority of people who play violent games do not lack prosocial behaviors. It is likely that those who lack prosocial behaviors tend to play violent video games. Other researchers have claimed that exposure to violent video games has predicted alcohol consumption, destruction of school property, and other delinquent behaviors.[6] Not only have video games have been shown to influence self perception,[7] but they may have a link with body image assessment of the opposite gender. Female video game characters are often hypersexualized and unrealistic,[8][9] and have been shown to play a factor in hard-core gamers' perceptions of ideal beauty.[10]
Similar to the decrease in prosocial behaviors, studies and articles have also found that frequent use of video games leads to an increase in antisocial behavior. Characteristics of those who exhibit antisocial behaviors include being considerably introverted, aggression, depression or anxiety (said to appear later in life). Antisocial behavior begins to appear in younger ages, typically these children display acts of violence with no consideration for consequences.
Many psychiatrists believe that playing computer games can be addictive. This addiction could lead to physical health problems, spending problems, and time displacement leading to missed work or school days. In one example, a 28-year-old South Korean gamer died after 50 hours of StarCraft online gameplay.[11] However, no solid evidence has supported the "game-addiction" hypothesis.
In addition, there are many other suggested negative aspects and effects of video games, the most popular and controversial technology. Rowell Huesmann suggests that video games can be very dangerous, because it may encourage people to commit violence, violence in video games is shown without punishment, it is rather encouraged and rewarded and it rarely shows the pain of the victim.[12] Moreover, the identification with the killer through video games has been suggested to be one of the negative effects on children.[13]
Reinforcement of racist or sexist stereotypes has also been associated with video games.[14]
Fears towards what players are exposed to through violent video games. For example, politicians and other people and organizations consider video games effects on society, "there has been some fears specially from UK news service that hijackers may have used flight simulator software to practice flying jet planes, also, Beam Breakers removed all references to the World Trade Center already used in the game 1".
The General Aggression Model (GAM) is a term that assists in determining the influence and susceptibility that video games and its violence have on people. The GAM explains how situational and personological variables interact to affect a person's internal state. The internal state includes thoughts, feelings and physical arousals. All of these three things influence each other and each will have an effect on an individual's interpretation of an aggressive or violent act.[16]
The GAM states how video games have both short- and long-term effects. In the short-term the aggressive cognitions, affects and arousal increase while long-term effects are yet to be accurately determined. Anderson and Bushman explain how violent video games promote violent behavior, attitudes and beliefs. This then helps to desensitize an individual to aggression.
As mentioned previously in this article, the short-term affects are along the lines of aggressive behavior, disregard for others, and a flagrant disregard for consequences of violent actions. Typical studies on the General Aggression Model (commonly referred to as the General Affective Aggression Model, GAAM, as well) look at and focus on the violent outcomes of gamers prone to using antisocial games.
1. On April 20, 1999, 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher in the Columbine High School massacre. The two were allegedly obsessed with the video game Doom. Harris also created WADs for the game, and created a large mod named "Tier" which he called his "life's work". Contrary to certain rumors, however, neither student had made a Doom level mimicking the school's layout, and there is no evidence the pair practiced the massacre in Doom.[57]
2. In April 2000, 16-year-old Spanish teenager José Rabadán Pardo murdered his father, mother and his sister with a katana, proclaiming that he was on an "avenging mission" by Squall Leonhart, the main character of the video game Final Fantasy VIII.[58][59]
3. In November 2001, 21-year-old American Shawn Woolley committed suicide after what his mother claimed was an addiction to EverQuest. Woolley's mother stated, "I think the way the game is written is that when you first start playing it, it is fun, and you make great accomplishments. And then the further you get into it, the higher level you get, the longer you have to stay on it to move onward, and then it isn't fun anymore. But by then you're addicted, and you can't leave it."[60]
4. In February 2003, 16-year-old American Dustin Lynch was charged with aggravated murder and made an insanity defense that he was "obsessed" with Grand Theft Auto III. Long time video game opponent and former attorney Jack Thompson encouraged the father of victim JoLynn Mishne to pass a note to the judge that said "the attorneys had better tell the jury about the violent video game that trained this kid [and] showed him how to kill our daughter, JoLynn. If they don't, I will."[61] Lynch later retracted his insanity plea, and his mother Jerrilyn Thomas commented, "It has nothing to do with video games or Paxil, and my son's no murderer."[62]
5. On June 7, 2003, 18-year-old American Devin Moore shot and killed two policemen and a dispatcher after grabbing one of the officers' weapons following an arrest for the possession of a stolen vehicle. At trial, the defense claimed that Moore had been inspired by the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.[63]
6. On June 25, 2003, two American step brothers, Joshua and William Buckner, aged 14 and 16, respectively, used a rifle to fire at vehicles on Interstate 40 in Tennessee, killing a 45-year-old man and wounding a 19-year-old woman. The two shooters told investigators they had been inspired by Grand Theft Auto III.[64]
7. On February 27, 2004 in Leicester, UK, 17-year-old Warren Leblanc lured 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah into a park and murdered him by stabbing him repeatedly with a claw hammer and knife. Leblanc was reportedly obsessed with Manhunt, although investigation quickly revealed that the killer did not even own a copy of the game. The victim's mother Giselle Pakeerah has been campaigning against violent video games in the UK ever since.[65] The police investigating the case have dismissed any link, as discussed in the relevant articles.
8. In October 2004, a 41-year-old Chinese man named Qiu Chengwei stabbed 26-year-old Zhu Caoyuan to death over a dispute regarding the sale of a virtual weapon the two had jointly won in the game The Legend of Mir 2.[66]
9. On December 27, 2004, 13-year-old Xiao Yi committed suicide by jumping from a twenty-four story building in Tianjin, China, as a result of the effects of his addiction, hoping to be "reunited" with his fellow gamers in the afterlife, according to his suicide notes. Prior to his death, he had spent 36 consecutive hours playing Warcraft III.[67][68]
10. In August 2005, 28-year-old South Korean Lee Seung Seop died after playing StarCraft for 50 hours straight.[69]
11. Controversy of speeding and evading the authority in racing games surfaced when a copy of Need for Speed: Most Wanted was found on one of the street racers' car in Toronto on January 19, 2006, when two 18-year-olds, Alexander Ryazanov and Wang-Piao Dumani Rossracers, were involved in an accident resulting the death of taxi-driver Tahir Khan. Nevertheless, the police did not find any connection between the game and the incident.[70]
12. In January 2007, Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old American woman from Sacramento, died of water intoxication while trying to win a Nintendo Wii console in a KDND 107.9 "The End" radio station's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest, which involved drinking large quantities of water without urinating.[71][72]
13. In September 2007, a Chinese man in Guangzhou, China, died after playing Internet video games for three consecutive days in an Internet cafe.[73][74]
14. In September 2007 in Ohio, 16-year-old Daniel Petric snuck out of his bedroom window to purchase the game Halo 3 against the orders of his father, a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, Ohio, U.S.[75] His parents eventually banned him from the game after he spent up to 18 hours a day with it, and secured it in a lockbox in a closet where the father also kept a 9mm handgun, according to prosecutors.[76] In October 2007, Daniel used his father's key to open the lockbox and remove the gun and the game. He then entered the living room of his house and shot both of them in the head, killing his mother and wounding his father. Petric is sentenced to life in prison without parole, which was later commuted to 23 years in imprisonment.[77] Defense attorneys argued that Petric was influenced by video game addiction, the court dismissed these claims. The judge, James Burge commented that while he thought there was ample evidence the boy knew what he was doing, Burge thought the game had affected him like a drug, saying "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever."[78]
15. In December 2007, a Russian man was beaten to death over an argument in the MMORPG Lineage II. The man was killed when his guild and a rival one challenged each other to a real-life brawl.[79]
16. False reports initially claimed that Seung-Hui Cho, the killer in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre was an avid Counter-Strike player. However, police reports said that roommates of Cho had never seen him play any video games.[80] Despite these discoveries, disbarred attorney Jack Thompson continued to erroneously claim that video games were to blame.
17. In June 2008, four teens allegedly obsessed with Grand Theft Auto IV went on a crime spree after being in New Hyde Park, New York. They first robbed a man, knocking his teeth out and then they stopped a woman driving a black BMW and stole her car and her cigarettes.[81]
18. On August 2, 2008, Polwat Chinno, a 19-year-old Thai teenager, stabbed a Bangkok taxi driver to death during an attempt to steal the driver's cab in order to obtain money to buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV. A police official said that the teen was trying to copy a similar act in the game. As a consequence, officials ordered the banning of the series, which led its distributor, New Era Interactive Media, to withdraw it, including the aforementioned, then-upcoming installment, from shops across Thailand.[82][83][84]
19. On April 14, 2009, 9-year-old Damori Miles of Brooklyn, New York City died after jumping from his apartment roof using a makeshift parachute in an imitation of Jeff Hardy in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009.[85]
20. In January 2010, 9-year-old Anthony Maldonado was stabbed by relative Alejandro Morales after an argument regarding Maldonado's recently purchased copy of Tony Hawk: Ride and PlayStation 3 console.[86]
21. In January 2010, Gary Alcock punched, slapped and pinched his partner's 15-month-old daughter in the three weeks leading up to her death before he delivered a fatal blow to the stomach which tore her internal organs because she interrupted him playing his Xbox. She died from internal bleeding after suffering 35 separate injuries including multiple bruises, rib fractures and brain damage, which were comparable to injuries suffered in a car crash. Alcock was jailed for life and must serve at least 21 years.[87][88]
22. In March 2010, 3-year-old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan of Tennessee died after shooting herself with her father's handgun which she mistook for her Wii Remote.[89]
23. In May 2010, French gamer Julien Barreaux located and stabbed a fellow player who had stabbed Barreaux on the game Counter-Strike. The judge at his trial called him "a menace to society."[90][dead link]
24. In October 2010, 22-year old Florida mother Alexandra Tobias.[91] killed her baby because he would not stop crying while she was playing FarmVille.[92]
The majority of the "programming" on teleivision is violence, sex, superficiality, materialism, greed, propaganda, lower chakra urges, and more. Yes there are some positive programs out there. The majority promote one or more of the above things. That is a fact. Also, given the fact that television puts the viewer into an alpha brainwave state (A highly suggestive and hypnotic brainwave state) all of that effects the subconscious mind greatly. If you don't believe this stop watching tv for 4 weeks and watch how everything in your life completely changes.
Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5
Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
Percentage of parents who would like to limit their children's TV watching: 73
Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
Number of murders seen on TV by the time an average child finishes elementary school: 8,000
Number of violent acts seen on TV by age 18: 200,000
Percentage of Americans who believe TV violence helps precipitate real life mayhem: 79
Number of 30-second TV commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
Number of TV commercials seen by the average person by age 65: 2 million
Percentage of survey participants (1993) who said that TV commercials aimed at children make them too materialistic: 92
Rank of food products/fast-food restaurants among TV advertisements to kids: 1
Total spending by 100 leading TV advertisers in 1993: $15 billion
Witnessing repeated violent acts can lead to desensitization and a lack of empathy for human suffering
A study of 1792 adolescents ages 12-17 showed that watching sex on TV influences teens to have sex. Youths who watched more sexual content where more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced noncoital sexual activities in the year following the beginning of the study. Youths in the 90th percentile of TV sex viewing had a predicted probability of intercourse initiation that was approximately double that of youths in the 10th percentile. Basically, kids with higher exposure to sex on TV were almost twice as likely than kids with lower exposure to initiate sexual intercourse. - Study Conducted by RAND and published in the September 2004 issue of Pediatrics.
Over 1000 studies - including a Surgeon General's special report in 1972 and a National Institute of Mental Health report 10 years later - attest to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children. Studies show that the more "real-life" the violence portrayed, the greater the likelihood that it will be "learned." - American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement, Volume 95, Number 6 - June 1995
By age 18, a U.S. youth will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence. - American Psychiatric Association
The average youth living in the U.S. watches television 25 hours a week and plays computer games an additional seven hours. - National Institute on Media and the Family, 1998 study
Media violence may cause aggressive and antisocial behavior, desensitize viewers to future violence and increase perceptions that they are living "in a mean and dangerous world." - American Academy of Pediatrics
Children younger than 8 "cannot uniformly discriminate between real life and fantasy/entertainment… They quickly learn that violence is an acceptable solution to resolving even complex problems, particularly if the aggressor is the hero." - ibid
Research has shown that "mindless" television or video games may idle and impoverish the development of the pre-frontal cortex, or that portion of the brain that is responsible for planning, organizing and sequencing behavior for self-control, moral judgment and attention. - American Academy of Pediatrics - Understanding TV's effects on the developing brain, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. (From May 1998 AAP News)
Television puts the viewer into an alpha brainwave state. A highly suggestive and hypnotic brainwave state.
Children often behave differently after they've been watching violent programs on television. Children who watched violent shows were more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, disobey authority and were less willing to wait for things that children who watched nonviolent programs. - American Psychological Association, Family and Relationships -Get the Facts: Children and Television Violence
Reducing the amount of time grade-school children spend watching television games and watching television can make them less aggressive toward their peers. - Stanford Report, January 14, 2001 -Limiting TV viewing reduces aggression in children, study says by Krista Conger
From wikipedia:
Research on aggressive behavior as an effect of playing violent video games began in the 1980s and 1990s and still continues to this day. Although under current debate, some researchers claim that these violent games may cause more intense feelings of aggression than nonviolent games, and may trigger feelings of anger and hostility. Several studies have supported such findings.[3] The theoretical explanations for these types of effects can be explained by several different theories; social cognitive theory, excitation transfer theory, priming effect and the General Aggression Model.
A 2009 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied a 2006 online survey of 552 people from Washington state. It found the average gamer from this sample was 35, male, overweight, aggressive, introverted and often depressed. Of online gamers aged 8 to 34, nearly 12% showed multiple signs of addiction.[4]
Violent video games have been tentatively found to decrease prosocial behaviors. Prosocial behaviors include activities such as giving to charity, volunteering and overall "helping" behaviors.[5] However this has not been supported by research in large populations, as a majority of people who play violent games do not lack prosocial behaviors. It is likely that those who lack prosocial behaviors tend to play violent video games. Other researchers have claimed that exposure to violent video games has predicted alcohol consumption, destruction of school property, and other delinquent behaviors.[6] Not only have video games have been shown to influence self perception,[7] but they may have a link with body image assessment of the opposite gender. Female video game characters are often hypersexualized and unrealistic,[8][9] and have been shown to play a factor in hard-core gamers' perceptions of ideal beauty.[10]
Similar to the decrease in prosocial behaviors, studies and articles have also found that frequent use of video games leads to an increase in antisocial behavior. Characteristics of those who exhibit antisocial behaviors include being considerably introverted, aggression, depression or anxiety (said to appear later in life). Antisocial behavior begins to appear in younger ages, typically these children display acts of violence with no consideration for consequences.
Many psychiatrists believe that playing computer games can be addictive. This addiction could lead to physical health problems, spending problems, and time displacement leading to missed work or school days. In one example, a 28-year-old South Korean gamer died after 50 hours of StarCraft online gameplay.[11] However, no solid evidence has supported the "game-addiction" hypothesis.
In addition, there are many other suggested negative aspects and effects of video games, the most popular and controversial technology. Rowell Huesmann suggests that video games can be very dangerous, because it may encourage people to commit violence, violence in video games is shown without punishment, it is rather encouraged and rewarded and it rarely shows the pain of the victim.[12] Moreover, the identification with the killer through video games has been suggested to be one of the negative effects on children.[13]
Reinforcement of racist or sexist stereotypes has also been associated with video games.[14]
Fears towards what players are exposed to through violent video games. For example, politicians and other people and organizations consider video games effects on society, "there has been some fears specially from UK news service that hijackers may have used flight simulator software to practice flying jet planes, also, Beam Breakers removed all references to the World Trade Center already used in the game 1".
The General Aggression Model (GAM) is a term that assists in determining the influence and susceptibility that video games and its violence have on people. The GAM explains how situational and personological variables interact to affect a person's internal state. The internal state includes thoughts, feelings and physical arousals. All of these three things influence each other and each will have an effect on an individual's interpretation of an aggressive or violent act.[16]
The GAM states how video games have both short- and long-term effects. In the short-term the aggressive cognitions, affects and arousal increase while long-term effects are yet to be accurately determined. Anderson and Bushman explain how violent video games promote violent behavior, attitudes and beliefs. This then helps to desensitize an individual to aggression.
As mentioned previously in this article, the short-term affects are along the lines of aggressive behavior, disregard for others, and a flagrant disregard for consequences of violent actions. Typical studies on the General Aggression Model (commonly referred to as the General Affective Aggression Model, GAAM, as well) look at and focus on the violent outcomes of gamers prone to using antisocial games.
1. On April 20, 1999, 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher in the Columbine High School massacre. The two were allegedly obsessed with the video game Doom. Harris also created WADs for the game, and created a large mod named "Tier" which he called his "life's work". Contrary to certain rumors, however, neither student had made a Doom level mimicking the school's layout, and there is no evidence the pair practiced the massacre in Doom.[57]
2. In April 2000, 16-year-old Spanish teenager José Rabadán Pardo murdered his father, mother and his sister with a katana, proclaiming that he was on an "avenging mission" by Squall Leonhart, the main character of the video game Final Fantasy VIII.[58][59]
3. In November 2001, 21-year-old American Shawn Woolley committed suicide after what his mother claimed was an addiction to EverQuest. Woolley's mother stated, "I think the way the game is written is that when you first start playing it, it is fun, and you make great accomplishments. And then the further you get into it, the higher level you get, the longer you have to stay on it to move onward, and then it isn't fun anymore. But by then you're addicted, and you can't leave it."[60]
4. In February 2003, 16-year-old American Dustin Lynch was charged with aggravated murder and made an insanity defense that he was "obsessed" with Grand Theft Auto III. Long time video game opponent and former attorney Jack Thompson encouraged the father of victim JoLynn Mishne to pass a note to the judge that said "the attorneys had better tell the jury about the violent video game that trained this kid [and] showed him how to kill our daughter, JoLynn. If they don't, I will."[61] Lynch later retracted his insanity plea, and his mother Jerrilyn Thomas commented, "It has nothing to do with video games or Paxil, and my son's no murderer."[62]
5. On June 7, 2003, 18-year-old American Devin Moore shot and killed two policemen and a dispatcher after grabbing one of the officers' weapons following an arrest for the possession of a stolen vehicle. At trial, the defense claimed that Moore had been inspired by the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.[63]
6. On June 25, 2003, two American step brothers, Joshua and William Buckner, aged 14 and 16, respectively, used a rifle to fire at vehicles on Interstate 40 in Tennessee, killing a 45-year-old man and wounding a 19-year-old woman. The two shooters told investigators they had been inspired by Grand Theft Auto III.[64]
7. On February 27, 2004 in Leicester, UK, 17-year-old Warren Leblanc lured 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah into a park and murdered him by stabbing him repeatedly with a claw hammer and knife. Leblanc was reportedly obsessed with Manhunt, although investigation quickly revealed that the killer did not even own a copy of the game. The victim's mother Giselle Pakeerah has been campaigning against violent video games in the UK ever since.[65] The police investigating the case have dismissed any link, as discussed in the relevant articles.
8. In October 2004, a 41-year-old Chinese man named Qiu Chengwei stabbed 26-year-old Zhu Caoyuan to death over a dispute regarding the sale of a virtual weapon the two had jointly won in the game The Legend of Mir 2.[66]
9. On December 27, 2004, 13-year-old Xiao Yi committed suicide by jumping from a twenty-four story building in Tianjin, China, as a result of the effects of his addiction, hoping to be "reunited" with his fellow gamers in the afterlife, according to his suicide notes. Prior to his death, he had spent 36 consecutive hours playing Warcraft III.[67][68]
10. In August 2005, 28-year-old South Korean Lee Seung Seop died after playing StarCraft for 50 hours straight.[69]
11. Controversy of speeding and evading the authority in racing games surfaced when a copy of Need for Speed: Most Wanted was found on one of the street racers' car in Toronto on January 19, 2006, when two 18-year-olds, Alexander Ryazanov and Wang-Piao Dumani Rossracers, were involved in an accident resulting the death of taxi-driver Tahir Khan. Nevertheless, the police did not find any connection between the game and the incident.[70]
12. In January 2007, Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old American woman from Sacramento, died of water intoxication while trying to win a Nintendo Wii console in a KDND 107.9 "The End" radio station's "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest, which involved drinking large quantities of water without urinating.[71][72]
13. In September 2007, a Chinese man in Guangzhou, China, died after playing Internet video games for three consecutive days in an Internet cafe.[73][74]
14. In September 2007 in Ohio, 16-year-old Daniel Petric snuck out of his bedroom window to purchase the game Halo 3 against the orders of his father, a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, Ohio, U.S.[75] His parents eventually banned him from the game after he spent up to 18 hours a day with it, and secured it in a lockbox in a closet where the father also kept a 9mm handgun, according to prosecutors.[76] In October 2007, Daniel used his father's key to open the lockbox and remove the gun and the game. He then entered the living room of his house and shot both of them in the head, killing his mother and wounding his father. Petric is sentenced to life in prison without parole, which was later commuted to 23 years in imprisonment.[77] Defense attorneys argued that Petric was influenced by video game addiction, the court dismissed these claims. The judge, James Burge commented that while he thought there was ample evidence the boy knew what he was doing, Burge thought the game had affected him like a drug, saying "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever."[78]
15. In December 2007, a Russian man was beaten to death over an argument in the MMORPG Lineage II. The man was killed when his guild and a rival one challenged each other to a real-life brawl.[79]
16. False reports initially claimed that Seung-Hui Cho, the killer in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre was an avid Counter-Strike player. However, police reports said that roommates of Cho had never seen him play any video games.[80] Despite these discoveries, disbarred attorney Jack Thompson continued to erroneously claim that video games were to blame.
17. In June 2008, four teens allegedly obsessed with Grand Theft Auto IV went on a crime spree after being in New Hyde Park, New York. They first robbed a man, knocking his teeth out and then they stopped a woman driving a black BMW and stole her car and her cigarettes.[81]
18. On August 2, 2008, Polwat Chinno, a 19-year-old Thai teenager, stabbed a Bangkok taxi driver to death during an attempt to steal the driver's cab in order to obtain money to buy a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV. A police official said that the teen was trying to copy a similar act in the game. As a consequence, officials ordered the banning of the series, which led its distributor, New Era Interactive Media, to withdraw it, including the aforementioned, then-upcoming installment, from shops across Thailand.[82][83][84]
19. On April 14, 2009, 9-year-old Damori Miles of Brooklyn, New York City died after jumping from his apartment roof using a makeshift parachute in an imitation of Jeff Hardy in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009.[85]
20. In January 2010, 9-year-old Anthony Maldonado was stabbed by relative Alejandro Morales after an argument regarding Maldonado's recently purchased copy of Tony Hawk: Ride and PlayStation 3 console.[86]
21. In January 2010, Gary Alcock punched, slapped and pinched his partner's 15-month-old daughter in the three weeks leading up to her death before he delivered a fatal blow to the stomach which tore her internal organs because she interrupted him playing his Xbox. She died from internal bleeding after suffering 35 separate injuries including multiple bruises, rib fractures and brain damage, which were comparable to injuries suffered in a car crash. Alcock was jailed for life and must serve at least 21 years.[87][88]
22. In March 2010, 3-year-old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan of Tennessee died after shooting herself with her father's handgun which she mistook for her Wii Remote.[89]
23. In May 2010, French gamer Julien Barreaux located and stabbed a fellow player who had stabbed Barreaux on the game Counter-Strike. The judge at his trial called him "a menace to society."[90][dead link]
24. In October 2010, 22-year old Florida mother Alexandra Tobias.[91] killed her baby because he would not stop crying while she was playing FarmVille.[92]
The majority of the "programming" on teleivision is violence, sex, superficiality, materialism, greed, propaganda, lower chakra urges, and more. Yes there are some positive programs out there. The majority promote one or more of the above things. That is a fact. Also, given the fact that television puts the viewer into an alpha brainwave state (A highly suggestive and hypnotic brainwave state) all of that effects the subconscious mind greatly. If you don't believe this stop watching tv for 4 weeks and watch how everything in your life completely changes.
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