Does Grand Theft Auto Have a Bad Reputation?

This video game has been around for several years globally, and has not earned a good reputation because of consistent use of violence and sexual scenarios. Parents are very worried about their children playing these kinds of games, more than they are worried about them drinking and smoking. This speaks volume about the dangers associated with children and video games. This is because children are being influenced and encouraged by them. Children are the future, but the producers seem to be out just for profit.

My main concern is Grand Theft Auto as it inhibits all these negative aspects: sex, violence, irrelevant language and heterosexuality. For example, children can be exchanging hard core pornographic material via mobile phones which can turn into sadism which is illegal. After this, they grow into adults and bring more violence and disruptive sexual behaviour to the public. They can even end up becoming paedophiles. So, where do you draw the line?  

Of course, there have been several researches which have backed up the fact that video games can be good for kids’ reaction time, but they are not good for the attention span and are addictive. Also, showing violent content has a further effect than that. A child in America aged 8 killed an elderly woman after shooting her in the back of the head and claiming he didn't do it on purpose.  This is a serious issue that Grand Theft Auto needs to consider. It is potentially endangering lives of children and young adults. 

Social Issues

But, does the violence concern only the parents or does this concern the society in general? Well, although most of the media theorists would say that people shape the media, it is more likely that this sort of shaping is more influential and addictive than movies. 

Although it may seem that movies and video games’ level of violence is the same, they are not. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger agrees as he confirms in The Telegraph that video games are more violent than movies. He quotes, “I think violence is political now: 'maybe if there is no violence in movies, there will be no violence in the world.' I don't believe that. The video games our children play are much, much more violent than anything in [his] movie."