Page 175 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 2.14
continued
differing opinions: acknowledging opposing Claims
News article
benign: harmless
My Notes
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• As you read the second article, underline the claim and reasons the author makes about the topic.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
• Use the My Notes space to add your questions, comments, or reactions to the text.
It’s Perverse,
but It’s Also Pretend
by Cheryl K. Olson, Op-Ed Contributor
1 On Monday the Supreme Court struck down, on First Amendment grounds, California’s law barring the sale or rental of violent video games to people under 18. On a practical level, the law was vague. It was never clear which games might fall under the law, or whose job it would be to decide.
2 But more important, the state’s case was built on assumptions — that violent games cause children psychological or neurological harm and make them
more aggressive and likely to harm other people — that are not supported by evidence. In the end, the case serves only to highlight how little we know about this medium and its effects on our children.
3 In my research on middle schoolers, the most popular game series among boys was Grand Theft Auto, which allows players to commit cartoon violence with chain saws as well as do perfectly benign things like deliver pizza on a scooter.
4 Teenage boys may be more interested in the chain saws, but there’s no evidence that this leads to violent behavior in real life. F.B.I. data shows that youth violence continues to decline; it is now at its lowest rate in years, while bullying appears to be stable or decreasing.
5 This certainly does not prove that video games are harmless. The violent games most often played by young teens, like most of the Grand Theft Auto series, are rated M, for players 17 and older, for a reason and do merit parental supervision.
6 But despite parents’ worst fears, violence in video games may be less harmful than violence in movies or on the evening news. It does seem reasonable
that virtually acting out a murder is worse than watching one. But there is no research supporting this, and one could just as easily argue that interactivity makes games less harmful: the player controls the action, and can stop playing
if he feels overwhelmed or upset. And there is much better evidence to support psychological harm from exposure to violence on TV news.
7 In fact, such games (in moderation) may actually have some positive effects on developing minds.
148 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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