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Page of the Padberg |
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First Year Composition Web Page |
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This I Believe |
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I am not a killer—this I believe. Contrary to 60 Minutes and the like, videogames have not warped my mind, action movies have not made me prone to violence, and TV shows have not shaped my views on life. If the news media is to be believed, anyone who plays violent videogames will become the next Columbine killer. I, on the other hand, have somehow survived all these things that are destroying countless others of my generation. Videogames, Television shows, and movies don’t, in fact, have any effect on one’s moral being, character, or behavior. |
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Created by Mike Padberg |
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When I was young, my older brother collected money from my siblings and me, went to a garage sale, and bought a box-like machine called a Nintendo. You can hook up this box to the TV, slide in a cartridge, press a button, and magically the TV is under your control. I press a button—the little man jumps. I press another and he moves forward. This Mario man can also spit fire! Some would argue that this beloved Mario is no more than a pyromaniac and young players should be protected from his influence. Yet, I, along with millions of other children, have never emulated the Mario fireball, even after countless hours of firing them on the TV screen. |
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Through this remarkable medium of videogames, I can do anything. I become a street fighter punching and kicking my way forward. I am an American paratrooper sent behind Russian lines to destroy their headquarters. I am 007 sneaking through a secret military constellation. I can be Link who, with only a sword and arrows, destroys the evil Ganondorf. I am even Master Chief—a space soldier shooting down aliens to save the world. I kill many people, destroy many monsters, and stomp on many turtles. If 60 Minutes is right, by now I should be a mass murderer, yet my friends do not fear for their lives and turtles don’t run in terror. |
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One man rides a hovercraft. Buildings explode around him. He shoots his way past guards and obstacles. He dodges bullets as he catches up to the villain trying to get away. Explosions rain shrapnel all round him. He reaches the villain and they have a one on one duel on the speeding hovercraft. The battle ends with the hovercraft and the villain going over a waterfall, while the hero hangs safely over the edge. All this is just the opening sequence of one of my favorite bond movies Die Another Day. I cannot count the number of movies I’ve seen in which someone has gotten shot, decapitated, or strangled. Some say I should have a disturbed personality by now, yet I have never needed to see a shrink. |
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Friends talk about their sex lives, cops examine a bloody crime scene, crazy kids perform extreme stunts—all in a day of television. Many of the shows I watch are immoral, violent, or just plain stupid. I watch people as they bleed all over an operating table, go on a shootout, have casual sex, or jump a line of 25 cars. I’ve even seen people steal thousands of dollars and get away with it! When one show ends, TV Guide is always there to tell me what to watch next. Should I watch the show about the corpse found in a trash compactor or this one about the dysfunctional cartoon family? Supposedly these shows warp young minds. It says it all over the news! Yet, I still know right from wrong. |
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What about all those examples of gun wielding schoolchildren, or mass murderers? Evidence that they played violent video games and watched those gory movies is abundant! Yes, that may be true, but were those the only factors? Hell no! In most cases, these killers and criminals grew up with violence in the home. When they saw violence on TV it mimicked reality for them. If they were beaten as a child or witnessed violence in the home, that is what they grew up believing in. Violent games or movies have very little to do with the cause of their abnormal development. |
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I consider myself fortunate to have turned out normal with all these influences. I haven’t robbed, stabbed, raped, or killed anyone. I haven’t even blown up a building! How in the world did I survive all this? Could it have anything to do with the way I was raised? Maybe love, caring, and a little discipline had something to do with it. These people quoted in the news would be totally corrupted by now. I guess I can’t blame them. I suppose nobody ever told them that those images in the TV aren’t real. |