Sunday, September 18, 2016

Video Game Boy


      A visual posted on the site mediaviolence.org shows a little boy playing video games. This visual makes a powerful statement about violence in media. The central image shows a little boy playing video games, he is really into it, he looks like he is addicted to playing, and it looks like he has been playing for hours non-stop. The background enhances the central image because it suggests that he is all alone, that his parents aren't home. The visual includes words as well as images. These words are small in the top left corner, they are the titles for the top selling games of 2011, which are all violent games. The words suggest that he is playing a violent games. The goal of the organization that posted the visual seems to be to warn people, most likely parents, that violent games are bad for kids. The visual is not that effective to me because there isn't any actual proof of him playing a violent video game, the words name the titles of violent games but the visual isn't showing what he is playing. 
Addictions to Technology Gone Wrong


    Can people be addicted to technology? Can technology addiction get in the way of your every day life? Can they get in the way of school or work? Can they ruin relationships? I interviewed a couple people recently about their own personal addictions to technology and I got different responses and experiences from them.  Some didn't have a problem with their addictions, but some did. Some of the people i interviewed said that their addictions didn't get in the way of their everyday life, that they didn't see it as a problem. While the others said that it totally did. They put their addiction before school. They went from doing bad in school to having trouble at home. Addiction is a bad thing, no doubt about, its just sometimes they affect some more than others. A small video game addiction is harmless as long as it doesn't get in the way of the essentials. But being a full blown addict can be harmful, and it can interfere with school, family, and friendship.