My name is Daniel Webb and I am 13 years old, almost 14--that is, technically not old enough to play an M-rated game. I believe that I should be allowed to play the video game reviewers have called “funny, genuinely laugh out loud funny...the humour is told through situation, through incredibly clever writing and wonderful sense of place”, however. Sure, I’ll admit the game has RPGs, prostitutes, and liberally flings around the n-word...but that is NOT what I would use it for. Well, not the prostitute thing, anyway.
The first reason I think I should be allowed to play Grand Theft Auto V is that it is an open world game (OWG). OWGs basically let the player go anywhere and do anything (within a few small constraints), and the Grand Theft Auto series has proven time and time again to have the best OWGs of its generation, and the most recent incarnation is no exception. Aside from causing mayhem with a variety of inventive weapons, the game lets you play golf, do yoga, take a cable car into a mountain, play the stock market, change into a large number of different outfits, and even drive an experimental military aircraft.
Secondly, there is still no conclusive proof that playing violent video games leads to players doing violent things in real life.Several leading psychologists suggest that playing violent video games may help people get rid of their aggressive feelings in a safe environment. In addition, correlation is not causation. While there does seem to be some correlation between violent-game players and violent-people, it may be that those with inherently violent tendencies like playing violent games--and not that violent games CAUSE violent tendencies. Additionally, I think playing a violent video game may help me manage my anger by allowing me to pour my anger into, say, a police helicopter, and then shooting it with a rocket would explode and dissipate the anger, making me feel more calm and in control of myself.
Finally, while I confess to not being a very social person, every human does inherently crave companionship and the feeling of belonging. A lot of children my age I know, both within and outside of CCA, play violent games such as Call of Duty, Halo, and yes, Grand Theft Auto V. I do not want to go the whole hog on buying all the most inappropriate, violent video games out there, but I surmise that even one would not only allow me to socialize and meet other online players (although I would want nothing to do with those cyber-jerks) and to feel like one of the “in-crowd.”
While I understand that my mother’s inclination towards banishing all forms of violence from our household is well-intentioned and even loving, I believe that if she were to examine the evidence and to make an effort to understand my position, she might come to a different conclusion--in time. She might see that GTAV, as an open-world game, would be a tremendously enjoyable and imaginative way to spend my free time. She might also see that there is no strong evidence that violent video games are harmful, and she would support my desire to interact with my peers in a positive way.
