I was inspired to look at modern childhood after reading two books for Activity 1 in which both writers reflected on their youth. Nowadays, our lives seem to revolve around new technologies and different types of media. This got me thinking about the impact that video games and movies can have on today's youth. I wrote a persuasive speech highlighting to parents the negative impacts that can be caused by overexposure to violent video games and films. I have included theories that agree with my point of view and used case studies on violence caused by video games and films to reinforce the message I am trying to put forward and show the reality of my concerns. To keep my audience engaged I used direct speech a lot. I also used chiasmus, anthypophora, and rhetorical questions to stimulate reflection in my audience. The use of triplication, cacophony and plosives give emphasis to my words. Today I want to tell you a story, not a pleasant story but a true story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay April 20, 1999 began as a normal school day at Columbus High School. At 11.19am the two older boys – Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold – began randomly and fatally shooting other students. In addition to the shootings, the complex and highly planned attack involved a firebomb to distract firefighters, propane tank bombs intended to detonate in the cafeteria, and 99 other explosive devices and car bombs. Unfortunately, 12 students and 1 teacher lost their lives and 24 others were injured. The couple later committed suicide. If the bombs in the cafeteria had exploded, all 488 students in the area would surely have been killed. But why? What would cause two people in the early stages of their lives to act this way? And how did they know what to do? The shocking answers to these questions lie in two of the main causes of the Colombian high school massacre: video games and movies. In 1972, theorist Stan Cohen came up with the idea that the press can cause moral panic in people. Moral panic theory has often been used more recently to show how films, magazines, video games, social media and online technologies can be blamed for society's problems. The main point of the theory suggests the negative impacts that can affect society, especially vulnerable members, for example children and adolescents. Moral panic can cause public alarm when something is published in the media that threatens society's moral standards. However, this exposure to an issue can cause social changes. In the case of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, their exposure to murder in both video games and films provided the inspiration for the attacks. Mostly, they took inspiration from a movie called Natural Born Killers, which means they weren't shocked by their plans for mass murder. Now, I'd like to imagine that most of you can think of a time in your youth when there was someone you looked up to, someone you tried to be like, even copying what they did. Well, similarly, the hypodermic model suggests, "children and adolescents are vulnerable to media content because they are still in the early stages of socialization and therefore very impressionable." See. This is what happened in the case of the Colombian high school massacre, as both Harris and Klebold were fans of video games such as Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem, and Quake. These games.
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