Analysis Of Army's War Game Recruits Kids By Joan Ryan

“Army’s War Game Recruits Kids” is an article written by Joan Ryan; a reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle. In the article Ryan focuses on the ethics and effects involved in producing free video war games for 13- to 21-year-olds (Engaging Self, 2016). Ryan’s claim is that the army should not be allowed to use violent propaganda in order to persuade children to join the army when they become adults. “The only thing better would be an actual war with actual weapons! Which is pretty much how the Army hopes you kids will respond.” (Ryan, 2004). In making this statement, Ryan is persuading the reader to make the connection between “awesome” violent video games to the real world of combat. When asked directly about the game, Ryan describes

“Yes, they might get killed. They might get maimed. But just think of the awesome grenade launchers they’ll learn to use. “(Ryan. 2004). The use of sarcasm is quite evident in this statement, showing that Ryan is clearly against using violent video games to influence children. “In the real Army, you cannot press the escape button on your keyboard and come back to life.” (Ryan, 2004). This shows that Ryan feels that the implications of using these games is that it will convince the children using these games, that there is no possibility of actual death when joining the Army. “Let’s face it. The Army isn’t trying to sell kids hamburgers. It’s trying to sell kids on the notion that joining the Army would be a really cool thing to do when they grow up.” (Ryan, 2004). Not only does Ryan feel that the motive is wrong, but also feels that the technique in getting the kids convinced is also wrong. According to www.e-ir.info the army has increased the number of soldiers just by using violent video games to portray the Army as something that is

Outside sources show that Ryan’s evidence is correct, as well as proving her point. Ryan also uses an objective point of view throughout the article, making it unbiased and trustworthy. The different outside sources such as the Army Col., it presents the other side of the argument, relieving any chance of the article being biased. Since the article is not subjective, and loaded words and emotional outbursts are not present within the article, this piece is a trustworthy source. Ryan’s information can be backed by outside sources such as ojs.stanford.edu which further adds on to what Ryan was trying to get across about the negative effects of the Army advertising to children. “Researchers have begun to employ new technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to show that playing violent video games appears to desensitize players to real-life violence, pain, and the suffering of others (Bastian, Jetten & Radke, 2011).” (Wallop, 2012). This source backs up everything that Ryan was saying, proving that this article is a trustworthy