Why it's worse than violent video games

Disclaimer: Squid Game spoilers are sprinkled throughout this article.

"I love watching Squid Game. It's so good!" a 7th-grade student said to me the other day.

How are they able to watch a show like that at their age? I was shocked with a massive side of feeling appalled.

In some ways, I get it. The setup of Netflix's most-watched show to date grabs you and won't let go. Everyone's talking about it, and you're thrilled to join in and be a part of the phenomenon. Who cares if it glorifies senseless killing and makes it seem like a person's life is meaningless. It's gripping entertainment.

The entertainment we as adults can look at from many sides and approach objectively is fine. What about people who openly let their kids who are under the age of 15 watch? Yes, I believe Squid Game is too raw and real even for teenagers.

Right off the bat, I enjoyed the show and was pleasantly surprised by the direction it took at every turn. No surprise, I usually hate bloody series where people's lives are popped off like they're roaches infesting a house. The story and mystery of Squid Game caught me.

As a father of an eleven-year-old, though—who I would never let view such a violent extravaganza—I was shocked to discover families are sitting down, cuddling together, and watching Squid Game like it was made for them.

As a middle school teacher, my 6th-8th grade students love discussing the show and talking about their favorite parts and bragging about how their parents can't wait to make popcorn and get back to viewing a show where hundreds of gamblers and criminals compete in childhood games and get shot dead if they lose.

Maybe it's because the show's violence is relegated to mainly getting shot, stabbed, or dropped from great heights. It's not excessively gory or disgusting to watch, but players of the game are being killed and incinerated the entire run.

Survival shows are nothing new, and I know young people enjoy watching them. Squid Game feels different to me for several reasons.

Popularity doesn't mean it's suitable for everyone

The show wouldn't get the attention it does from families if it weren't as popular. Viewers want in on the latest hit, no matter the genre or plot. Heck, that's how it pulled me in.

Squid Game was released on September 17 and, in 23 days, became the top most successful show on Netflix, leaving its other popular show, Bridgerton, in the dust. Over 1 billion hours were spent watching the series by viewers.

It caught on like wildfire but is that an excuse to let kids watch?

Part of the show's draw is the childlike games the players engage in, like Red Light Green Light, where if you're caught moving on red, you get shot dead.

An interesting idea. What's stopping children from adding killing to their games out on the playground? Even if it's just pretending—point your finger at a friend and pretend to shoot them down—is this ok?

A council in England doesn't think so. The Central Bedfordshire council in the south of England issued notices to parents to make them aware of where watching shows like Squid Game could lead:

“There have been some concerning reports recently about children and young people ‘playing’ Squid Game whilst at school. Squid Game is also being viewed via other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, and given the popularity of the games in the show, developers have made various mini-games based on Squid Game on Roblox and other gaming platforms.
We strongly advise that children should not watch Squid Game. The show is quite graphic with a lot of violent content.”

When you see how meaningless the characters' lives feel in the show, dying seems like nothing important at all. Not only is this desensitizing young people to killing and death, due to the nature of the children-themed games they play, it feels like the characters deserved it.

Violent video games and animation hit differently

Squid Game feels very real and is set in what looks like the real world. You get the sense that this sort of game could be happening around the world right now. Indeed, this is one of the reasons the show is as popular as it is, but will young people get excited about possibly playing in it one day?

We now have people competing in Quidditch games based on the ever-popular Harry Potter series. Could this lead to wealthy investors actually starting a game like this in real life? Will a twelve-year-old grow up and want to build their own death game?

The games the adults are playing are based on ones they loved to play as kids. Who wouldn't want to play tug of war? Adding the part where you die if you lose is twisted and normalizes death games in young minds.

Playing violent video games also gives you less concern for killing and watching people die, but at least it's computer-generated.

Children shouldn't spend all their time playing those types of games, but they can turn it off and get it's fake due to the animation and the fact that they're making decisions with a game controller.

In Japanese animation, survival anime shows like Gantz and Attack on Titan are set in fantasy worlds or dystopian futures. You can distance yourself, thinking this is happening in another place. It's more of a "What if" type scenario in a universe very different from ours.

Just say no to kids glorifying real-life violence

I know you think I should chill out. It's just a TV show, after all. Very true. But it's the most popular TV show in the world. You know this genre will grow and expand now that studios know the pull live-action violent games have on viewers. Is this the direction we want television to go?

In five years, will we have real-life death games we're all tuning in to watch, like in the Schwarzenegger movie, The Running Man, where people are betting on who will survive and dismissive of those that die? I'm not ready for that kind of society.

Giving children access to animated violence isn't great, but we know they have an interest. At least when it's not with actual human beings, they can see it as the entertainment it was meant to be.

If you're a parent of a pre-teen, don't share the show with your kids. Several years from now, if they're still interested, perhaps they'll be developmentally ready to take on such a violent take on kid's playground games.

Until then, keep young people away from Squid Game.

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You are who you decide to be.

Three years of freelance writing on the side while teaching full-time finally got me noticed by recruiters and hired as a copywriter for a major tech company in silicon valley. I was considered a contractor, though, not a salaried employee.

And it was only for three months — with a possibility of extension.

I’m embarrassed to admit; this messed with my self-worth and confidence as a writer. Even though I’ve been out in the world of work for over twenty years, my positions have either been as a salaried teacher or freelancer.

Being a contractor felt like a weird in-between. You do the job with hours just like salaried coworkers, but you don’t get paid time off or health benefits. Everyone is so excited about that three-day weekend coming up, and you’re thinking about how it’s one more day of less pay.

Even though you’re working just as hard.

I will say I enjoyed the fancy office space and the nice laptop they provided. The free coffee from the latte machines was convenient and delicious. Lunch wasn’t free where I worked, but you got a full meal for cheap each day plus dessert.

Yes, I gained a little weight during my first few months.

Writing in a cubicle at a desk that raises and lowers at a push of a button was glorious. I loved the flexibility of either writing while standing and then lowering the desk to sit whenever I wanted. These small perks were good.

Maybe too good?

As a contractor surrounded by people who seemed to have more experience, stability, and confidence in their jobs, I realize that I had a serious case of impostor syndrome.

Impostor syndrome-
People who struggle with impostor syndrome believe that they are undeserving of their achievements and the high esteem in which they are, in fact, generally held. They feel that they aren’t as competent or intelligent as others might think — and that soon enough, people will discover the truth about them.

Facing reality

There I was, finally getting an opportunity to work as a writer all day, every day, and get paid more than my teaching salary. I was concerned about what my position said about me as a person and a professional.

I could get in the door, but not in all the way.

Fortunately, I did a good enough job to add three more months to my contract, then six more after that. Once a year was up, I wasn’t offered a salaried position as I’d hoped.

Another hit to my ego.

The work I was doing was good enough to keep me there but not enough to bring me on fully, I suppose. I stayed there, got another six months added to my contract, but the company could only keep me legally for a year and a half in total.

I’m sure this kind of thing happens all the time with contract work, but it felt like I wasn’t good enough. I felt like an impostor.

Thoughts of not possessing enough talent to be a legitimate part of the team flowed through my mind constantly. In other words, impostor syndrome hit like a ton of bricks.

Until a friend helped me look at it differently.

Every job is temporary

A friend of mine who works in tech came to visit at the time for lunch. I discussed not getting hired for a salaried position and these feelings of inadequacy plaguing my confidence.

How come I can only stay a contractor? He stopped me abruptly and shared the truth.

In silicon valley, everyone’s a temp.

Even people who seem secure in their position can be let go tomorrow. Sure, it could be because of poor performance, but internal changes and just bad timing can come into play.

I was accustomed to the world of education, where you normally can stay on the job at least through the academic school year. Getting fired in the middle of February, for example, rarely happens. Unless you’ve done something crazy, I could count on staying employed between August and June every year.

In the corporate world, you never know when you could be let go. Even if you’re a superstar. Things happen. In fact, I saw other hard-working contractors get let go at the end of their contracts before me.

I understood that appreciating the skills I learned and the people I met on the job was most important. Not whether or not I stay for many years.

Besides, I noticed a lot of people change jobs every year or two now. They learn what they can, make connections, and move on.

That’s okay. As long as you know and respect who you are inside, you can succeed anywhere.

Knowing it could end at any time is the reality for everyone.

Save your money and prepare for the worst. Enjoy the experience and learn all you can in the meantime.

I had to stop equating hard work with stability or guaranteed success.

They’re not necessarily connected. Just because you work hard doesn’t mean you’ll always succeed in everything. You’ll definitely have better chances for it, but life doesn’t always work that way.

When the pandemic hit, we were all sent to work from home, and my department announced a hiring freeze. The writing was on the wall.

I wasn’t going to get hired on “permanently,” and when my contract was up, I’d have to say goodbye.

I required a new mindset to move away from the idea that I was never a good enough writer for the position.

Only you can decide you’re a writer

I’ve been writing comic books and comic strips since I was a kid. It never felt like “real writing.” You know, the kind novelists or journalists do. Learning how to write to get people to take action, copywriting opened my eyes to writing being more broad and open than I once thought.

Maybe I am a writer after all. I thought getting paid to write full-time would finally bring that home. It helped, but I still had to repeat in my head, “I’m a real writer” to accept it fully.

Only you can decide you’re a writer. Once you do, you’ll see writing can look many different ways.

Creating emails and promotional copy is just as much “real writing” as prose. I see that now. The truth is, I enjoyed writing in a corporate setting much more than I thought I would.

I spent some time at my desk each day, focused on writing and editing copy, and then met to discuss strategy with my team members. I was a writer then, and I’m still a writer now working on this article.

As long as I choose to be.

Final thoughts

I might have lost the writing job, but I was able to move back into education. The world is crazy, and teaching in a school is a safe place, I understand. Having the opportunity to also write for the school in their communications department helps me feel like my skills will not get all rusted up.

Even if I’m not writing all day, I know in my heart I’m a writer. It feels great to have worked in different positions as a freelancer, contractor, and now part-time writer.

Experience can help you feel less impostor syndrome, especially if you work with kind and helpful coworkers. Who knows, though, my next position might feel too big for me, and I have to convince myself I’m worthy of it all again.

I’m not worried. Accepting the fact that I’m a writer always helps.

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Stop Letting Your Kids Watch Squid Game