(Originally posted on the http://www.writersblockmedia.com/ forums)
The relevant story can be read here, please do so you'll understand the full context of my post.
The following editorial is my defense as a gamer and as a somewhat right-thinking member of society who's not been brainwashed by mass media or thinks that McDonalds is to blame by the paunch on my stomach.
It is the claim of these boys that they were simply 'acting out' Grand Theft Auto when they decided to commit the acts of Manslaughter/Murder and Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
I will first address what should be the real question, why did a sixteen and fourteen year old brother and stepbrother decide that it would be alright if they opened fire on a highway with a firearm. It seems to me that they have either psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies and should be institutionialized.
It is also quite probable their parents were neglectful or at the very least imcompetent, as they seemed to have raised these kids who thought they could do this and get away with it. Point two on the parental front, they left a rifle with ammunition where teenagers with an obviously warped sense of reality were able to get at it, they are poor gun owners and should not be able to own weapons of that kind. Third point, if they were not neglectful or incompetent, they should have realised their children have a problem with distorting fantasy from reality and gotten them some psychiatric or psychological treatment sessions to help them with this and again made sure they could not get their hands on firearms.
It is also possible that if these boys are sociopathic, one of the two is smarter than he sounds and knew that the "Grand Theft Auto" Defense would take the limelight off of them and they'd get away with probation and BS psychology junk and maybe even a book deal, possibly Discovery Channel time.
Next point, I am a gamer myself, I bought my first truly violent video game at age sixteen. Since the time I began regularly playing these games, I have never had the urge to whack a security guard in the head with a crowbar, as you could in the game "Half-Life". Video gaming for me has been more a release of stress and anger than one that inspires me to commit violent acts against others. My temper has been something that I earned from growing up and being picked on at school, but I never wanted to walk into school with a 12-gauge shotgun and shoot all the people who bothered me. I've gotten angry from reading the news, dealing with lousy shifts and worse co-workers at my job, I play violent computer games on a regular basis and yet still, I refrain from going into my job with an automatic weapon and killing everyone I see. The only incidents where I became angry and it involved my personal computer was when my computer had a broken component or I had to reformat my hard drive. I enjoy my time on the computer and I doubt I would kill people when I was happy unless I had a severe mental deficiency. I haven't seen many people who just had a great day then decided to kill their neighbours and bury their bodies by the railroad tracks. This can be said for many of my friends and colleagues who play video games to relieve their stress, not develop a killer's mentality.
This act happened because of either psychological issues in the boys themselves, it almost certain the parents are at blame for being so irresponsible with storing firearms around irresponsible children.
Finally, if these boys bought this rifle, it shouldn't have been possible at a gun retailer in my opinion. I hate to tell how another country how they should conduct their civil affairs, but I don't see why teenagers should be able to buy guns when you don't trust them to vote, let them smoke or drink or sign up for the army, but handing out firearms seems like a good idea.
These boys should either be put into Juvenile detention or a psychiatric instiution for evaluation, not be able to scapegoat their actions onto a piece of entertainment software. Anyone who can be influenced strongly enough by one of these games they they decide to act out the game itself violently should not be allowed to play these games in the first place.
Finally, I leave you all with a question...
If this had happened in 1964 and the boys claimed they were acting out the James Bond film "Goldfinger", what do you think would have happened? Would Ian Fleming have been sued or would the two boys be severely punished and the idea of the movie influencing them tossed aside?
The relevant story can be read here, please do so you'll understand the full context of my post.
The following editorial is my defense as a gamer and as a somewhat right-thinking member of society who's not been brainwashed by mass media or thinks that McDonalds is to blame by the paunch on my stomach.
It is the claim of these boys that they were simply 'acting out' Grand Theft Auto when they decided to commit the acts of Manslaughter/Murder and Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
I will first address what should be the real question, why did a sixteen and fourteen year old brother and stepbrother decide that it would be alright if they opened fire on a highway with a firearm. It seems to me that they have either psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies and should be institutionialized.
It is also quite probable their parents were neglectful or at the very least imcompetent, as they seemed to have raised these kids who thought they could do this and get away with it. Point two on the parental front, they left a rifle with ammunition where teenagers with an obviously warped sense of reality were able to get at it, they are poor gun owners and should not be able to own weapons of that kind. Third point, if they were not neglectful or incompetent, they should have realised their children have a problem with distorting fantasy from reality and gotten them some psychiatric or psychological treatment sessions to help them with this and again made sure they could not get their hands on firearms.
It is also possible that if these boys are sociopathic, one of the two is smarter than he sounds and knew that the "Grand Theft Auto" Defense would take the limelight off of them and they'd get away with probation and BS psychology junk and maybe even a book deal, possibly Discovery Channel time.
Next point, I am a gamer myself, I bought my first truly violent video game at age sixteen. Since the time I began regularly playing these games, I have never had the urge to whack a security guard in the head with a crowbar, as you could in the game "Half-Life". Video gaming for me has been more a release of stress and anger than one that inspires me to commit violent acts against others. My temper has been something that I earned from growing up and being picked on at school, but I never wanted to walk into school with a 12-gauge shotgun and shoot all the people who bothered me. I've gotten angry from reading the news, dealing with lousy shifts and worse co-workers at my job, I play violent computer games on a regular basis and yet still, I refrain from going into my job with an automatic weapon and killing everyone I see. The only incidents where I became angry and it involved my personal computer was when my computer had a broken component or I had to reformat my hard drive. I enjoy my time on the computer and I doubt I would kill people when I was happy unless I had a severe mental deficiency. I haven't seen many people who just had a great day then decided to kill their neighbours and bury their bodies by the railroad tracks. This can be said for many of my friends and colleagues who play video games to relieve their stress, not develop a killer's mentality.
This act happened because of either psychological issues in the boys themselves, it almost certain the parents are at blame for being so irresponsible with storing firearms around irresponsible children.
Finally, if these boys bought this rifle, it shouldn't have been possible at a gun retailer in my opinion. I hate to tell how another country how they should conduct their civil affairs, but I don't see why teenagers should be able to buy guns when you don't trust them to vote, let them smoke or drink or sign up for the army, but handing out firearms seems like a good idea.
These boys should either be put into Juvenile detention or a psychiatric instiution for evaluation, not be able to scapegoat their actions onto a piece of entertainment software. Anyone who can be influenced strongly enough by one of these games they they decide to act out the game itself violently should not be allowed to play these games in the first place.
Finally, I leave you all with a question...
If this had happened in 1964 and the boys claimed they were acting out the James Bond film "Goldfinger", what do you think would have happened? Would Ian Fleming have been sued or would the two boys be severely punished and the idea of the movie influencing them tossed aside?
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