With all the media whinging about how videogames cause violence, I realized something strange: I am not a psycho killer. I have played videogames since I was probably five years old (so long ago I don't remember the exact date, yes) and pretty much all of them at the start were the violent ones. Above all Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.
So how come I've only punched a few people (outside of martial arts class) and never even thought about shooting anyone? Surely I'm doing it wrong.
Or, you know, videogames don't cause violence because that's absolutely fucking stupid.
I'm somewhat of a ragey person (I don't get sad, I get mad) and I can tell you now that plowing down rows of little screaming bitches is fucking awesome for stress. The whole point is that it's not real, dammit. I don't see people who enjoy slasher flicks being called out as antisocial (not asocial) maniacs.
I'm far more inclined to think that it's the substandard ability of the game of telephone played between journalists, professional experts, and home viewers to relay any information in a meaningful way that's to blame. In short, CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION.
I mean, I've noticed that a lot of shooters have two functional legs and arms. So maybe we should only let paraplegics own weapons.
But you know what could drive a kid to spend a lot of time playing videogames (besides the fact that they're awesome)?
Videogames are a pretty solitary activity, so someone with no friends or who is unable/unwilling to make friends could easily be more into that. And without supervision it's easy to spend like way too much time there, so absent parents can't be good there. The other thing is, videogames are always escapist. So what reasons might a kid have for wanting to escape?
As far as the vague hints dropped about mental health conditions, it's total lack of empathy (and major rage issues) we really need to look out for. Schizophrenics are far more likely to hurt themselves than others, and people on the autism spectrum disorder are also prone to self-harm, and frankly if they're out far enough to hit others it's not fucking premeditated enough for basically every killing spree that's happened.
I do think gun laws need tightening, but at the same time it's way overdue for the country's collective balls to drop and for us to admit there is no 'magic bullet' that's going to fix this systemic failure.
So how come I've only punched a few people (outside of martial arts class) and never even thought about shooting anyone? Surely I'm doing it wrong.
Or, you know, videogames don't cause violence because that's absolutely fucking stupid.
I'm somewhat of a ragey person (I don't get sad, I get mad) and I can tell you now that plowing down rows of little screaming bitches is fucking awesome for stress. The whole point is that it's not real, dammit. I don't see people who enjoy slasher flicks being called out as antisocial (not asocial) maniacs.
I'm far more inclined to think that it's the substandard ability of the game of telephone played between journalists, professional experts, and home viewers to relay any information in a meaningful way that's to blame. In short, CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION.
I mean, I've noticed that a lot of shooters have two functional legs and arms. So maybe we should only let paraplegics own weapons.
But you know what could drive a kid to spend a lot of time playing videogames (besides the fact that they're awesome)?
Videogames are a pretty solitary activity, so someone with no friends or who is unable/unwilling to make friends could easily be more into that. And without supervision it's easy to spend like way too much time there, so absent parents can't be good there. The other thing is, videogames are always escapist. So what reasons might a kid have for wanting to escape?
As far as the vague hints dropped about mental health conditions, it's total lack of empathy (and major rage issues) we really need to look out for. Schizophrenics are far more likely to hurt themselves than others, and people on the autism spectrum disorder are also prone to self-harm, and frankly if they're out far enough to hit others it's not fucking premeditated enough for basically every killing spree that's happened.
I do think gun laws need tightening, but at the same time it's way overdue for the country's collective balls to drop and for us to admit there is no 'magic bullet' that's going to fix this systemic failure.
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