by Gaming Insider
Summary:
This past Monday bore witness to a horrific event, when a Virginia Tech student killed more than 30 other students and professors. Such a massive and sudden loss of life in a setting intended to be one of safety and growth is absolutely worthy of personal reflection and sorrow. Unfortunately, this tragic event, like others in the past, has also been seen as a prime opportunity for politicization.
The problem is, millions of normal, well-adjusted individuals play and enjoy video games. They play when bored and when stressed; they even organize social events around games. And they really don’t like being compared to individuals responsible for heinous acts, solely on a common form of recreation. In fact, according to an FBI report on school shooters, potential shooters focus not on enjoyment of the game itself, but primarily on a constant exposure to violent stimuli (page 20), whether video games, movies, literature, or torturing the neighborhood cat. It’s also worth noting that in the entire 52-page report video games are mentioned exactly once.
Only hours after the events on Monday, before the identity of the shooter was even known, video games were being mentioned as the primary influencing factor behind the shootings. From Fox News, to Jack Thompson — the systematic rabble rouser on the topic — to Dr. Phil, all levied charges against video games. And I’d be willing to wager that in the near future there will be some government figure pointing a finger and pushing for a bill regulating this “threat.”
