So how about that Connecticut Elementary School Shooting; Troll at Your Own Risk

[Melena]

So the rumor mill on various news sites is that the NRA is going to blast movies and video games as the cause of Sandy Hook. No fucking surprise there. No surprise either Samuel L. Jackson said to blame media is fucking retarded.

http://gamepolitics.com/2012/12/19/s...s#.UNH_ZayFkoJ

[Dimmauk]

So the rumor mill on various news sites is that the NRA is going to blast movies and video games as the cause of Sandy Hook. No fucking surprise there. No surprise either Samuel L. Jackson said to blame media is fucking retarded.

http://gamepolitics.com/2012/12/19/s...s#.UNH_ZayFkoJ

Conservative radio is already in full blame the movies and video games mode.

"The liberals sure like to make money off of gun violence in movies and games, but are so quick to take away the guns from law abiding citizens"

[zoobernut]

Sounds like some people didn't get the real vs. fake talk from their parents when they were kids.

[Qalbert]

sounds more like news media trying desperately to shift the focus to something other than the fact that they glorify murderers with round the clock attention and infamy, as well as desensitizing the public with a constant stream of REAL violence and crime.

[archibaldcrane]

Let's not be totally off base here, you know these kids want OMG AN AR-15 JUST LIKE I PLAY WITH EVERY DAY IN COD4! for that reason in these massacres.

That's part of the reason I'm for an assault weapons ban - I honestly think that if some of these introvert psychos can't play out their high score fantasies the way they'd like to (with the assault weapons from their video games) because they don't have access, I think it will cut down on some of the mass shootings.

[Ksandra]

Sounds like some people didn't get the real vs. fake talk from their parents when they were kids.

honestly, I think this is a huge problem with the "violent video game" issue.

our generation didn't need the talk, because our "shooting" video games looked like this:

http://pnmedia.gamespy.com/classicga...images/ot3.gif

I DO think parents need to talk to their kids nowadays about what Call of Duty is "for fun, but we don't do this in real life." Same way I feel parents aren't teaching their kids about how to text properly (no sexting) and how to use facebook, myspcace, et. al. correctly.

[Acevalefor]

honestly, I think this is a huge problem with the "violent video game" issue.

our generation didn't need the talk, because our "shooting" video games looked like this:

[IMG]http://pnmedia.gamespy.com/classicga...images/ot3.gif[/IMG]

I DO think parents need to talk to their kids nowadays about what Call of Duty is "for fun, but we don't do this in real life." Same way I feel parents aren't teaching their kids about how to text properly (no sexting) and how to use facebook, myspcace, et. al. correctly.

HOLY SHIT! You had a color monitor???

[Qalbert]

I DO think parents need to talk to their kids nowadays about what Call of Duty is "for fun, but we don't do this in real life."

no parents need to be fucking responsible and not buy quasi-realistic violent M-rated games for their children. If you're old enough to play it, you're old enough to fucking know the difference between a game and reality.

[Ksandra]

@ ace LOL


no ;;

[Ksandra]

no parents need to be fucking responsible and not by quasi-realistic violent M-rated games for their children.

uhhh kinda my point, but yes I don't think kids should be playing M games. This does not mean kids shouldn't get a talk about it. That's like advocating abstinence for sex.

If you're old enough to play it, you're old enough to fucking know the difference between a game and reality.

This is counterproductive. You say parents need to be responsible, yet you say they shouldn't have to talk to their kids about games. Even if a parent doesn't allow M-video games in the home doesn't mean the kid will not be exposed to them. They will see them in arcades and friends' houses. What if the parents play those games (as they have become so insanely popular. Hubby and I aren't fans of the call-of-duty games but we do play games like Dead Space, Res Evil, etc.)? They may try to stick to them when the kids go to bed, but they still could end up watching bits of it.

You can't expect them to live in a bubble just by banning M-rated games in the home. It's no different than discussing sex or drugs to your kids.

[zoobernut]

honestly, I think this is a huge problem with the "violent video game" issue.

our generation didn't need the talk, because our "shooting" video games looked like this:

http://pnmedia.gamespy.com/classicga...images/ot3.gif

I DO think parents need to talk to their kids nowadays about what Call of Duty is "for fun, but we don't do this in real life." Same way I feel parents aren't teaching their kids about how to text properly (no sexting) and how to use facebook, myspcace, et. al. correctly.

I think the talk was important even back in the day. When I was a kid and I started playing video games or watching violence on TV my mother was very vocal about explaining how it was make believe and fake and it was never appropriate in real life. It sounds stupid but even older kids who "should no better" need that kind of talk if they have never been exposed to that type of media. It is a parents responsibility to teach their kids the value of life and to respect other living people/beings/entities/whatevers (depending on your personal views). This helps develop empathy in kids as they grow up.

Edit: I am not saying this will solve everything but responsible parenting will certainly help, along with easier access to health care and more responsible gun owners. The problem here is no one wants to take responsibility for anything. Gun owners don't want their guns taken away but they don't want to come up with ways to make other gun owners be more responsible with their weapons. Parents want other parents to watch their kids more carefully and keep them from being psycho's but they don't want to do the same for their own kids.

[Tagus]

no parents need to be fucking responsible and not buy quasi-realistic violent M-rated games for their children. If you're old enough to play it, you're old enough to fucking know the difference between a game and reality.

The problem is, Autism skews the mindset of kids. I've got two Autistic nephews, and their behavior is pretty typical of the illness. The younger one is 13, but he has no true differentiation between entertainment formats and reality. He's always hurting himself trying to do stunts he sees on TV... and he suffers from these temper tantrums where he does crazy stuff, where he's got absolutely no concern for the consequences. About a year ago he threw a golf ball through the TV because his brother changed the channel, for example. Another example would be, he picked up a rock outside of my house, hid it in his pocket, and later threw it at another car while we were driving to pick up a pizza. Minor in comparison to this event, but the fact is that the true difference lies in the simple fact that he doesn't have access to an assault rifle, or the ability to drive a car... as opposed to the incredibly large separation between what we would view as the ultimate consequence of each particular act.

Interestingly enough, his mom is a teacher's aide. I don't think she'd ever be fucking retarded enough to buy an assault rifle and keep it in the home, but he makes insane purchases off the internet all the time with her credit card. It's just a recipe for disaster that these guns are available for purchase based on a person's age. I don't know exactly how I ultimately feel about gun control, other than that it needs to be more regulated.

[Ksandra]

I don't think my parents gave me a direct talk about video games, but they were empathic in other ways so I guess I didn't need it or something. For sure, you cannot expect a kid to "get it" nowadays with how realistic they've become.

[edit] this is not to say, btw, that no kid understands it without the talk, just you can't assume they do. This is how a lot of sexting/bad stuff on fb happens because parents all too often think "oh he/she would never do that, so I don't need to talk about it."

[Qalbert]

my point wasn't that you shouldn't talk to them, my point was giving a six year old call of duty and saying "this isn't real lol" doesn't solve anything, the bigger issue is parents who let tv and games raise their kids instead of fucking doing it themselves, they neeed to actually focus on raising their children, and not let their kids play things until they are old enough. and 'old enough' to clarify, means old enough to be responsible and mature, not the arbitrary ESRB ages because different people mature and react differently, and know that games aren't real etc. I don't think "banning M-rated games from your home" is the answer, and I speak from experience, as my parents banned all manner of things from the house when I was growing up, you just have to be a responsible enough parent to know when your kid is mature/responsible/levelheaded/whatever enough to play them. Insulation, not isolation.

[archibaldcrane]

I didn't get a talk, other than my parents trying to get me to do other shit than play video games all the time, but shit didn't get remotely real until PS1 and I was like 16 at that point.

[archibaldcrane]

I don't think "banning M-rated games from your home" is the answer, you just have to be a responsible enough parent to know when your kid is mature/responsible/levelheaded/whatever enough to play them.

Still, the ESRB ratings are at least a halfway decent "age-appropriateness" guide for parents who can't be assed to know about vidya.

[Ksandra]

my point wasn't that you shouldn't talk to them, my point was giving a six year old call of duty and saying "this isn't real lol" doesn't solve anything,

except, that's not what I said.

[zoobernut]

my point wasn't that you shouldn't talk to them, my point was giving a six year old call of duty and saying "this isn't real lol" doesn't solve anything, the bigger issue is parents who let tv and games raise their kids instead of fucking doing it themselves, they neeed to actually focus on raising their children, and not let their kids play things until they are old enough. and 'old enough' to clarify, means old enough to be responsible and mature, not the arbitrary ESRB ages because different people mature and react differently, and know that games aren't real etc. I don't think "banning M-rated games from your home" is the answer, you just have to be a responsible enough parent to know when your kid is mature/responsible/levelheaded/whatever enough to play them.

Well yeah it is a combination of the talk and making sure that your kids are old enough to understand the talk. Also for me as a kid it was more violent movies like Alien, Aliens, Silence of the Lambs, and when I was a little bit older Pulp Fiction that made my mom talk to me.

Also all of this assumes no major mental illness. The kid has to have the ability to understand the discussion in order for it to have impact.

[Qalbert]

except, that's not what I said.

your post made it look like solely the act of talking was all that needed to change, when the far more pressing issue is the irresponsibility of buying games that are not age/maturity appropriate. if you have to tall a kid not to shoot people with assault weapons irl, that indicates that they are far too young to be playing CoD in the first place, and as such is a moot point. like telling a five year old to use condoms.

[Ksandra]

if you have to tall a kid not to shoot people with assault weapons irl, that indicates that they are far too young to be playing CoD in the first place, and as such is a moot point. like telling a five year old to use condoms.

you seem to be stuck on this idea that only 5-6 year olds are not old enough to know this, where I'd say even teenagers need the talk.