Violent Games and Movies Part 1

“Dec. 1, 1997 - Three students were killed and five others wounded in a hallway at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky. One girl is left paralyzed. A 14-year-old student pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder and is serving life in prison. When asked why he did it, he said he didn't know. "

"The parents of the deranged teen who shot and killed other teens at his school in Padukah, Kentucky have decided to sue Sony, Nintendo, Sega, and Time Warner to apparently make up for their complete lack of parenting. Movies and video games do NOT make psychos. There are plenty of people who aren't potential killers, yet they have played violent video games since their pre-teen days and have watched R rated movies since then as well.”

This was the same story I wrote about in my blog last week and in my paper. The part that caught my attention most was the part about the parents suing video game and cable companies. Dee Finney, the author of this statement, feels that this was due to a lack of parenting. It seems obvious, but according to a book I picked up (where I first read about the incident), the parents of the shooter were always there for their son and were very good parents. Maybe so, maybe not, but the topic I want to get into is about violence in the media.

This is actually one of those topics that makes me a little mad-people blaming games and movies for violence. I’m sure there are a few instances where these two things might be related, but for the most part, I think not. Just like Finney says, there are lots of kids who play violent games and watch movies at a young age, but they don’t do these kinds of things.

I do think there is an age you should let kids engage in this kind of activity though. I don’t think a five year old should playing Grand Theft Auto, or watching some rated R movie. But for older kids who just play the games and watch the movies for fun shouldn’t be penalized. I just think the relation is ridiculous.