Citizens encouraged to get rid of violent games in wake of Newtown shooting
Community leaders in Southington, Connecticut are encouraging families to consider giving up violent video games, and are offering gift certificates in exchange for handing games over to be destroyed.
The horrific Newtown school shootings left America searching for solutions to gun violence, and giving a close look at a culture some suggest glorifies killing.
"We're not saying the use of video games causes people to become murderers, but there's evidence that it causes increases in aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and desensitization about actions of violence," Southington's director of community services Susan Saucier told The Hartford Courant.
Volunteers will collect games on January 12 that parents or children wish to get rid of.
While the games themselves will be consigned to the flames, participants will recieve a gift certificate for a more "family-oriented" activity.
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"We want to stop the violence in our community," said Charlie Cocuzza, chamber of commerce board president.
"Those games can cost $60 or $70. So we want to give families a certificate to do something fun and family-oriented, something where they can spend a couple of hours together instead."
While the verdict is still out on the relationship between games and actual violence, many in the industry have begun to examine the message their games send.
Pressure is beginning to mount on the entertainment industry as a whole, with super pro-gun lobbyist group the NRA placing the blame for a "culture of violence" on hollywood, television, and game makers.
A bill from a West Virginia Senator has been put before congress, calling for a government investigation into the relationship between games and violence.
Consumers themselves have begun to take action; 12-year-old Max Goldstein of Newtown launched the "Played out initiative, calling on children in the community to dump their violent games in the trash.
He says the message to other kids is "Choose not to play."
America really is determined to appear as foolish as it possibly can, isn't it? Gun crime is minimal in most of the rest of the developed world and yet they have just as much access to these "violent games". Ban the guns. Or perhaps even just change the "shift the blame" attitude as it seems every bit as dangerous as the guns themselves.
Did a videdo on this yesterday - - think you ought to go turn in your Mario & Football games http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYZysbbScdw
Every study that I have ever read or been involved with has stated that the fact that people shut themselves off from violence is the reason that people are so desensitized. It's part of our human nature and has been that way since the beginning. I feel like people really do not know what they're talking about.
Take other media for example: Anime is considered to be the reason that many adult males turn into pedophiles. The funny thing is, most of the people that think this way only know series like Naruto or several Hentai series which are the minority of what true fans watch. The same thing applies to video games. I digress.
Newtown's shooting occurred in a "gun free" zone, in a state ranked the 5th most anti-gun in the nation by a group that defines itself as anti-gun (the Brady Campaign). Most violence in America occurs in densely populated regions of 250k or more, regardless of gun laws. Newtown involved 47 cases of laws being broken, would a 48th have made the difference? Doubtful, as is often the case, the culprit was mentally ill. Perhaps we should revisit the de-institutionalization legislation from the late 70s that Carter signed?
I think your missing the point Elmo. I appreciate sometimes these things are just going to happen regardless of any law. However it's obvious from gun crime rates in Britain and the rest of Europe versus the USA that these things are much less likely to happen if it's very difficult to get a gun. You're saying it was a gun free zone but that makes little difference if you can easily get a gun slightly further down the road. Plus there are that many guns in circulation in America that even an outright ban would take years to have any significant impact. The point of my original comment was to highlight the folly in demonising games while guns are barely mentioned. Even if violent games do have an effect on the rates of violent crime - everything I've read says otherwise, although I've not read much - it would undoubtedly be minor compared to that of banning guns.
I don't know how "less likely" they would be, I do know that usually when they happen in America they are stopped early on by a citizen with a gun. When a citizen with a gun isn't nearby (usually due to a Gun Free Zone and/or state laws) we get the Newtowns and Columbines.
The folly is in demonizing, not the target of the demonization. The problem with comparing rates is no data point exists in a vacuum. What happens to the total violent crime rate when gun control is initiated or tightened? How does this vary by population and more specific demographics?
The gun is a technology we cannot undo or back away from, the method is simple - propellant shaped by a sturdy device with a strong but small object. More so, it has a unique place in human history for being a force equalizer. You may not agree with the post, but please check out http://munchkinwrangler.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/why-the-gun-is-civilization/ (assuming this comment field doesn't strip the link out, if so look up munchkinwrangler's wordpress account, a post called Why the Gun is Civilization from 2007) to understand the perspective of people like myself.
The key factor here is not the influences or the devices, but the individual who chooses to engage in such behaviors. We cannot legislate it away with a PreCrime mentality (as censorship and gun control are), but we can discourage it through encouraging better mental health and community. It has been mentioned that Adam was raised by a single mother, uniquely extremely shy, and had become jealous of what he perceived to be, receiving less affection from his mother than what she gave to her students. Guns and video games are negligible in such a scenario. What matters is that individual.
No Elmo, they are not usually stopped by a citizen with a gun. There is anecdotal evidence of this happening once, and even then it's based purely on a single persons account. Mass shootings end almost always when the police arrive, not when some citizen pulls a gun and plays John Wayne.
