Videogame violence vs. real violence
As I post this, faculty, staff, students, and family of students at Virginia Tech are struggling to come to terms with the death of 32 people after the 16 April shooting rampage. The gunman's motives may never be known as he killed himself, dying amongst his many victims.
That hasn't stopped some people from speculating about the reason why this 23yr. old South Korean student went on this rampage. It's a simple explanation; something that every fly-by-night psychologist/psychotherapist/quack has quoted nearly verbatim every time something like this happens. Here, Dr. Phil is the first to postulate on the motivation behind the shootings in Virginia (text taken from a Larry King interview from 4/16/2007):
"Well, Larry, every situation is different…
The question really is can we spot them. And the problem is we are programming these people as a society. You cannot tell me - common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they’re on a mass killing spree in a video game, it’s glamorized on the big screen, it’s become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high.
And we’re going to have to start dealing with that. We’re going to have to start addressing those issues and recognizing that the mass murders of tomorrow are the children of today that are being programmed with this massive violence overdose."
Just to make sure you didn't miss it, the important hyperbole is in italics. Once again, violence in videogames and/or movies/tv is seen as the catch-all reason. This - and only this - apparently is what causes fragile young minds to snap and think that a killing spree is a really good idea.
Excuse me whilst I call BULLSHIT on this, won't you?
First of all, how do we know that this student even played video games? Watched violent movies? Even if he did, what does that prove? Millions of people across the country play video games and are exposed to violent programming daily. By this logic, half the planet should be going ape-shit right now. Secondly, what about the other potential reasons? Was he struggling in classes? Did he have a relationship go south? Granted, Dr. Phil alluded to part of the reason - this student may have had some sociopathic or psychotic tendencies to begin with, and some circumstances could have pushed him over the edge. But solely blaming violence - whether in videogames, movies, or on television - is patently ridiculous. This, Dr. Phil, is what real doctors call a "faulty diagnosis." If this is the only thing you're going on, then how do you explain Jeffrey Dahmner or Charles Manson? Did they loose too many lives playing "Pitfall" on the Atari?
Granted, violence is prevalent in our society. But it's been prevalent for thousands of years, not only here but across the globe. Look at other cultures: the Assyrians; the Spartans; the Iroquois. Violent cultures have existed for many years before videogames, movies, and television came around. By Dr. Phil's logic, an Assyrian warrior was one Ultra-Combo away from starting a mass stabbing spree.
Please. For FSM's sake, please pull your head out. There are other issues that need to be addressed before the giant leap to videogame violence is even considered.
Among the unknown are questions about this guy's background. Did he have a happy home life? Did he have issues at school? Girl/boyfriend trouble? Did he seek out or was he in therapy? More importantly, was therapy available to him? Did anyone recognize he needed help, and offer it?
Dr. Phil is correct on one point: we do need to recognize the people that need help, and then try to get them the help they need. However, everyone needs to stop pointing their craggly finger in the direction of the nearest XBOX or PS2. Gamers are not being subtly programmed to kill you, nor are movies or TV inherently evil. As with all things, it's how you interpret what you're seeing, and how you deal with it.
Unfortunately for tirty-two people in Virginia, this student dealt with things very poorly.
[EDIT: Jack Thompson is also jumping on this bandwagon. Click here for background information on Jack.
posted by Hare @ 1:36 PM
6 Comments:
Video game violence causes all?... or perhaps there's the larger social issue of managing the demands of two very different cultures on a daily basis; two cultures which are both extremely demanding (in different ways) as to adherence and identity. Much has been studied and written as to Asian family and cultural demands to excel in academics, combined as an immigrant with the social pressure to assimilate and 'Americanize' one's self. At Virginia Tech (as well as most universityies right now) it's also getting pretty close to exam time. At GVSU it has been two Asian migrants who have taken their lives off the Little Mac bridge. I'm not saying that this is the total cause for the Virginia Tech slaughter, but I think its a more valid (and researched) starting point than to assume that everyone who acts violently plays video games and vice versa.
Exactly.
They come from a culture which, essentially, states "do well or die." There's so much pressure put on Korean/Chinese/Japanese students that when they don't achieve what everyone else expects of them it shatters their world.
Oh, and the "violent videogames cause 'x'" cliche is trotted out as the de facto excuse for everything.
Who needs research? Just make a stupid claim, and talk loud enough to drown out everyone who disagrees with you.
I think the cause of the violence IS the corruption and "spoiled rich kids" that were mentioned in the first news reports yesterday. The shooter supposedly railed on against asshats in our society. He probably got to the point that he realized these fucks are ALWAYS going to have the upper hand. They have the money already. They are willing to screw others over to secure their positions. So I might as well go out with a bang. He will have screwed up if he didn't mail a recording of himself explaining himself to numerous news agencies, including those that will not be easily filtered by the government.
Apparently this nutball did send stuff to news agencies. They're reporting that they received CDs/DVDs with images and his "manifesto."
You write very well.
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