Why must they always blame video games?!!

[Theicedragon]

I was reading this article today off of yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060421/ap_on_re_us/foiled_plot

If you read on, they say that the suspects liked to play violent video games.  I can just feel what is about to happen, and I hate it.  Why is it that when some kid/kids decide they are going to do something crazy/violent/disturbing, that they are so quick to blame/reference video games?  No where in this article did they reference/blame the parents of these troubled teens. I love video games, but whenever a child does something so unbelievable, they want to shift the blame. I would like everybody's imput.

[V_Translanka]

As I like to say when this subject comes up (it's a slightly altered quote): There's comedy in video games, that doesn't cause comedy in the streets. I mean, hell, there are wars going on right now. I doubt if video games have more influence than wars...but who knows, right?

pfffft@wars.gov

[ChibiBob]

pfffft@wars.gov

-snark.-
If only I could buy that domain, dammit.

I play this little game called Harvest Moon, you see. One day the local barwench dumped me for the generic affair-with-the-married-mayor business, and I was quite angry, you see. Very angry, actually. And in Harvest Moon you can throw eggs at the townspeoples' houses without dropping in relationship levels, so since video games perfectly mirror reality, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to vent my frustration via my geriatric neighbors' houses. You see?

I think you can see where this is going.

In summary, video games are dangerous in the hands of easily-influenced young children!

</sarcasm>

[Theicedragon]

Lol.  But its just frustrating.  Parents don't parent anymore.  They let TV and Internet raise their kids, but when the kids do something, they want to blame the TV or videogames or Internet.  They go and search the boys house and out of x number of games, they pick out the violent games as the reason they plotted to go on a killing spree.  What next?  They gonna blame teen accidents on videogames?

"The teen was driving at high speeds while intoxicated.  Investegators found Need for Speed: Most Wanted in his bedroom and figure that was the blame.

[Lord J Esq]

Piffle.

Yes, I go right into strange people's houses without even knocking.
Yes, I rob their stuff whether or not they're right there.
Yes, I talk to their little kids for clues.
Yes, I got it from Chrono Trigger.
No, I ain't no thug. I'm a friggin' HERO, man! A hero.

[Burning Zeppelin]

Well, Need for Speed and Grand Theft Auto are quite popular games, so most game collections have them. Imagine if they went:
"We found Need for Speed in his room...along with Dragon Quest, Anime Bowling Babes and Stop! In the Name of Love"
Fnar Fnar
All medias have an influence, but the main problem, like Ice Dragon said was bad parenting. Not to long ago in Sydney, two fourteen year old girls held up a cabbie, stole his money, beat him up, stole his car, and ran over him a couple of times. They also went off to rob another shop later that day, or the next day...w/e time it was, it wasn't good. But where were their parents? At the time of the "cabbie murder" it was like 2am! Maybe if the parents raised them better that wouldn't of happened. Same with Van Nguyen and the Bali 9...hmph 

[GreenGannon]

The parents aren't completely to blame. The government has made it damn near-impossible for the parent to do the job. If you even look at your kid menacingly, they scream "child abuse". Tell me, how are you to discipline your kids if the slightest touch will land you in prison? We take responsibilites away from kids and give them rights, while we take rights from the parents and give them responsibilites. Guess what? That. Doesn't. Fucking. Work.

[Sentenal]

I don't think games are the reason people break the law in real life  (though, some games have the opposite effect, withdraws from real life).  Parents blaming violence on games is lack of parenting, as they shouldn't have let their child play it in the first place.

[Maelstrom]

Video games are typically restricted by ratings, so they aren't any more to blame than movies or TV.

There's other factors at play here, and you certainly can't blame just one (although perhaps not all either):

*) Parents don't discipline enough, because the government won't let them
*) Parents don't discipline enough, because they indulge themselves too much
*) Parents don't discipline enough, because their only parent (or both parents) work long weeks (50, 60, 70 hours, and sometimes have to drive a long way)
*) Parents don't provide enough for their kids, because they use it all on themselves
*) Parents can't provide enough for their kids because of unemployment or crappy wages
*) Parents discipline too much, and so their kids act out
*) Parents discipline violently, so their kids "punish" others violently
*) Parents act violently, so their kids follow in kind
*) Their peers act violently, so they follow in kind
*) Media (News, TV, Movies, Video Games) that parents aren't able to censor makes the kid aware of violence
*) Teachers and other faculty that don't respond to behavior appropriately (some will blame the "new age" school of thought while others blame the "old school" approach to problems)
*) Kids feel they have nothing to live for (which may or may not be rational), so they act out (potentially indiscriminately)
*) Drugs (media sometimes triggers this, but it's typically an emulated behavior from peers or parents) make kids do stupid things
*) Terrorism reinforces the idea that violence solves problems, by killing innocent people
*) The government reinforces the idea that violence solves problems, by going to war and torturing prisoners
*) Kids, like just about everyone else, are ignorant, selfish, hateful

I could go on.

[Burning Zeppelin]

It's not so much that in X Game the game explores or condones violence, but its the fact that the game is interactive and can lead to frustration and the like.

While it may be that addiction is not a problem for Internet gamers, apparently taking their games too seriously is. Not just a problem - but potentially fatal.

According to the BBC, Chinese online gamers Qiu Chengwei and Zhu Caoyuan were both involved in the online game Legend of Mir 3. Chengwei apparently won a virtual sword (be clear here, folks, this is nothing more than data on the Internet, not a real sword!), and then loaned ‘it’ (presumably the rights to it, or to ‘use’ it) to Caoyuan. Caoyuan then sold ‘it’ to someone for the equivalent of 473 British pounds (approximately $861 USD).

Chengwei was so incensed when he learned that Caoyuan had sold his… again, let’s be clear here … data bits, that Chengwei rushed over to Caoyuan’s home, and stabbed him with “great force”, killing him.

Reported the BBC, “According to the Chinese press, more and more gamers are seeking justice through the courts over stolen weapons and credits accumulated in games.”

A Chinese professor of law indicated that he believed that weapons accumulated through online games should be considered personal property because the gamers “have to spend time and money for them”.

But as a lawyer for an online game company put it “the weapons were in fact just data created by games providers and therefore not the property of gamers”.
Bottom line? It’s always fun until someone gets hurt.

These are just games guys, it’s not real. To even get that worked up over something like this is frightening. To kill someone over it? Incomprehensible.

If you find yourself that involved in an online game, get a life. Don’t take one.

[Maelstrom]

When "items" in the game can sell for $861 (US) or so (which is a LOT to people who live in China), you have an obvious risk from the get-go (since proof goes out the window; your best hope is to record a demo of the transaction and take screenshots, and that's probably not enough for court anyway).

Obviously it would be unconstitutional to ban MMORPGs (of course, China can do whatever it wants; people don't have many rights there anyway), but it drives home the idea that these games can lead to a very uncomfortable way of life.

[Radical_Dreamer]

A big part of the problem is that there is a conflict of responsibility. The government and parents both have different ideas of who should be raising the kids, or who should be responsible for which aspect of child rearing. In theory, they both want the parents to do the job, but in practice, it seems increaingly clear that both are more happy with the government doing it, which is absurd, because governments do not operate at a layer of abstraction, nor have they the resources, to properly raise children.

Another big issue is that we have a culture, that in general, has no regard for personal responsibility. People try to take the easy or litiguous way out of things, blaming their misfortunes on others. Sadly, the government seems to be quite willing to help take the blame away from the people who do stupid and irresponsible things.

*sigh*

We need more natural selection.

[Maelstrom]

Unfortunately, natural selection doesn't work as long as "successful" people are content with having *on average* fewer than 2.1 spawn.  Unless you "correct" this issue, it really doesn't matter (from a genetics point of view) what else you do.

[Burning Zeppelin]

When "items" in the game can sell for $861 (US) or so (which is a LOT to people who live in China), you have an obvious risk from the get-go (since proof goes out the window; your best hope is to record a demo of the transaction and take screenshots, and that's probably not enough for court anyway).

Obviously it would be unconstitutional to ban MMORPGs (of course, China can do whatever it wants; people don't have many rights there anyway), but it drives home the idea that these games can lead to a very uncomfortable way of life.

Heh heh, good one.

I believe a parents law should override that of the governments. Actually, that is totally stupid, but maybe the parents should take full responibility of the kid before puberty. That means giving the mother welfare and allowing them to skip work. This would probably encourage more mothers to give birth, and consequently, destroy the economy...ok that was a bad plan.

[Silvercry]

Hell, I'm surprised H-games haven't been blamed for date-rape yet.  I suppose it'll happen soon enough though.