Levi Brinkkoeter - Programmer

I caught an episode of Penn and Teller’s Bullshit over the weekend focusing on video game violence. They brought up many good points and it was a very good show. They had the infamous Jack Thomson as a guest they interviewed along with some other “interesting” anti-video game activists. Being a gamer I couldn’t resist putting my two cents in on the issue. According to these “experts” if a troubled kid plays a video game he is more likely to go on a shooting spree and the games are training them to be efficient killers. To distrust our kids to the point where we believe anything they see they will emulate is asinine. The example Penn and Teller gave was right on, a 9 year old that played violent video games like call of duty 4 and other had a hard time shooting an AR-15 rifle, it brought him to tears afterward. Yes he was young maybe a little too young, a 16 year old may act a little different but for someone to use a game as inspiration would take an unstable individual. You cant cure crazy, the sad reality is crazy is crazy is crazy, there could be an infinite number of factors that could drive an unstable individual to do what they do. If not a game, a movie , a line in a book, all things that are misinterpreted in the mind of a disturbed individual. To blame games is crazy in itself, I myself use games as a release. After a long aggravating day it feels good to dominate another person in a violent way, only because I know no harm will come to them. In actuality I have only shot a gun once in my life and that was shooting cow patties in a open field, because of my experience with games I know the damage a gun can cause and treat them with the utmost respect possible. To blame a medium for the individuals and their interpretation will damage those who genuinely enjoy them. Anything can be turned into a bad influence in the mind of someone who is not based in the reality of life.