Stop blaming video games for bad parenting

[DJLarkin]

Please, just stop. For the love of God, Yahweh, the FSM or whatever diety you choose to believe kills kittens when someone does something wrong. Today I came across a video, which I'll talk about later in this post, which really rubbed me the wrong way. It was so blatantly misinformed that it really made me angry. So, hopefully I can incite change in at least a few people.

If nothing else, I'll ask one thing. Stop swallowing the propaganda thats being fed to you. Video games are not training your kid to become a mass murderer, sociopath or felon. Its gotten to the point where people are regurgitating this nonsense with no factual basis, simply because they've heard so many other people say it. Its untrue, and frankly, idiotic.

(This is a paraphrase from another thread on yehoodi, forgive me for not wanting to retype a majority of this)

I'm a senior designer for EA's online games division, the largest game developer in the world. I work on Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). They're called Massive for a reason. It is estimated that over 200 million people play these games worldwide. Like anything with such a wide distribution of population, there are extremes. Not everyone who drinks is an Alcoholic, not everyone who gambles is an addict, and not everyone who plays MMOs does so to these extremes. Demonizing the genre due to a few examples is as wrong as demonizing all people who gamble or drink.

Many people like to say that there is evidence proving video games are harmful. Sadly those reports do exist. However, they're from disreputable, biased and anti-gaming activists. The people pushing this agenda have done no scientific study or research to give any reputable proof to these claims. In fact, most of the major players in the modern anti-video game activism are the same exact people who attacked the TV, Movie and Music industries for their content. Jack Thompson, the most vocal of the activists and a Florida Lawyer, is currently in the midst of disbarment hearings by the Florida Bar. He even had the balls to try to sue the Florida Bar for investigating his frivolous lawsuits against the gaming industry, most of which he was soundly defeated. He's the same lawyer who gave attorney general Janet Reno a letter at a campaign event requesting that she check a box to indicate whether she was homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual, and then attacked her publicly for her alleged homosexuality. He is also the same lawyer who attacked 2 Live Crew for obscenity. The list goes on.

Regardless of the completely baseless claims from these raving lunatics, Senators Joe Lieberman, Sam Brownback, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Rick Santorum pushed the Children Media Research and Advancement (CAMRA) Act through committee last year, which they first introduced in May 2004.

CAMRA will enable the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which will work in coordination with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to research "the effects of viewing and using electronic media, including television, computers, video games and the Internet on children's cognitive, social, physical, and psychological development."

Sadly, those who are in favor of the bill are the most heavily anti-gaming lobbyists and senators, who are more concerned with their personal beliefs than scientific evidence. Prior to this, funding has been blocked from many organizations friendly to the gaming industry that wanted to publish studies showing that the effects are not nearly as harmful as they've been claimed to be, so our industry has little faith that the study will be as neutral as we can hope.

However, there have been several studies in Korea and Japan, where gaming is a much more prominent activity than the US. In Korea a large majority of the population, yes MAJORITY, play online games. Games such as Starcraft are even televised several channels. Their Gaming champions are treated roughly akin to professional sports players in the states, and payed about as well. Scientists there have been dealing with a much heavier dose of gaming, and thus have done extensive studies on the subject. They've found that effects can come about from long term game exposure in certain conditions. Children under the age of 12 who have had extensive exposure to violent video games have shown diminished beta brainwave patterns and a suppressed limbic system, which is the area of the brain that regulates impulse control. However, because of the rapid decrease in omega 3 fatty acids in the diets of parents and children over the last 40 years which can also do this, the exact cause is hard to pin down to a singular cause. Short term exposure in scientific study was shown to have short term effects, but no lasting effects in anyone above the age of 12. Yet, all subjects studied developed significantly improved reflexes, motor skills, problem solving skills, and reaction times. Studies of patients with traumatic brain injury also showed significant brain development that rivaled that of ROT exercises. Exposure to video games in elderly drivers has also been shown to improve motor function, peripheral vision, and reaction time, thus making them better and safer drivers.

Yet, things like this still happen. In the clip, Fox News attacks Pandemic/Bioware's new mega hit Mass Effect for containing "full digital nudity and sex'. The problem... it doesn't. Not even close. Geoff Keighley, who works for G4 TV and finds himself defending the completely insane accusations of people lobbying against the gaming industry tries to interject this. The people attacking the game flat out admit they've never even played it, and the "newscaster" admits her only knowledge of the game is from a cursory glance at the website right before the interview.

There is so much misinformation in this clip, its hard to know where to start. What happened to research in journalism?

As Geoff points out, there is no full digital nudity or sex. There's one 30 second scene in 30 hours of gameplay that shows a side shot of an alien breast. You get more nudity an average R rated movie, and at least those breasts aren't blue and scaly (yes, the breast you see in the game is blue and scaly). The fact that one of the "panel" calls this "Luke Skywalker meets Debbie Does Dallas" is astounding, and demonstrates that they have absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

The scene has to be actively sought out in the "choose your adventure" style game, by falling in love. If you decide to hack and slash your way through the game instead of playing the good guy, you'll never see it. The Misogynistic angle they try to take by saying that the game is taken completely from the perspective of a man, as Geoff points out, is also false. You can play the main character as a woman OR a man. Your choice.

Then, there's the "expert". She doesn't get two sentences in to her uninformed blathering before she spouts this gem. "If you look at the statistics, who's playing video games but adolescent males."

OK. I'll bite. Lets look at the statistics.

These are taken from the ESA, the Entertainment Software Association. This is somewhat of an overseeing body in the gaming industry, much like the MPAA or the RIAA. I would love to quote the entire article, though everyone should read it, but its too long. I'll just pull out the relevant parts.

For Computer Gamers...

* Thirty percent of most frequent game players are under eighteen years old.
* Twenty-six percent of most frequent game players are between 18 and 35 years old.
* Forty-four percent of most frequent game players are over 35 years old.

For Console Gamers...

* Forty percent of most frequent game players are under eighteen years old.
* Thirty-five percent of most frequent game players are between 18 and 35 years old.
* Twenty-five percent of most frequent game players are over 35 years old.

What about Women Gamers?

* Thirty-eight percent of game players are women.
* Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30%) than boys age 17 or younger (23%)

These numbers are probably not what you expected. In fact, they show completely contrary information to what most people believe, that adolescent males are the majority of gamers. In fact, the majority of gamers are in the 18-49 year old range with a staggering 24.2% of gamers being 50 years or older.

Sorry Miss Expert, looks like YOU should look at the statistics.

What really kills me about these people, is the way they speak about children. They speak of them like wild animals, who do whatever they want without any control from the parents. I just simply don't understand this. Video games carry an ESRB rating, similar to the MPAA rating on movies. Here's a quick guide to the rating system, though its pretty self explanatory:

How do you tell what a game is rated?
Nearly every video game published in the United States will have the ESRB rating located somewhere on the outside of the packaging. This is normally on the back in the lower left corner of the box. The rating will be one of the categories described below.

There are 7 categories in the video game rating system:

1. EARLY CHILDHOOD:
Titles rated EC - Early Childhood have content that may be suitable for ages 3 and older.
Contains no material that parents would find inappropriate.

2. EVERYONE:
Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.

Note: Roughly 54 percent of games fall into this category.

3. EVERYONE 10+:
Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language, and/or minimal suggestive themes.

4. TEEN:
Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood and/or infrequent use of strong language.

Note: Roughly 30.5 percent of games fall into this category.

5. MATURE:
Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain mature sexual themes, more intense violence and/or strong language.

Note: Roughly 11.9 percent of games fall into this category.

6. ADULTS ONLY:
Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content suitable only for adults. Titles in this category may include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Adults Only products are not intended for persons under the age of 18.

7. RATING PENDING:
Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) - have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a game's release.)

The easiest way to prevent children from seeing what you do not want them to see in video games is to look at the ESRB rating. It will tell you what, if anything, a game contains, and the appropriate age range as described above. If it has something that you don't want your kids to see, don't allow it in your house. In addition, game companies and console game system makers have gone to great lengths to add parental controls that can help you monitor and regulate game usage. Bypassing all the safeguards in place to prevent adult games from reaching children's hands is like bypassing safeguards in place to prevent children from seeing porn. I'll never understand a parent who willingly buys a game that is clearly labeled AO (ADULTS ONLY) for their adolescent child, then complains about the content. Its akin to buying your child porn and then complaining to the publisher for their content.

Another thing to note, is the grossly misrepresented number of violent and mature games. As the ESRB article above states, roughly 11.9 percent of games fall into this category. The media likes to bill the industry as a production house for violent and abhorrent content. However, they fail to mention that over half the games produced carry no objectionable material whatsoever, and another 30% on top of that are the equivalent of a PG-13 movie. However, games like "The Sims" (Which happens to be the best selling video game of all time) "Viva Pinata" and "Animal Crossing" don't seem to make the news much. Instead, you see "Grand Theft Auto". Just like many other aspects of the news media, violence and sensationalism sells. Thankfully, thats not true for the gaming industry, regardless of how its billed.

So, hopefully this has shed a bit of light on the subject. I'm more than willing to answer any questions you might have on what your perception is, and how it meets up with the reality.

[Diane]

I blame bad parenting for bad parenting.

[Bigg_Al]

I blame Fox News for bad journalism.

[leetucker]

I blame video games for video games.

[DJLarkin]

I blame video games for video games.

I've seen Lee Tucker play video games. Obviously he's a terrorist.

[Random]

Related rebuttal to another ridiculous "analysis" of what computer games have done to 20-something men.

http://news.filefront.com/editorial-bew ... child-man/

[DJLarkin]

Forgot to post this here:

Oh Jack. How predictable.

Jack Thompson on Fox news talking about how the NIU shooter "trained on murder simulators". Note, in the video, that this is before the press conference that gives any detail about what happened during the shooting, or the shooter.

Gamepolitics gave the initial report:

Although we didn’t catch the segment, Thompson e-mailed his comments to GamePolitics, attaching a screen shot from the Fox interview:

I was on the Fox News Channel this morning because of the possible violent video game connection to this latest massacre at Northern Illinois University.

In the e-mail, the embattled attorney related his violent video game crusade to his ongoing struggle with the Florida Bar:

I am certain that the past and future survivors of these incidents will not fully understand why The Florida Bar is seeking to destroy a latter-day Paul Revere… for his telling the truth about companies and lawyers that are spawning, for money, these types of events.

GP: The facts are not yet in on the NIU rampage, of course, but that has never stopped Thompson from rushing to blame video games in the past. GamePolitics readers will certainly recall Thompson blaming the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre on games even while police were still securing the campus.

Among the few details known so far is that the shooter, Stephen Kazmierczak, had a stellar academic record. Press reports describe him as a 27-year-old graduate student, so he was well past the age where any type of video game content restriction would come into play.

Yes. Thats correct. He called himself a "latter-day Paul Revere". All this before any details had come out. Then the details started coming. This guy was unstable, and he had stopped taking his medication. Now, the logical connection is that when someone is taking medication for a psychological disorder, and then stops said medication, that might be explanation for erratic behavior. Nope. We continue to blame the video games.


GP reports on the NY post's article:

College Killer Crazy for Violent Vid Game

The article, written by a pair of Post reporters, claims that NIU rampage killer, 27-year-old Stephen Kazmierczak, was “obsessed” with Counter-Strike, which the paper describes as “an ultra-violent video game.”

The Post quoted a former dorm mate of Kazmierczak’s, Ben Woloszyn:

He played a lot of video games, especially Counter-Strike, really loud.

The Post article appears to draw a linkage between the player’s actions in the game and Kazmierczak’s shooting spree:

In the game, players use imaginary money to buy shotguns, pistols and other equipment they need to move around an imaginary world in which they’re constantly under threat of being killed by roving terrorists.

In real life, Kazmierczak - who had become “erratic” recently after shunning medication for an undisclosed illness - purchased weapons like those used in Counter-Strike, including a Glock handgun and a pump-action Remington shotgun…

Down near the bottom of the article, the Post also mentions the killer’s very short-lived stints in the Army and as a corrections officer. These episodes appear to suggest an unstable nature.

GP: While the Post article seems to confirm other reports indicating that Kazmierczak had significant mental health issues, exactly why the paper chose to focus on his past video game play is not clear. Personally, I’m far more concerned about a disturbed person with a gun than I am about a disturbed person with a video game.

We should note that the New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News, which, as GamePolitics readers well know, frequently uses sensationalized reporting to smear video games.

Is there a connection?

Hey, as they say on Fox, we report. You decide.

I’d be remiss not to point out that game violence critic Jack Thompson alerted me to the Post report via several e-mails, one of which arrived under the subject line:

Screw Dennis McCauley and Hal Halpin and the ECA Donkey They Rode In On…

I kid you not.

Sure, going off your meds is waaaay less interesting than playing video games. During all this, Gaming Steve had a timely article Entitled "What Constitutes A True "Murder Simulator"?"

GP Summarizes:

Author Robert Gauss begins by describing his expertise:

I’ve been working with simulator programs for the US Army for about six years now, which I believe makes me an expert on exactly what a simulator is, what a simulation does, and what the goals of these simulators [are]…

Gauss specifically addresses the Grand Theft Auto series, but his points apply to aspects of other controversial games as well:

“Simulators” are devices used to mimic the actions and functions of a real thing, a real situation, or both… and usually involves some sort of realistic motion…

How well does GTA simulate murder? Just even a cursory look can see how GTA fails this test: Everything is presented via a 3rd person view… weapons auto-load and auto-aim… computer people mostly walk and drive around aimlessly and helplessly… computer people don’t… act in a realistic manner when attacked… bodies disappear and respawn — hardly like murder if they keep coming back to life

Our “gang games” mentioned above do not even represent murder, but rather a cartoony environment… It’s not just unfair to call Grand Theft Auto a “murder simulator,” it is laughably incorrect…

GP follows up with another article entitled "NIU Shooting: Why Are Games Even Under Discussion?"

With his Friday appearance on Fox News, Miami attorney Jack Thompson has managed to once again introduce the video game violence issue into the aftermath of a tragedy.

In the past, some observers have referred to Thompson’s media tactics as massacre chasing. Frankly, it’s hard to disagree. Beyond that, one has to ask - given that NIU shooter, Stephen Kazmierczak, was 27-years-old - why are video games an issue at all?

Even if you buy into the notion that violent video games lead to real-world violence (and there is zero scientific proof to support that), the NIU shooter was far closer to 30 than 15. Short of an outright societal banning, how would Counter-strike - or any of the far bloodier games on the market - been kept away from Kazmierczak?

The bottom line at NIU, as at Virginia Tech, is that the shooter was a heavily-armed, deranged, homicidal adult. No video game rating system, no amount of retail enforcement of same, could have kept him from playing Counter-strike. No video game law - even if it were somehow constitutional - would have blocked him from buying Counter-strike or any other M-rated game. That’s because such legislation typically seeks to prevent under-18’s from purchasing violent games.

Moreover, Thompson has said in the past that the goal of his anti-game violence crusade is to keep mature game content out of the hands of kids. Stephen Kazmierczak was no kid. So, what’s Thompson’s point?

TV face time, perhaps?

UPDATE: Thompson e-mailed this to me in response:

Do you think the NIU shooter started playing these murder simulation games last week? You do know how long ago Doom came out, right? His friends say he was into this crap for years.

A follow-up question elicited this from Thompson:

He started on them years ago. They retarded him. Are you retarded too? apparently

Oh. It gets better.

From the Chicago Daily Herald

SPRINGFIELD -- A DeKalb-area state lawmaker is urging colleagues not to rush "knee-jerk" gun control legislation in response to the horrific shootings at NIU, saying the incident is symptomatic of far greater societal problems.

"That (gun control) doesn't seem to impact the kind of gun violence that goes on," said state Rep. Robert Pritchard, a Hinkley Republican whose district includes the Northern Illinois University campus.

"I think we need to broaden the discussion to include what other factors are weighing on these kind of deranged individuals," Pritchard said. "I think video games is a part of the problem, television, movies. Just a whole culture of violence."

Guns aren't the problem you morons! Its the fault of video games!

But wait, you say. Can there be even MORE?

Yep.

Jack Thompson, Seeking Killer’s Video Game History, Threatens NIU with Lawsuit Yes, thats right. Thompson is threatening NIU with a lawsuit if they don't fork over details about the killer to him.

The Northern Illinois University campus is still reeling from Thursday’s rampage shooting by an apparently deranged 27-year-old man.

But that hasn’t stopped anti-game violence activist Jack Thompson from threatening NIU with a lawsuit. Over video games.

Thompson e-mailed GamePolitics a copy of a letter that he faxed this morning to the university’s public safety department in Dekalb:

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request production of copies of all documents that reveal Steven Kazmierczak’s play of violent video games, including but not limited to the use of his computer to play Counter-Strike, which he apparently, according to the New York Post, used to rehearse for his Valentine’s Day Massacre at NIU.

The killers in the two worst school massacres in history—in Erfurt, Germanay, and at Virginia Tech University—similarly trained on Counter-Strike to rehearse for their killing sprees.

If I am not provided with this information, I shall bring a civil action to secure these documents.

GP: Frankly, I had difficulty believing that anyone would waste the time of busy investigators and intrude into the NIU community’s period of mourning over something as trivial as the video game habits of a grown man. For that reason, I asked Thompson to verify that he had actually sent the fax to the university. His response:

Of course I sent it to them, you idiot.

The NIU investigators have already responded, professionally, and told me they will get me this information in due time. This is how you do this, which you wouldn’t know.

I can’t vouch for Thompson’s version of the NIU staff’s response.

Is Thompson the only nutjob riding the crazy train to anti-video game nirvana? Nope. Equally nutty nutjob Lyndon Larouche thinks so too. In an article (really, I can't make up stuff this good) "International Fascism: Microsoft Will Kill More Youth than Hitler"

February 17, 2008 (LPAC)--For anyone who had doubts on the strategic analysis put forward by Lyndon LaRouche and his associates in the mass distribution pamphlet, "Is the Devil In Your Laptop?", reread it and think again. According to yesterday's New York Post, another young killer, Stephen Kazmierczak, who killed five people and wounded 16 others at Northern Illinois University, was allegedly addicted to Microsoft's Counterstrike killer video-game. "He played a lot of video games, especially Counter-Strike, really loud," said one of his dorm mates.

The Post stated, "Kazmierczak - who had become "erratic" recently after shunning medication for an undisclosed illness - purchased weapons like those used in Counter-Strike, including a Glock handgun and a pump-action Remington shotgun, which he bought legally on Feb. 9. [See Virginia Tech Article] "At around 3 p.m. Thursday [Feb. 14], Kazmierczak shot up a class containing between 70 and 100 students before killing himself. "He had a blank look on his face. He was there to kill," said a witness. 'Anyone that could walk into a room and just start shooting has no emotions.'"

The intended effect, to foster an environment of mass suicide terrorism in the U.S.A., is a by-product of the 'Revolution in Military Affairs' policy [See Expose], organized by Felix Rohatyn and George P. Shultz; the same individuals, who not only helped to install the fascist Pinochet into the Chilean government, but are the prime backers of a fascist Bloomberg Presidency.

Note: Microsoft doesn't have anything to do with Counterstrike. At all. I don't know where they made the connection, outside of the fact that you CAN play it on Xbox or Windows. Then again, you can play it on Linux too, so does that make Linus Torvalds Stalin to Bill Gates' Hitler?

You really can't beat that.... can you? Please lord, say it isn't so...

MSNBC Rips Thompson Over NIU Claims, But He’s Busy Arguing with Fake Actor

Writing for MSNBC, contributor Winda Benedetti casts a critical eye toward Miami attorney Jack Thompson’s claims that the NIU rampage was sparked by a grown man’s video game play. From Benedetti’s piece:

The attorney-turned-anti-video-game crusader has what can only be described as a breathtaking genius for transforming ghastly national tragedies into shining moments of self promotion.

On Friday, police were still struggling to figure out why… But Thompson had it all figured out. Faster than you can say wild speculation and reckless sensationalism, he leapt in front of Fox News cameras and suggested that video games were to blame.

Meanwhile, Thompson obsequiously responded to a parody article, posted in style of Samuel L. Jackson, apparently believing it to be the real thing:

Mr. Jackson, I enjoyed your post about NIU and about me. Unfortunately, you could fit what you know about school shootings and their causes in a sleeve of Titleist golf balls. I’m a six handicap, and would love to play you a match anywhere anytime.

More importantly, Mr. Jackson, I saw you and the Jack Thompson spoof at the Spike TV Video Game Awards Show. Very funny, really.

Here’s a proposal: Why don’t you debate me on this issue… Saw you in Black Snake Moan this weekend. I thought you deserved an Oscar for your performance. Brilliant.

Thompson later posted a follow-up indicating that he understood the Samuel L. Jackson post was a fake, but not before he circulated his original response to GamePolitics and Kotaku.

UPDATE: Thompson claims that he has been libeled by the MSNBC article and plans to sue.

Benedetti’s piece is actually really good. She points out the thing that I've been amazed nobody is harping on like mad:

While the video game connection remains tenuous at best, what seems far more pertinent are initial reports that Kazmierczak previously had been placed in a psychiatric treatment center and had recently stopped taking antidepressant medication.

This is not the first time Thompson has put his mug in front of every camera possible immediately after a mentally disturbed gunman has opened fire on innocent people. When last we spoke with the controversial Florida attorney, he was blaming video games for the massacre of 32 students and faculty at Virginia Tech last April.

Not-so-funnily enough, while Thompson's misinfomation-laced pronouncements claim that the shooter — Seung-Hui Cho — had a passion for violent video games, a governor-ordered review of that horrific incident found no connection whatsoever with games. Instead, what the review panel found was a young man with a long history of psychiatric illness and a student who fell through the cracks of a deeply flawed mental health system. In fact, according to the the extensive 260-page report, it's unclear if Cho — who was passionate about books (gasp!) and not video games — ever played anything more aggressive than the kid-friendly "Sonic the Hedgehog."

Oh the drama.