Francis Rages: STOP BLAMING VIDEO GAMES

[xBASSxMONSTAx]

[CloudStrife7x]

yup i completely agree people really need to putting blame on video games

[UrK]

yup i completely agree people really need to putting blame on video games

Exactly right!

[thegutta]

yup i completely agree people really need to putting blame on video games

You got the right bro couldn't agreed more :D

[Emerald Lance]

I hate to be the devil's advocate on this one, especially since I feel the same way all the rest of you guys feel on the topic, but in all intellectual honesty, yeah, GTA is probably the reason the kid shot his grandmother, if not a major contributing factor. Hear me out.

What we have here is a shining example of "the other side", or rather, the opposite far extreme that, in and of itself, is also not correct. Francis mentioned the misinformation given by the media that video games cause violence, which is (in and of itself) not inherently true. But he answers this with blind indignation by quickly jumping to the opposite extreme of the argument: that "video games can do no wrong" and "no violence is ever invoked by games" blah blah, which (also in and of itself) is not true as well.

Francis also said this: the boy was far too young to comprehend the consequences of his actions (I'll get to why Francis's argument doesn't work for this instance in a bit). The truth is, having played GTA for any given length of time, the boy had likely formed the idea in his mind that death is either impermanent or dismissive (or possibly both). He might not have meant to pull the trigger in the first place, or he might have. Who knows? What I can tell you is this: the ESRB rating is in place for a reason (I'm coming at this from an American point of view, feel free to inject PEGI or CERO where you will).

Do you know why I say GTA was at best a contributing factor and at worst a possible cause of this boy killing his grandmother? Let me answer that question with another question. Why in the hell did an eight year old boy have ready access to a game like Grand Theft Auto? In other words, the fact that GTA might have been at the root of this tragedy is plausibly true because (and this is where Francis's argument falls apart) the boy was far too young to be playing the game in the first place! Games that are rated "M" should not be given to eight year old boys to play, period. It's precisely because the mind of a child is so malleable that they should not have access to games that treat death as a non-thought; such games are made under the assumption that the ADULT audience they are intended for will understand the differences between what's okay in make-believe and what's okay in real life. This is why no store will sell a game rated "M" to anybody under 17 (it isn't just video games, "R" rated movies are handled the same way). That eight year old boy should not have been playing a game meant for adults, and his grandmother (or whoever else that might have bought it for him) should not have given it to him. Period.

Now, as for who's fault all this is? Is it GTA's for being a violent game? Is it the boy's for playing the game? Is it his grandmother's for giving it to him to begin with? Who's to say? What I can say is that (in this case at least) GTA probably served as close to a motive as a child could have for killing their guardian.

The discussion about real-world violence in regards to video games can't be approached with "yes it does, no it doesn't" tactics. It isn't just black and white like that, there's a whole spectrum of grey there too. Do video games cause violence in and of themselves? Not if they're handled correctly, no. They're just like any other form of art. That being said, this is a case of them NOT being handled correctly; little children should not be given adult-oriented games, for (while it certainly isn't true for every person who played a violent game as a child, lord knows I've had my share and I turned out fine) the possibility of inspiration to violence in some form or fashion is always there.

Simply getting defensive is not enough; just because we try to yell our point louder doesn't make it more right. We have to approach these issues with intellectual honesty if we're going to get anywhere with them.

[Serious_M]

not francis again lol

[drizzy]

dont blame video games , blame poor parenting skills, who buys there child a violent video game or a freaking expensive gaming console, when i was younger i had to work summer jobs just to buy a ps1 and i didnt kill anyone when i played mortal kombat and gta.talk to your kids, LOVE&care for your kids and you should be good

[Kindness]

I love Francis he is always so right haha.