Connecticut Town Holds Drive to Collect, Destroy Videogames

[Prey]

[citation][nom]yeesh[/nom]Ah, a story like this on a technology-oriented site. Knee-jerk condemnations of a knee-jerk reaction. Let me tell you who understands WHY any person does anything: Nobody. Nobody in the whole world. And that means that you can't actually say with certainty that video game violence had NOTHING to do with a given action, just like you can't say with certainty video violence had SOMETHING to do with a given action. No one knows. Saying you do know what the cause ISN'T is exactly as much of lie as saying you know what it IS. In fact, probably even more so, since I'd guess a positive correlation is easier to prove than a negative one. What experiment would definitively prove that any given thing has absolutely no effect on any other given thing?That is all.[/citation]
I think the reaction on this site is somewhat knee-jerk, I'll give you that. However, this same controversy came up when Doom and Mortal Kombat were in the spotlight. Also violence was blamed on music for a very long time, the kicker is, there is no causation. You can take two variables and find some way to correlate them. Example, number of iPhone 5s on the market and school shootings since then.. both correlate positively, however most can be fairly confident in saying there is no causation there.

Even if someone were to come out and say.. I played God of War and stabbed someone repeatedly because of this game. Is this stemming from a person with psychological issue, or because the game? Me, I blame that damn iPhone 5.

 

[techslave3]

Ban all mashed potatoes. Everyone that's ever committed a mass murder ate mashed potatoes at some point in their lives. Spuds cause violence. Follow the gourd.

 

[basketcase87]

[citation][nom]yeesh[/nom]In fact, probably even more so, since I'd guess a positive correlation is easier to prove than a negative one. What experiment would definitively prove that any given thing has absolutely no effect on any other given thing?That is all.[/citation]Having no effect on something isn't negative correlation, it's no correlation.

As for proving that something has no effect on any other given thing, it can't be absolutely "proven." It's very similar to a criminal trial; the defendant is never found "innocent." They are found "guilty" if there is sufficient evidence, or "not guilty" if there is not sufficient evidence.

 

[bigdragon]

I played Duke Nukem 3D when I was in elementary school. Nude women, guns, gore, and foul language are common in that game. I never killed anyone. Hell, I haven't ever gotten a speeding ticket either in over a decade of driving! What does that say about me? These people want to take away video games for everyone just because one person may have been negatively affected by them...one person out of tens of millions!

Let's treat individuals as individuals. There were months worth of warning signs before this person went crazy. Video games and guns are just a far easier target than seriously addressing the mental health problems in this country. These people are letting fear and panic rule their lives. Calm down and look at the bigger picture!

 

[unoriginal1]

How about Disciplining your kids again? I grew up getting spanked/slapped in the mouth when I talked back or did wrong. Also bring God back into families, (if you don't believe in God -- Then bring Morals back). It's not hard to teach your kids to do the "right" thing and to treat others the way you'd like to be treated and when they veer off course smack em a good one lol. Nothing irritates me more then sitting in line at Wal Mart and witnessing a child walk all over their parents. They threaten your gonna get a time out when we get home, (as the kid gets the glare in his eye of think i care?) and responds with 10x worse the behavior. If I did that in public oh man... I knew i was in for it when i got home. So... I simply didn't misbehave that way.

Meaning my rant i guess is all this blaming other stuff is dumb.

 

[stevo777]

Just another witch hunt.

 

[voiidwulf]

Rofl. What morons. It's like the Nazi book burnings, except the Nazis had a better reason.

 

[icepick314]

hmmm....

I wonder if they have list of titles to see which game is worth what....

Can I go to Walmart, load up on $5 "violent" games, movies, and music, trade in for $25 gift cards, go back to Walmart, and buy NEW "violent" games, movies, and music?

if they're stupid enough to hold the "bookburning" event, I'm sure they are stupid enough to fall for the trade-in trick...

 

[madjimms]

[citation][nom]whiteodian[/nom]I think this is stupid for them to target videogames/movies. Good parenting would keep young kids from having violent videogames/movies in the first place. There are other ways to educate kids. How about educating them on mental illness and gun safety? It sounds like a good old fashioned book burning. In the end, I don't really care as long as they recycle those games/movies in an environmentally safe. I just picture a pile of games burning and toxic fumes from the melting plastic going into the air.[/citation]
So only bad parents give "kids" videogames? I played "violent" videogames & I'm less violent than ANYONE I know.

 

[madjimms]

[citation][nom]unoriginal1[/nom]How about Disciplining your kids again? I grew up getting spanked/slapped in the mouth when I talked back or did wrong. Also bring God back into families, (if you don't believe in God -- Then bring Morals back). It's not hard to teach your kids to do the "right" thing and to treat others the way you'd like to be treated and when they veer off course smack em a good one lol. Nothing irritates me more then sitting in line at Wal Mart and witnessing a child walk all over their parents. They threaten your gonna get a time out when we get home, (as the kid gets the glare in his eye of think i care?) and responds with 10x worse the behavior. If I did that in public oh man... I knew i was in for it when i got home. So... I simply didn't misbehave that way.Meaning my rant i guess is all this blaming other stuff is dumb.[/citation]
Morals & "god" have absolutely nothing in common...

 

[casualcolors]

I'd gladly hand them my hard drive if I thought they could afford it.

 

[benage]

How about a drive to collect the excessive amount of guns in circulation...

 

[fimbulvinter]

Hope they all stand around that fire and breathe deep.

 

[hairystuff]

Burn the Internet

 

[millerm84]

7+ billion people living in the world with countless genetic, cultural, and inner family variables; it is impossible to know how any one person will respond to any one stimulant. CoD may have been all this kid needed to be triggered to become a killer; could have also been the kind of cereal he ate that morning. Truth is no one knows why. Some people are blaming "mental illness" but his form of autism isn't known to provoke violence. It's characteristics include social awkwardness, inability to use non-verbal communication, and clumsiness; hardly child killer material. We're all looking for a reason because we need a reason, and we'll never know the reason. This man killed children and adults that had done him no wrong; he used guns, he liked playing violent video games, he was diagnosed with Asperger's, and I bet he ate cereal. None of these things by themselves caused the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary it was caused by one man who was a culmination of every aspect of his life and not the result of one isolatable facet.

This group wants to bring awareness to parents then they need to host a class or seminar or some other social gathering that teaches parents the difference between game/movie ratings. Because taking your child's video game, burning it, and buying Wii monopoly isn't going to foster a meaningful conversation with your child about violence. More than likely you're going to start an argument that's going to end up with violence or at the very least you and your child no longer speaking to each other. I'm not saying that if you're worried about your child's temperament and their video game interaction that you shouldn't talk with them and remove the games from your home, but you need to have that conversation first understanding that you and only you can have any chance of knowing what is a bad influence on your child.

 

[razor512]

if you cant tell the difference between games and real life then you are crazy and need to be locked in an area away from society.

 

[HeadScratcher7]

Seems like a better use of the town's money would be to instead spend it educating families with the following goal:

If you have a family member in your household who is not emotionally/mentally stable (ie prone to enraged outbursts, severe depression, psychiatric problems, etc) then you should either NOT have weapons in your household, or they should be secured in a gun safe that the family member in question cannot access.

Also, families with a member of suspect stability should seek outside evaluation as the family may have been internally dealing with "issues" for so long that they no longer have an unbiased view.

With the USA having 315 million citizens, I'd imagine that a single individual has better chances of winning the Power Ball lottery than being caught in a mass shooting. So other than the Federal Government creating a national psychiatric database to stop the sale of weapons and ammo to some people, I'd suggest they otherwise do nothing. Far more people are struck by lightning and we certainly don't need the Federal Gov. legislating laws about people commuting in stormy weather as a "preventative" measure to prevent lightning strikes.

 

[unoriginal1]

[citation][nom]Madjimms[/nom]Morals & "god" have absolutely nothing in common...[/citation]
That's a complete matter of opinion. God and the Bible in my opinion is about as morally correct as you get.

Hence why I put in my original statement if your not a believer then use Morals.

 

[zakaron]

I'm sure Genghis Kahn played violent video games on his 360 prior to wiping out a majority of the Iranian population. Cortes probably brought his PS3 along and played violent games the whole boat ride over just before meeting the Aztecs. I could see Hitler raging out on Wolfenstien 3D only to take it out on the Jews. So yeah, must be violent games.

 

[dimar]

[citation][nom]unoriginal1[/nom]That's a complete matter of opinion. God and the Bible in my opinion is about as morally correct as you get. Hence why I put in my original statement if your not a believer then use Morals.[/citation]

Except your bible and god come with pedophile priests. And there's nothing morally correct about it.