I really have enjoyed all the people alluding that I:
A: do not blame the kid at all
B: am defending consoles/violent games
First A, of course it was the kids own choice and doing. I was simply saying that had he had a healthier relationship with his parents growing up (90 minutes yelling at each other being NOT healthy in my book and this was almost certainly not an isolated incident - I am sure a civil tone could have been achieved while conveying the same information). The kid was fully aware of what he was doing and I think had an understanding of right and wrong. Things like self control and discipline however, those are taught by your surroundings (primarily parents for a child). People tend to not appreciate the effect that parenting can have on a kids psychological state. A parent can really f*ck a kids head up if they treat them a certain way their whole life. And for the poster who mentioned it, I have never blamed anything in my own life on my parents as I have always had the ability to take responsibility for my actions - something that Kendall here is going to learn a very hard and sad lesson about for the next few decades.
And now for B, I do no even own a console, never have, not even a GameBoy. Video games are a means of entertainment. That is all they have been designed and marketed as. That is their only intended use. If somehow the boy learned his sense of morals and right and wrong from video games (which is NOT what I am saying happened here) then that goes back to my original statement: Better parenting could have avoided this. Note the use of the word "could". I am not going to pretend to know everything about this kid and the background that led up to this. An effective parent would not be teaching their kid less about morals and right and wrong than a video game.
So to recap since many seem to have misunderstood my intention initially, of course this is very tragic and multiple lives are now ruined by it. I do not blame video games but rather the individuals involved (meaning BOTH the boy and his mother). The best I can do is make sure that when I have children that they are as well balanced and capable of making good decisions on their own as possible.
A: do not blame the kid at all
B: am defending consoles/violent games
First A, of course it was the kids own choice and doing. I was simply saying that had he had a healthier relationship with his parents growing up (90 minutes yelling at each other being NOT healthy in my book and this was almost certainly not an isolated incident - I am sure a civil tone could have been achieved while conveying the same information). The kid was fully aware of what he was doing and I think had an understanding of right and wrong. Things like self control and discipline however, those are taught by your surroundings (primarily parents for a child). People tend to not appreciate the effect that parenting can have on a kids psychological state. A parent can really f*ck a kids head up if they treat them a certain way their whole life. And for the poster who mentioned it, I have never blamed anything in my own life on my parents as I have always had the ability to take responsibility for my actions - something that Kendall here is going to learn a very hard and sad lesson about for the next few decades.
And now for B, I do no even own a console, never have, not even a GameBoy. Video games are a means of entertainment. That is all they have been designed and marketed as. That is their only intended use. If somehow the boy learned his sense of morals and right and wrong from video games (which is NOT what I am saying happened here) then that goes back to my original statement: Better parenting could have avoided this. Note the use of the word "could". I am not going to pretend to know everything about this kid and the background that led up to this. An effective parent would not be teaching their kid less about morals and right and wrong than a video game.
So to recap since many seem to have misunderstood my intention initially, of course this is very tragic and multiple lives are now ruined by it. I do not blame video games but rather the individuals involved (meaning BOTH the boy and his mother). The best I can do is make sure that when I have children that they are as well balanced and capable of making good decisions on their own as possible.
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