Child Kills Grandmother After Playing Grand Theft Auto
http://www.businessinsider.com/boy-shoots-grandmother-louisiana-2013-8?op=1
Very sad.
Games with extremely realistic, sadistic depictions of violence aren't suitable for children. Heck, I am uncomfortable with this stuff. Don't enjoy it one bit. Whether the games allow players to take part in ultra realistic thrill shootings, stabbings or other torture, etc. I think we need to recognize that this material CAN be bad for young players.
What do you all think?
Very sad.
Games with extremely realistic, sadistic depictions of violence aren't suitable for children. Heck, I am uncomfortable with this stuff. Don't enjoy it one bit. Whether the games allow players to take part in ultra realistic thrill shootings, stabbings or other torture, etc. I think we need to recognize that this material CAN be bad for young players.
What do you all think?
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Comments
Yes, those things aren't good either, but it's the games fault either way.
I'd thought its pretty easy for parents to stop an 8 year old playing a game that's not age rated for them if they wanted to.
But, what the heck, guns are obviously rated E. Noooooo problem there.
I'm not reading this article as if it's just from another country. This is a different world entirely. Guns don't kill people. Video games kill people.
No child should have access to a loaded gun full stop and them blaming it on a Videogame instead of lack of proper supervision is insulting...
People who are so irresponsible with guns should never have guns in the first place.
It's times like these when I wish ESRB ratings would actually account for something and be used.
Then buy a Xbox One with Kinect now. It will scan you and block access to violent videogames if you are too young, your blood pressure is to high or if you have thoughts about killing your family.
Xbox One. Now reading your thoughts.
It was named after the patron saint Sgt Slaughter.
- The kid had access to a gun. Seriously, America? Is this a thing you're OK with, allowing kids to have access to weapons? C'mon, you're smarter than this.
- The 8-year old kid was playing GTAIV, an M rated game. Need I say more?
- "'Grand Theft Auto IV,' a realistic game that [...]awards points to players for killing people". WRONG. Grand Theft Auto hasn't had a points system since it made the leap to 3D - it's had money instead. Get your facts straight, dammit.
NO WE'RE NOT. NO WE FUCKlNG AREN'T. Go sit in the corner. You have no clue how stupid and evil we've gotten.
*Goes and sits in the corner, wearing a Dunce's hat*
God dammit, now I feel like playing Worms Armageddon again.
That's what you get from too much MGS.
Available on Steam including fixes to make it run on modern hardware.
Now I'm afraid to play Snake Eater 3D. Thanks Coolsome.
I fucking KNEW it. How can stay calm with all this evidence. Burn all the copies of this game. Burn them all! especially the digital copies!
Already had it, got it for free for pre-ordering Worms Revolution.
I realize I am also under 17 but the only reason I got to play The Last of Us and Walking Dead is because my parents thought I was responsible enough for them, but seriously? An 8 year old plays Grand Theft Auto? That's crazy.
The worst thing about this is, now people are going to use this article against videogames.
I don't know what you definition of fine is.... but it is wrong.
Hey they banned every Flight Simulator game with the WTC in it here after 9/11.
Or at least they removed them from stores.
There's a reason ratings exist, but unfortunately parents choose to ignore them. It is sad that it happened, but this is definitely a case of bad parenting for letting him play a game that's meant for people more than twice his age and for keeping a gun loaded when not in use.
I just wish the media wasn't so quick to jump on the blame game for sensational headlines. What they should be doing is spreading the word about the ESRB and what the ratings mean, and why it's important for parents to use them as guidelines. Not pointing at the game's mere existence as the reason that this shooting happened.
...we DO realize that a human being who happens to be under 17 years of age playing a game rated "M" by the ESRB does not, in fact, magically transform them into a pscyhopath, right?
Because it doesn't.
Kids can watch R-rated films, kids can play M-rated games, kids can listen to Explicit albums, and they can come out completely sane and normal, not being warped by some magical force that breaks the minds of those under some arbitrary age gate.
Bullets don't kill people, internal bleeding and heart failure does.
We should sue the church.
The brain is still developing up until you are 25 (and especially up to 17, which is why these kind of age ratings are in place), so some kids just don't have the thought process required to separate violent entertainment from reality.
These kind of ratings should be used as a guideline for kids who get mad easily, those with behavioral problems, or those who have a hard time differentiating reality from fantasy.
Parents need to know their kids so they can know if their kids are at risk for behavior like this. And if they are at risk for behavior like this, they shouldn't have access to violent entertainment.
Ozzie Mandrill kills people.