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| Enough Is enough |
| Tuesday, March 15, 2005 |
I am no authority on child behavior or claim to be I can only speak for my own child. But when Lawyers, Judges, Christian organizations and parent groups jump on a bandwagon it truly becomes a witch hunt for something that is not there.
I frequent a site called planetgrandtheftauto for the latest news on one of my favorite games GTA. When I saw this I almost fell out of my chair. This was one of the highlights of what I read
Last Sunday I appeared on CBSs 60 Minutes to explain a wrongful death lawsuit we have filed in Alabama on behalf of the families of three law enforcement officials slain by a teen who trained on Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City to kill. As you know, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is even more violent. Already there have been killing incidents linked to this latest GTA game. However, despite this public safety hazard posed by the GTA games, it is reported that your Microsoft Corporation is set to release GTA: San Andreas for play on Microsofts XBox on June 7, 2005. I intend to make sure that does not happen. The rest of the letter is here
You have got to be kidding me.... Blaming a game for training someone is just plain ridiculous. How about blaming cartoons for rotting the brains of children everywhere or blaming McDonald's for making people fat or blaming country music for high suicide rates why not. Training to use a weapon takes practice and a certain discipline you can't do this with a video game. In a game there are consequences that affect no one but the score in the game,in real life there are sever consequences self serving self righteous hypocrites are what's wrong with America today. Granted we all have the freedom of speech I am not debating that what I am debating is if these people should be taken seriously because I do not believe that they have nothing better to do than to pester video game companies or a Company like Microsoft for murder.
But these witch hunts are nothing new. For those of you old enough to remember those warning label's weren't always on the front of your CD's that was from another witch hunt concerning music and how it could influence people to kill. But as for video games they are clearly rated so that parents know what a child is playing. There are plenty of violent video games out there that is a fact but there are also plenty of violent movies books, music and other forms of entertainment. Most people have their days when the feel aggressive no doubt about it, that guy on the interstate cuts you off or your in a line at a store and someone butts in front of you but its what you do with that emotion that will dictate the outcome. Not an influence from a video game. I have been playing all sorts of video games since the early 80's with simple games like tempest space invaders and many other. Were tempest or Space Invaders billed as a killing simulator? No not at all, the objectives are similar shoot the enemy progress to the next level. Granted GTA games are violent no questions asked but it is a form of entertainment that is already monitored by the companies who publish them. Parents should also be able to monitor what games their children play but people are lazy and the TV has taken over as the parent in many household's long as a parent can put a kid in front of a TV that is connected to a video game and out of their hair everything is peachy. But the second the child has an issue like a fight in school its suddenly the video games fault. Where were the parents?
Now just as a point to counter point I am going to post a full article and put my thoughts into it. My points will be in bold type.
Can A Video Game Lead To Murder?
A 60 Minutes Special Report
Mar 6, 2005 6:02 pm US/Central
NEW YORK (CBS) Imagine if the entertainment industry created a video game in which you could decapitate police officers, kill them with a sniper rifle, massacre them with a chainsaw, and set them on fire.
Think anyone would buy such a violent game?
They would, and they have. The game Grand Theft Auto has sold more than 35 million copies, with worldwide sales approaching $2 billion.
Two weeks ago, a multi-million dollar lawsuit was filed in Alabama against the makers and marketers of Grand Theft Auto, claiming that months of playing the game led a teenager to go on a rampage and kill three men, two of them police officers.
Can a video game train someone to kill? Correspondent Ed Bradley reports.
Grand Theft Auto is a world governed by the laws of depravity. See a car you like? Steal it. Someone you don't like? Stomp her. A cop in your way? Blow him away.
But that doesn't mean that you have to. You can avoid the cops and if you really want to be a nice guy you can keep the car that you start with for as long as possible.
There are police at every turn, and endless opportunities to take them down. It is 360 degrees of murder and mayhem: slickly produced, technologically brilliant, and exceedingly violent.
Police that you can avoid if your smart by entering a place called paint and spray or by collecting a police bribe not that police can be bribed heavens no.
And now, the game is at the center of a civil lawsuit involving the murders of three men in the small town of Fayette, Ala. They were gunned down by 18-year-old Devin Moore, who had played Grand Theft Auto day and night for months.
Did anyone check into the kids background for previous trouble? Was he from a broken home with family problems? Break up with a girlfriend hence playing GTA for so many hours on end. Did he have a history of run ins with the law previously or was he mentally unstable already and just needed a catalyst to set things in motion?
Attorney Jack Thompson, a long-time crusader against video-game violence, is bringing the suit. "What we're saying is that Devin Moore was, in effect, trained to do what he did. He was given a murder simulator," says Thompson. Islamic terrorist are trained to kill, US military personal are trained to kill, and on the topic of killing isn't the legal age to join the military 18?? And what are they trained to do ? KILL could a video game teach a person to kill it is possible I assume but should the person react on the impulse is where you draw the line between people who are normal and people who already have problems. And this Jack Thompson instead of crusading against violent video games why doesn't he do something that means more like crusade against toxic pollution crusade against drugs or abused women no it has to be something sensational. He should be forced to pay all the fees and fines and then have fines placed against him for launching a frivolous law suit.
"He bought it as a minor. He played it hundreds of hours, which is primarily a cop-killing game. It's our theory, which we think we can prove to a jury in Alabama, that, but for the video-game training that he engaged in for hundreds of hours on a carjacking and police killing game, he would not have done what he did."
If he bought it as a minor then his parents are at fault for not monitoring what he was playing, as for the game being a cop killing game that is just non sense. The objective is not to kill cops as a matter of fact the whole game can be completed without once intentionally killing a cop. Granted he could have been influenced but he chose to act on those impulses no one forced him to do these things.
Moores victims were Ace Mealer, a 911 dispatcher; James Crump, a police officer; and Arnold Strickland, another officer who was on patrol in the early morning hours of June 7, 2003, when he brought in Devin Moore on suspicion of stealing a car.
If Devin Moore was brought in on suspicion of stealing a car then what is the motivation of other car thieves through the years? It wasn't GTA a person steals a car for various reasons, money, joy riding ect. Once again this is an impulse that he acted on like various other criminals. If he would have just stolen the car and gotten caught and placed in jail GTA would not have been blamed no but since this Modern Crusader Jack Thompson wants to sensationalize something he has to take things further.
Moore had no criminal history, and was cooperative as Strickland booked him inside the Fayette police station. Then suddenly, inexplicably, Moore snapped.
Ok no criminal background fine but most people who are in a stressful situation will eventually snap its a fight or flight response he responded in a horrible way and 3 people lost their lives nothing can change that.
According to Moore's own statement, he lunged at Officer Arnold Strickland, grabbing his .40-caliber Glock automatic and shot Strickland twice, once in the head. Officer James Crump heard the shots and came running. Moore met him in the hallway, and fired three shots into Crump, one of them in the head.
Moore kept walking down the hallway towards the door of the emergency dispatcher. There, he turned and fired five shots into Ace Mealer. Again, one of those shots was in the head. Along the way, Moore had grabbed a set of car keys. He went out the door to the parking lot, jumped into a police cruiser, and took off. It all took less than a minute, and three men were dead.
To aim a gun and get those kind of shots someone would have to practice with an actual gun. There is no way you can learn that with a controller in a video game so Mr.Moore must have had some previous experience with guns and in Alabama that's not any surprise.
"The video game industry gave him a cranial menu that popped up in the blink of an eye, in that police station," says Thompson. "And that menu offered him the split-second decision to kill the officers, shoot them in the head, flee in a police car, just as the game itself trained them to do."
No the video game did not give him a cranial menu he made a decision that he did not want to be held captive and was going to get himself out of this situation one way or another. It happens in movies all the time the bad guy wants out and is going to do so one way or another. In the GTA games you are never held in a police station or have to shoot your way out of a police station. You can get busted but after that you appear in front of the police station not inside and you are weaponless. So this was a split second decision a fight or flight response and he made the choice.
After his capture, Moore is reported to have told police, "Life is like a video game. Everybodys got to die sometime." Moore is awaiting trial in criminal court. A suit filed by the families of two of his victims claims that Moore acted out a scenario found in Grand Theft Auto: The player is a street thug trying to take over the city. In one scenario, the player can enter a police precinct, steal a uniform, free a convict from jail, escape by shooting police, and flee in a squad car.
Mr.Moore seems to have issues separating fantasy from reality for one, granted the scene in the video game is one that does happen but what about movies where the bad guys are shooting their way out of the bank or the restaurant? Its just one medium versus another. He made a decision a bad one but a game is not responsible.
"I've now got the entire police force after me. So you have to eliminate all resistance," says Nicholas hammer, a law student at the University of Alabama, who demonstrated Grand Theft Auto for 60 Minutes. Like millions of gamers, the overwhelming majority, he says he plays it simply for fun.
That is one possible outcome eliminate all resistance you can also as previously stated pick up bribes or go to a paint and spray to lose your wanted level. It is an open ended game where the decision is the players.
David Walsh, a child psychologist whos co-authored a study connecting violent video games to physical aggression, says the link can be explained in part by pioneering brain research recently done at the National Institutes of Health -- which show that the teenage brain is not fully developed.
Well if the teenage brain is not fully developed don't you think its about time to stop letting 18 year old join the military? Becasuse they are trained to survive trained to fight and trained to kill. Also if that's the point then parents should be liable for teens ages 18 to 20 and responsible for what they view what they listen to and what games they play. It's time to start putting the blame where it squarely belongs. The person who committed the crime not a video game that portrays violence.
Does repeated exposure to violent video games have more of an impact on a teenager than it does on an adult?
"It does. And that's largely because the teenage brain is different from the adult brain. The impulse control center of the brain, the part of the brain that enables us to think ahead, consider consequences, manage urges -- that's the part of the brain right behind our forehead called the prefrontal cortex," says Walsh. "That's under construction during the teenage years. In fact, the wiring of that is not completed until the early 20s."
That seems strange I knew right from wrong when I was 18 I know that if were to hurt or kill someone there would be consequences I was raised to respect others and yet I have played violent video games and watched violent movies and never reacted on an impulse. Sounds like propaganda to me.
Walsh says this diminished impulse control becomes heightened in a person who has additional risk factors for criminal behavior. Moore had a profoundly troubled upbringing, bouncing back and forth between a broken home and a handful of foster families.
Bingo there you go Troubled upbringing, I knew it. So the fact that he had problems beforehand has nothing to do with anything. Most people who are not mentally strong enough to deal with their problems or find someone to talk to normally are the ones who end up being killers rapists and thieves so if he would have turned out to be an arsonist who would he have blamed? The human torch from the fantastic 4??? Mr.Thompson The master of the witch hunt should be looking into another line of work.
"And so when a young man with a developing brain, already angry, spends hours and hours and hours rehearsing violent acts, and then, and he's put in this situation of emotional stress, there's a likelihood that he will literally go to that familiar pattern that's been wired repeatedly, perhaps thousands and thousands of times," says Walsh. Perhaps, but where was the structure for this kid before? Where were the values that should have been taught to him? If he would have been reading the communist manifesto or Mein Kampf the whole time or watching violent movies would those be the culprits?
"You've got probably millions of kids out there playing violent games like Grand Theft Auto and other violent games, who never hurt a fly," says Bradley. "So what does that do to your theory?"
WHERE IS THE PARENTING? Where are the values if a child is going through emotional problems why are they not being addressed? Why are video games like these being given to children? The games are not the problem the parenting is.
"You know, not every kid that plays a violent video game is gonna turn to violence. And that's because they don't have all of those other risk factors going on," says Walsh. "It's a combination of risk factors, which come together in a tragic outcome."
Very true and there are warning signs as well that parents should look out for. If a child doesn't want to talk or secludes him or herself its time to take more time with that child and not let them bottle things up to where an explosive result is the feared outcome.
Arnold Strickland had been a police officer for 25 years when he was murdered. His brother Steve, a Methodist minister, wants the video game industry to pay.
Oh sure blame the video game industry. If his brother was shot by a drugged up junkie would he want the drug dealers to pay? If his brother was killed by a drunk driver would he want the bars and the manufactuers of alcohol to pay? If his brother was killed by a hit by a car would he want the auto industry to pay? Yes it is a sad fact that a police officer was killed it is tragic but to blame in industry for something like this is absurd.
"Why does it have to come to a point to where somebody's life has to be taken before they realize that these games have repercussions to them? Why does it have to be to where my brother's not here anymore," says Steve Strickland. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him."
Why are you blaming the games Mr.Strickland? Why not the greater problem the fact that this was a troubled kid who acted on an impulse and when threatened he reacted. All that pent up emotion for this kid must have been a terrible burden for him to contain any longer and when the breaking point was reached a horrible act took place. But what if it would have happened later? What if it would have happened when he was in his 20's or 30's it is so easy to point the finger when you want to blame someone or something for misfortune you want to blame everyone except the true problem not just the scapegoat.
Strickland, along with Mealer's parents, are suing Moore, as well as Wal-Mart and GameStop, which sold Moore two versions of Grand Theft Auto. Both companies sent us letters insisting they bear no responsibility for Moores actions, and that the game is played by millions of law-abiding citizens.
Retail outlets can't be held responsible neither can the makers of the games. That is just frivolous. Why not sue the truck driver who delivered them to the outlets or the plant that manufactures the game? Let me not give you any other ideas. I can understand your grief and your pain but your pointing your fingers at the wrong people. And your listening to a lawyer who is no better than an inquisitor from the great inquisition. Realize you can't hold an industry responsible for a persons actions that person is responsible and no one else.
Take-Two Interactive, the creator of Grand Theft Auto, and Sony, which makes the device that runs the game, are also being sued. Both declined to talk to 60 Minutes on camera. Instead, they referred it to Doug Lowenstein, who represents the video game industry.
Lowenstein is not named in the lawsuit, and says he cant comment on it directly. "It's not my job to defend individual titles," says Lowenstein. "My job is to defend the right of people in this industry to create the products that they want to create. That's free expression."
"A police officer we spoke to said, 'Our job is dangerous enough as it is without having our kids growing up playing those games and having the preconceived notions of "let's kill an officer." It's almost like putting a target on us.' Can you see his point?" asks Bradley.
Your armed and trained. It is your job to put your life on the line every day you knew the risks involved a video game is not going to kill you a person with mental or emotional problem might.Don't be another one to jump on the bandwagon.
"Look, I have great respect for the law enforcement officers of this country. I don't think video games inspire people to commit crimes," says Lowenstein. "If people have a criminal mind, it's not because they're getting their ideas from the video games. There's something much more deeply wrong with the individual. And it's not the game that's the problem."
AMEN TO THAT
But shouldn't Moore, alone, face the consequences of his decision to kill three men?
"There's plenty of blame to go around. The fact is we think Devin Moore is responsible for what he did. But we think that the adults who created these games and in effect programmed Devon Moore and assisted him to kill are responsible at least civilly.
Not in the least these game are clearly labeled as to the content, the publisher and the creator were responsible enough to rate their games just like movies. Most of these games like GTA are geared towards adults to begin with. I would never let my 13 year old nephew play the game or any other child. If you feel that Mr.Moore was programmed it was due to his harsh upbringing he probably already had the motive.
Thompson says video game companies had reason to foresee that some of their products would trigger violence, and bolsters his case with claims that the murders in Fayette were not the first thought to be inspired by Grand Theft Auto.
Inspiration is one thing acting is another.
In Oakland, Calif., detectives said the game provoked a street gang accused of robbing and killing six people. In Newport, Tenn., two teenagers told police the game was an influence when they shot at passing cars with a .22 caliber rifle, killing one person. But to date, not a single court case has acknowledged a link between virtual violence and the real thing.
Because there is no link. You can see a man kill another man in a movie but it doesn't mean your going to do it unless you really want to do it and chances are that if your considering something like that any catalyst will do it doesn't have to be a game or movie or music it could be a stern look from a stranger on the streets that does it.
Paul Smith is a First Amendment lawyer who has represented video game companies. "What you have in almost every generation is the new medium that comes along. And it's subject of almost a hysterical attack," says Smith. "If you went back to the 1950s, it's hard to believe now, but comic books were blamed for juvenile delinquency. And I think what you really have here is very much the same phenomenon playing itself out again with a new medium."
Tell it all brother tell it all testify
Why does he think the courts have ruled against these kinds of lawsuits?
"If you start saying that we're going to sue people because one individual out there read their book or played their game and decided to become a criminal, there is no stopping point," says Smith. "It's a huge new swath of censorship that will be imposed on the media."
Can you say communism? There would go the constitution right out the window
Despite its violence, or because of it, the fact is that millions of people like playing Grand Theft Auto. Steve Strickland cant understand why.
Like any other form of entertainment its a form of escape for a little while nothing more nothing less. Its like going to the movies or reading a book and letting your mind escape the pressures and realities of everyday life.
"The question I have to ask the manufacturers of them is, 'Why do you make games that target people that are to protect us, police officers, people that we look up to -- people that I respect -- with high admiration,'" says Strickland.
Police officers aren't saints they do an under paid under appreciated job true but they also have a tarnished image within most communities. And as the saying goes art offend imitates life. Sad but true. And you might admire a police officer now until he pulls you over for speeding 1 mile over the limit or because you didn't use a turn signal or he just doesn't like the way you look or has to fill his quota so don't over praise them just respect what they do and realize that they do their best to uphold the local law. I admit that it is tragic that 3 police officers had to die so senselessly but please but the blame squarely where it belongs.
"why do you want to market a game that gives people the thoughts, even the thoughts of thinking it's OK to shoot police officers? Why do you wanna do that?'"
As a society we know it's not ok this is a game is it ok to shoot a police officer in a movie or in a book ? It's the same thing your just looking for a scapegoat. No one should lose their life senselessly like that but its a fact of life that we have to accept in a free society.
Both Wal-Mart and GameStop, where Devin Moore purchased Grand Theft Auto, say they voluntarily card teenagers in an effort to keep violent games from underage kids. But several states are considering laws that would ban the sale of violent games to those under 17 |
posted by Wired Wizard @ 12:07 PM   |
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