My Kids Video Games are Not Making Him a Killer
The unfair spotlight being cast upon young American boys who play video games, and the unfounded claim of them turning into high-powered assault weapon killers because of these games, is ridiculous.
We must be cautious and mindful to not allow our temptation to place blame on the easiest idea presented to take over as we struggle to understand the painful loss due to gun violence in our schools.
Children who grow up around actual, not digital, violence, hatred and fear, are more likely to head down the road of acting out violently in the name of ideological heroism most-likely learned in their home, than a young person who simply enjoys the challenging thrill and camaraderie of video gaming.
How can the content of a game, song, movie, Youtube clip, or other, reshape the heart and soul of a good person? Can hatred possibly be derived from ingested external content? Can violent-themed entertainment teach an impressionable mind to righteously conceive of themselves being greater than others whom they believe they have a right to kill?
I don’t think so…
The excuses for why people kill other people with automatic weapons should not be lightly thrown around. Video games, and the often-misdiagnosed or misunderstood mentally ill, are not largely, if at all, contributing to the problem of our country’s rise in mass shootings. The rage-filled American pulling the trigger of the automatic rifle is the problem.
And, the grand majority of people who commit acts of domestic terror against their fellow classmate or citizen are typically not even diagnosed as being mentally ill, though the images and stories behind them are crazy! (A term largely misused and overused)
Rage is not mental illness. Hate is not mental illness. Supremacism is not mental illness.
My 15-year-old kid and his friends who play video games, some more than others, are all loving, kind, gentle and open-minded individuals, who know the difference between a game on a screen controlled with a mouse, keyboard or plastic controlling device, and pulling the trigger of a killing machine aimed at other living beings.
The idea of the influence of a game or a toy being so overwhelming to a young person, to the point of them losing control and slipping away from reality, is ridiculous.
I remember the studies done on the the effects of Barbie Dolls when I had already outgrown mine and had already escaped the so-called negative influences being blamed on playing with the fantastical toy. My three sisters and I had at least four dolls each; Barbie, Ken, Stacy, Francie, Malibu PJ, Casey, Skipper, Tutie, both blonde and brunette. We had the whole gang, and their super cool cars, RVs, houses, beauty salon, the works! And, we came out unscathed and not poisoned by our beloved dolls and their make-believe images or lifestyles.
The studies at the time showed young women, who had been influenced by Barbie and the gang, had developed eating disorders and body dysmorphia. According to these reports, some girls who played with the dolls, tried to change their appearance with surgery to look like the highly exaggerated, biologically impossible, fantastical Mattel creation. What a shame this would be if at all true. And, where were their parents when these impressionable children supposedly became so disillusioned by the make-believe toy?
My sisters and I never fell helplessly into the abyss of thinking we should strive to have 36D size breasts cantilevering over an 18 inch waist, or feet permanently formed in a high-heel shape with two of our slender fingers stuck together, or enormous eyes, wide open at all times, while our pink lips remain in the formation of a pleasant smile.These were plastic dolls with great clothes and accessories. That’s all. (I’ll admit the clothes and accessories having an impact on me, but nothing else…)
Other more in-depth and reasonable studies showed the greatest influence on a child to be that of what is taught in the home by their role models. School, church, community, and now the internet, have an impact on young minds as well, (and, apparently old minds too) but, not to the overwhelming extent of erasing the more defining teachings of the parents/responsible adults in the home shaping us in early childhood.
Fear based rhetoric, outright lies of imminent danger from unthreatening members of our society, or permission (subliminal or otherwise) to use violence against another person for any righteous or ‘holy’ reason, is the more-likely poison seeping into the brains of impressionable young minds.
Video games are just video games. Some are uglier than others, and not always the greatest way to be spending your time…. However, these games are not creating killers or auto thieves. Something else is doing that.
