Video games are not the problem

In the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy and the outbreak of gun control debates, it seems as though we have taken to pointing fingers. Instead of heavy metal or Dungeons & Dragons; the focus is on video games.  Video games are often the reliable scapegoat for inept politicians, stuffy fundamentalists, and irresponsible parents. With shootings on the rise, people  opt to burn the witch instead of working together to solve the issue.

So just who has the answers that will end this senseless violence? Wayne LaPierre, vice president of the NRA, called the video game industry a “callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow that sells, and sows, violence against its own people.” But a few days after LaPierre’s statements, the NRA released an iPad game titled “NRA: Practice Range”.   The definition of irony: an association dedicated to guns blames a recent spike in gun violence on video games, then releases a video game about guns.

In Southington, Conn., a group called Southington SOS announced a violent video game “buy-back” in a press release on Jan. 4, and planned to purchase violent games from Southington families for $25, then snap the disks in half, throw them in a dumpster, and set them on fire.

SOS said that “there is ample evidence that violent video games, along with violent media of all kinds…has contributed to increasing aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and is desensitizing our children to acts of violence,” but they provided no information or studies to support their claim, nor did they mention any plans to accept violent music or movies.

After just five days, SOS canceled the event due to the “unnecessary amount of logistical details,” but declared success in their initial goal of raising awareness about violence in entertainment.

Despite being exposed to the same violent video games as the United States, Canada seems to have  less gun violence, and juvenile homicide arrests have steadily decreased.  Violent media does not make violent people.

Perhaps we could find real answers to these questions; what about the responsibility of a parent to teach their child the differences between right and wrong; between fact and fiction? What about the responsibility of a hospital to treat a patient with a mental illness that has the potential to degenerate into something dangerous? What about the responsibility of a government not to give in to the sudden and irrational fears of the majority?

Call me idealistic if you want, but the problem here is not one of more or less guns, nor is it once of more or less video games. The problem is one of accountability, not blame, but no parent wants to admit that the X-Box did a better job of raising their child did than they did.