Republicans in the United States seem so desperate to pin the blame of societal violence on video games, with one crazy Republican commentator Glenn Beck constantly saying it's not the gun's fault it's the violent video games. I think what this all boils down to is getting votes and support from some of the gun crazy, second amendment waving lunatics we often see on our television when we get news of "anti-gun legislation. Video games while they can be blamed for exposing people to simulated violence, are not responsible for people doing violent things. Would we blame someone for stealing, just because they saw it on television? No we don't. Do we blame the news media for their sensationalist reporting in regards to gun massacres, no we don't. So why should Republicans blame video games for this violence? Perhaps it's just easy to lay the blame on someone so people can rest easy after a massacre. I can assure all Republicans who love their guns that New Zealander's love their video games too, yet are we going on the street murdering hundreds of people? Video games are meant for fun and excitement, not as a training tool for murder. The mass murder in America is due to a violent gun obsessed society, not to do with video games, otherwise there would be as many mass murderers here. Would there not? A study by this article I've sent as a link, actually sees violence decrease as video games have become more popular.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/24531/video-games-and-gun-violence-no-studies-link-games-to-gun-crime
It's not just Republicans, a lot of the media does it in general. In truth, it's an easy way to pass on the buck in a simplified way that audiences can understand and accept. There's no room to debate the background and history of the issue, so they don't. Or rather, they THINK there's no room, when in fact, new channels run 24/7 these days and have more than enough space to debate actual issue of real relevance. As someone who would love nothing more than to work for the news media in the future, this truly saddens me.
ReplyDeleteBut I also think it's a little extreme to label Americans as part of a "violent gun obsessed society". NZ has a significantly smaller population that is much wider spread and with a significantly different economic situation (poverty in NZ, for the most part, does not come near to the levels of desperation and poverty in other, larger and more populated countries). Any comparison with the US is largely irrelevant.
Also, there is the simple fact that the US, of course, OWNS the majority of news media and EXPORTS this to the rest of the world. Hence, the largest amount of news we receive is either US or UK centric, and since that same media seems to promote sensationalism as what draws audiences, it seems obvious that we would actually hear of more violence in those countries than in others.
No, they should not simply scapegoat videogames as the cause of violence in society. But we should also, equally, not rush to blame any other singular aspect of their culture as the cause of the same. That is to say, the cause of these things is usually a lot more cumulative and complex than we allow.
Well said!
Delete- Kevin