Police: 8-year-old shoots, kills grandmother after playing video game

[MelissaWV]

Yeah, it was the videogames... not any one of another dozen factors (some of which have already been talked about).

Blank everything out that you've just read in this thread about the case. Okay, now you have an 8-year-old sitting around playing Grand Theft Auto on his own, living with a grandparent (theoretically because something happened to the parents or they just couldn't be bothered), and generally seeming like he's not being supervised. Yes, it would be REALLY difficult for a 90-year-old to keep up with and discipline an 8-year-old, but if that's going to be the case then just keep age-inappropriate material out of the house. Anyhow, you have that kid, already in a bad spot in life, left to wade through on their own, and with access to a loaded weapon.

There is a LOT more wrong, there, than a violent video game.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Slaughter, Louisiana? Good God.

It's a somewhat common last name. Here's John Slaughter's site for his photography biz: http://www.johnslaughterphotography.com/

 

[TER]

There is a LOT more wrong, there, than a violent video game.

I dont think anyone believes it was just the violent video game that contributed to this. I do think most people believe it did however play a role.

 

[angelatc]

I remember a classmate in the fourth grade saying he'd shoot the teacher, but he was afraid of the death penalty.

Wonder how many more murders/crimes we'd see from kids nine and under if they were all privy to the fact that they could get away with anything.

Apparently not that much, or else LA would change their laws.

 

[angelatc]

I dont think anyone believes it was just the violent video game that contributed to this. I do think most people believe it did however play a role.

Then as usual, most people would be wrong.

 

[thoughtomator]

Any connection to the video game is pure propaganda. The question in this story is why was it published and why are they pushing the game angle when there's no clear connection to the murder?

I have a 99% certainty that this is one of the stories that CNN was paid to run. If you weren't aware, CNN has for a very long time accepted money from corporations and governments to shape the content of its reporting, push specific stories, bury others, etc. It is the ultimate corporate mercenary media outlet.

This story is about pushing an agenda. Might be gun control, might be anti-videogame (as proxy for something else, censorship? imposition of regulation?). What it is 100% definitely not is what CNN is giving you on the face of it.

 

[TER]

Then as usual, most people would be wrong.

And you, of course, right?

 

[VIDEODROME]

I do wonder about the state of a society where news outlets are forced to blur real blood and gore (such as the Boston bombing pics, and not showing pictures of what we are doing in the Middle East) and yet find it incredibly entertaining when someone is cutting off limbs, and torturing someone in a movie or on a show. Don't shield a kid from seeing pictures of babies body parts blown to pieces in the Middle East if you're going to expose him/her to blowing people's heads off and eviscerating "fake" game people.

I think this is spot on. It's the unintended consequence of Censorship. As a result of compliance, consumers are fed Sanitized Violence.

I often wonder if people enacting Violent Fantasies are taken aback when their victims don't just lay down and die after being shot but writh around crying out or fighting back.

 

[angelatc]

I believe our entire culture desensitizes people to violence.

The problem starts with finding entertainment in violence, but it extends to more than video games. Movies, advertisements, etc etc.....

It isn't limited to "our culture." Murder as a plot device is as old as the theater. If anything we've moved away from the violent entertainment that our ancestors enjoyed. We don't have gladiators in the ring, bull fighting is a dying sport, and even hunting is increasingly viewed as barbaric.

And violence in America now is far less prevelant than it was when it peaked in the 70's, so one could make a make a case that video games have actually reduced violence in society. (Yes, it would be a flawed unsubstantiated claim, but no more than yours.)

 

[angelatc]

And you, of course, right?

Meaning that I don't confuse facts with opinion? Then yes, I am right and most people are wrong.

 

[TER]

Meaning that I don't confuse facts with opinion? Then yes, I am right and most people are wrong.

So according to the facts you are using in this case, the child playing violent video games had nothing to do with this killing?

 

[angelatc]

So according to the facts you are using in this case, the child playing violent video games had nothing to do with this killing?

The facts as we know them is that he was playing a video game, and then he shot his grandmother.

Speculating that the video game had any bearing on his apparent mental deficiencies is just that - speculation.

 

[angelatc]

Any connection to the video game is pure propaganda. The question in this story is why was it published and why are they pushing the game angle when there's no clear connection to the murder?

I have a 99% certainty that this is one of the stories that CNN was paid to run. If you weren't aware, CNN has for a very long time accepted money from corporations and governments to shape the content of its reporting, push specific stories, bury others, etc. It is the ultimate corporate mercenary media outlet.

This story is about pushing an agenda. Might be gun control, might be anti-videogame (as proxy for something else, censorship? imposition of regulation?). What it is 100% definitely not is what CNN is giving you on the face of it.

You're absolutely right about this. Only the first report I can find mentions this:

A man who answered the phone number listed for Smothers’ address and said he was a relative of Smothers insisted that the shooting was not intentional.


“It was an accident,” the man said.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...onally-killing-87-year-old-woman-in-louisiana



I'd like to see a study of violence from people who spend 4 or more hours a day playing video games. Because I think it would indicate that that gamers are much less violent than average.

 

[TER]

The facts as we know them is that he was playing a video game, and then he shot his grandmother.

Speculating that the video game had any bearing on his apparent mental deficiencies is just that - speculation.

You are correct. We are making speculations here (you included).

So then is it your opinion that a young child saturating his mind with violent video games where people kill other people and get rewarded has no bad effects on that child and it would be unreasonable to assume it may have played a role in the child shooting a gun aimed at the old lady's head?

 

[angelatc]

You are correct. We are making speculations here (you included).

So then is it your opinion that a young child saturating his mind with violent video games where people kill other people and get rewarded has no bad effects on that child and it would be unreasonable to assume it may have played a role in the child shooting a gun aimed at the old lady's head?

Yes, that is my opinion. I base it on the fact that gamers tend to be geeks, while jocks tend to be aggressive.

ETA- you edited while I was talking. It may not be unreasonable to assume it was related, but it is a dangerous assumption to make.

 

[TER]

Yes, that is my opinion. I base it on the fact that gamers tend to be geeks, while jocks tend to be aggressive.

We are still talking about 8 year olds, right?

 

[angelatc]

We are still talking about 8 year olds, right?

Yes. And I'm speaking as the parent of both a geek and a jock.

The headline should read "Child from broken home has emotional problems" because the fact that he was living in a trailer sharing a bedroom with an 87 year old woman speaks to the fact that he had a troubled home life. And we can add to that the fact that most males in prisons come from homes where the father is absent.

But the liberal media would rather blame a video game than their failed social experimentation.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

You are correct. We are making speculations here (you included).

So then is it your opinion that a young child saturating his mind with violent video games where people kill other people and get rewarded has no bad effects on that child and it would be unreasonable to assume it may have played a role in the child shooting a gun aimed at the old lady's head?

It's not entirely unreasonable. But the last time I heard a major debate about this subject, people were trying to tie youth violence to "Doom" and such FPS games. The correlation was never proved...but I haven't paid attention since then. :/ I'm more inclined to believe that exposure to gang, police, and military (but I double repeat myself) ultra-violence makes people inclined towards violence.

 

[TER]

Yes, that is my opinion. I base it on the fact that gamers tend to be geeks, while jocks tend to be aggressive.

ETA- you edited while I was talking. It may not be unreasonable to assume it was related, but it is a dangerous assumption to make.

Well, my opinion is that is more of a dangerous assumption to ignore the effects of violent video games to the minds of 8 year old impressionable children.

 

[angelatc]

Well, my opinion is that is more of a dangerous assumption to ignore the effects of violent video games to the minds of 8 year old impressionable children.

And my opinion is that is far more dangerous to watch the media create the illusion of a correlation that doesn't actually exist.