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

[pcosmar]

Thinking back,,, Way back,,

I remember "Combat" and "Rat Patrol" on TV.. Oh, and various Westerns. not to mention The VietNam war on the news..

I played Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians,,and war games with the neighbor kids.

At 8 I had access to firearms,, but had been taught how to shoot,, and that they were not toys.

At ten they were on my Bedroom Wall,, when I was not carrying them in the woods.

You know,, I have never killed anyone.

 

[TER]

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

While I agree that the mainstream media is a propaganda mouthpiece, and distorts things for hidden agendas, I still think it is more dangerous to ignore the effects of violent video games on the minds of young children than to ignore it (especially simply because some media outlets may try to capitalize on it in some hidden way). We should not ignore real threats to our children and their well-being simply out of spite towards the MSM.

 

[angelatc]

While I agree that the mainstream media is a propaganda mouthpiece, and distorts things for hidden agendas, I still think it is more dangerous to ignore the effects of violent video games on the minds of young children than to ignore it (especially simply because some media outlets may try to capitalize on it in some hidden way). We should not ignore real threats to our children and their well-being simply out of spite towards the MSM.

Your narrative is flawed. What's being ignored is that there is nothing to indicate that violent video games actually have any effect at all the minds of young children. I'm a parent. I pay attention to this stuff.

Christopher J. Ferguson, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and teaches at Stetson University and has studied the positive and negative effects of playing violent video games, says there is no evidence violent video games cause people to kill.


“He’s kind of young for ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’ but generally speaking, if you go into any house where there’s a teenager or even a kid a little younger, the odds of not finding a video game like this are almost zero,” Ferguson said.


The game is meant for mature audiences, “but in terms of it making him kill his (relative), no, probably not,” Ferguson said.


He added, “From a moral perspective, we might not want our kids to play a game that’s that mature. That’s kind of a moral statement. There’s no evidence of violent video games causing people to kill.”


Generally, police investigators who do not play video games seize on evidence of them to come up with some narrative to explain what happened, Ferguson said, stressing he is not referring directly to the East Feliciana investigation.


“It’s just a convenient narrative, but in terms of actual evidence that these video games cause people to become aggressive in this type of way, no, there’s none whatsoever,” Ferguson said, noting that while video games are very popular, youth violence is at its lowest level in four years.

http://theadvocate.com/home/6860976-125/investigators-say-shooter-8-played

 

[TER]

Very well, you continue to believe that violent video games do not have "any effect at all to the minds of young children".

 

[pcosmar]

Very well, you continue to believe that violent video games do not have "any effect at all to the minds of young children".

I don't think it is the games. Not of themselves.

It is the lack of proper education elsewhere.

 

[TER]

I don't think it is the games. Not of themselves.

It is the lack of proper education elsewhere.

The games do not help. An eight year old's mind being subjected to constant killings by his own virtual hand has effects. It doesn't necessarily mean it will be enough to cause them to really murder someone, and to the normal, well loved and supported child, it may display no observable external ramifications, but to suggest that it has not effect on their minds is quite naive IMO and ignores the spiritual warfare we fight against with those who relish watching children delight in virtual murder.

 

[angelatc]

The games do not help. An eight year old's mind being subjected to constant killings by his own virtual hand has effects. It doesn't necessarily mean it will be enough to cause them to really murder someone, and to the normal, well loved and supported child, it may display no observable external ramifications, but to suggest that it has not effect on their minds is quite naive IMO and ignores the spiritual warfare we fight against with those who relish watching children delight in virtual murder.

It's a great hypothesis, and one I used to share. But where's the evidence to back it up?

 

[TER]

It's a great hypothesis, and one I used to share. But where's the evidence to back it up?

Evidence to what? That there are demons or that violent video games have negative effects to the mind and soul of young children?

 

[RonPaulFanInGA]

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

How many under the age of ten know though?

 

[pcosmar]

Evidence to what? That there are demons or that violent video games have negative effects to the mind and soul of young children?

NO,,
The child needs to be taught right and wrong.. needs to be taught the difference between a real gun and a toy.

Between make believe and real world. Things that parents, Elders or the church should teach..

There was a gun in the home,, and apparently readily available. He did not shoot her with a "Game Gun".
he shot her with a real one.

That is the issue. At 8 yrs old a child can understand proper gun handling.

 

[donnay]

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.

I believe desensitizing video games and psychotropic drugs are some key factors to a lot of violence.

 

[BenIsForRon]

Well the damn game wasn't designed to be played by 8 year-olds anyway. It's like blaming it on Pulp Fiction if he had been watching that. It's not Quentin Tarintino's fault in the least, the kid should have never been watching Pulp Fiction

 

[heavenlyboy34]

I believe desensitizing video games and psychotropic drugs are some key factors to a lot of violence.

I find cable news more disturbing than any video game I've played. FWIW.

 

[pcosmar]

I believe desensitizing video games and psychotropic drugs are some key factors to a lot of violence.

Those drugs are Hypnotics,, so if he was being drugged and set in front of a game console,, he was being programed.

Still,, who put the gun in his reach?

 

[pcosmar]

I find cable news more disturbing than any video game I've played. FWIW.

I play WoW on occasion. I run with players from 10 to 70. The few "kids" have been intelligent, articulate and for the most part polite.

some of the adults,, not so much.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Your narrative is flawed. What's being ignored is that there is nothing to indicate that violent video games actually have any effect at all the minds of young children. I'm a parent. I pay attention to this stuff.



http://theadvocate.com/home/6860976-125/investigators-say-shooter-8-played

There you go using reason and evidence again. This is supposed to be a highly emotion-driven, irrational thread!

 

[Quark]