Can computer games really be blamed for vilent crimes?

[Hulababy]

Game blamed for hammer murder


This is a horrible horrible story with such a nasty murder - sald yof a 14 year old, carried out by a 17 year old.

The victims mum blames some of the motive on a particularly nasty computer game called Manhunt (cert 18).

"To quote from the website that promotes it, it calls it a psychological experience, not a game, and it encourages brutal killing."

Obviously the games inductry disagree:

A spokesman for the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association said: "We sympathise enormously with the family and parents of Stefan Pakeerah. However, we reject any suggestion or association between the tragic events and the sale of the video game Manhunt. The game in question is classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification and therefore should not be in the possession of a juvenile. Simply being in someone's possession does not and should not lead to the conclusion that a game is responsible for these tragic events."

Dixons have today withdrawn this game from their stores.


There is another story on the BBC too - American children acting out scenes from Grand Theft Auto . One man was killed and a woman was badly hurt when William Buckner, 16, and his step-brother Joshua, 14, decided to relieve their boredom by opening fire on traffic on Interstate 40 with a .22-calibre rifle.


Any thoughts? Can our children be so obsessed by games they can end up doing this??? Surely something more must be leading to these horrid attacks???

[Chandra]

According to an experiment at the last series of Child of our times program, it really can.

I think these games contribute to erase the boundaries of what is good and what is wrong but I will never believe the game is the sole cause, and surely this boy has been violent before, and sure they parents were aware of how aggressive he had become, personally if DS came one day with a game like this I will try to talk about his motivations and how he can have fun prettending he's manhunting...

[Heathcliffscathy]

imo short answer is no. art/films/theatre/books/music/games always catching flak for influencing, but i think that if a child is going to copy something like that then problem is not the game, but parents/environment. when i was a kid i used to know a couple of boys from across the road that were into iron maiden/horror films (more violent the better)/call of cthlulu (can't spell it but basically a v dark version of dungeons and dragons game) etc etc and they were and still are sweeties. also knew v upstanding types that wore stripey shirts and jeans and they were violent thugs...do you know what i mean? if the tendencies are there then they will come out, they manner in which they do is irrelevant really.

[Blu]

I think there is well documented evidence in the USA that whatever influence games do (or not) have, they certainly skill young people up. The practice and skill at aiming means that if they do run amok with real firearms, they do more damage. Apparantly had they happened in former times, school massacres like Columbine would have been far less lethal because they would have missed many of their targets.

I can't think that it is healthy and constructive for fantasy slaughter to be a leisure activity....

[suedonim]

Ds2 has just finished a psychology degree where they were told that such games etc do have an influence on a few vulnerable people. The games can be enough to tip them over the edge into doing something that would otherwise have remained a fantasy.

[Freckle]

Isn't is really along the same lines as the effect that advertising has on us? Except that children are more vulnerable and more easily influenced. Certainly I think these games and other such media are erroding the boundaries of what is and what isn't acceptable. Just consider how desensitised we are all becoming to war, etc., because of the images we see daily on the television. How much more desensitised are children going to become with such horror at their fingertips?

I do not believe that such a game alone will push a child to commit such awful acts, but it will influence their thinking and many children will go beyond what they might otherwise have done.

[katierocket]

I;m sure these games must have some level of impact on young minds. i used to play a shooting/fighting strategy game at work called Quake - we had it networked so lots of people could play at once. highly addictive and I used to come off it feeling jumpy and nervey IFYKWIM. I only used to play it for 10/20 mins at a time but some people (particularly young males) are obsessed with these type of games.
As for manhunt I think it is totally sick that a game can be created all about tracking someone down and killing them.

[mummytojames]

sorry havent read all the posts butfirst of all how did a seventeen year old get hold of a eighteen rated game
and secondly for all those who use to watch cartoons like tom and jerry why arent we trying to go and hit people with hammers and disect them while there still alive theress got to be alot more in it than a film or a computer game and children acting out a 18 rated game with a riffle im sorry thats the parents fault that gun should have been looked up safely and the kids should have been taught the safety of arms

[sportyspice]

Haven't read all this thread but didn't Professor Winston do a study on this type of thing and found that children's behaviour was greatly influenced by what they were exposed to? in the study children watched someone being nice to a stuffed bear (or something like that) and they copied and then when the person kicked the s**t out of it so did they children. Obviously parental responsibility plays a part too but i would say that exposure to this type of thing plays a huge part.

[yingers74]

my take on this is that although violent games(along with films etc) do not cause violent behaviour, they numb our children and ourselves to such things and even to some extent make them more acceptable and cool, so when faced with a difficult situation/argument etc instead of talking or walking away, people often choose violence or intimidation. I think, starting with films, the whole classification thing needs to be looked at again. Yes children are more sophisticated (or so we believe) these days but they are still not adults, certainly the LOTR films which I loved should not have been PG! Sorry for ranting ever so slightly!

[MeanBean]

I think these games are influential, but only where the other influences in childrens' lives are weak. If they are counterbalanced by much stronger influences, then they probably won't do much harm, but if kids are left with them and not much else, then I think they will have a disproportionate (and malign) influence.

[tigermoth]

Agree with those who say you have to see what else is going on in the game-players' lives. Time spent on a game risks reducing time spent learning social skills and taking necessry exercise. That alone must have a detrimental effect on children's behaviour - and even adults behaviour.

Looking at my boys I think any entertainment influences their behaviour - watching football, listening to music, and definitely watching wrestling on TV (this weeks' big craze has resulted in constant play wrestling matches in the living room). Of course playing violent games don't make murderers of all those who play them, but I wouldn't want my sons to make them their favourite passtime week in week out.