[imlost]

The head of Germany's national police union has called for a ban on violent video games in the wake of a horrific school shooting earlier this month.

Echo Online cites comments made by Heini Schmitt, head of the Hessen German Police Union (DPolG):

It is known that in every situation in which a violent rampage (Amoklauf) has occurred, the perpetrator has had a remarked addiction to so-called killergames. The manner of the deed is astonishingly similar to virtual examples.

For him, the fact that roughly a third of children and youths "regularly and addictively escape into a virtual world" sets off alarm bells. Age restrictions for such games are often ignored. There is admittedly no proof "that these frequent escapes into virtual killerworlds can contribute to such insane deeds", said Schmitt, "But neither can the role killergames be completely dismissed."

When a chance to remove a probable cause exists, it must be used, insisted the chief of the national police union. "The world would be no poorer if there were no more killergames."

Head of German Police Union Calls For Ban on Violent Video Games | GamePolitics

I seriously don't see a point in banning violent games, I mean don't people see some sort of violence in TV or real life for that matter.

 

[Phil]

You have to draw the line somewhere. School shootings haved escalated scince columbine

 

[Millium]

I don't know about Germany but it would never happen in America. The courts value the First Amendment above all else.

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

i never shot up my school.....








....as much as i wanted to at some points.

I don't know about Germany but it would never happen in America. The courts value the First Amendment above all else.

Which is that? the right to ignore the constitution at any point in time in the name of profit, liberalism, or letting your kids shoot each other rampantly?

 

[Proto]

I woudln't go as going as extreme as a complete ban, however I would vouch my support for much stricter selling controls for these kind of games. While it is true that the relationship between violence and their video gaming counterparts is fuzzy at best, and it is most probably an stimulation of what is already there, the number of tragedies is already too big to just say 'it is the parents responsibility to see what they buy'

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

Blame the parents, its their own fault they are raising disfunctional, unattached kids with social, and pyschological problems for letting tv and video games raise them.

a belting now and then wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Paratech]

So why should adults be told what they can own? I can understand telling kids they can't have violent games, but telling adults they can't seems to cross the line for me...

 

[ElijahTW]

Does banning games really stop anyone from getting them that really wants them?

 

[Proto]

Blame the parents, its their own fault they are raising disfunctional, unattached kids with social, and pyschological problems for letting tv and video games raise them.

Great, i'lll be with you on the first line blaming them, but that doesn't really solve anything.

So why should adults be told what they can own? I can understand telling kids they can't have violent games, but telling adults they can't seems to cross the line for me...

Gun control, drugs control, etc. One of the purposes a group of individuals group together in a society, is both so that an individual can achieve more when working as a group, (which is the principle freedoms and obligations are based upon), but also so that the individual is protected from external danger. Including oneself. (which is the principle prohibitions is based upon).

Balancing the 3 is the task a government is supposed to do. Certainly we have recently lived in an era where the balance was tilted a little too much towards the freedom side, so it's natural that society will ask for the balance to return again. (given that we are starting to see the results of how a society degenerates when too much freedom is given).

Does banning games really stop anyone from getting them that really wants them?

No, but it stops the casual, sensitive gamer from acquiring it, which would make the majority of the problem children anyway.

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

dude, most 5 year olds know how to troll bittorrent now.

 

[Paratech]

I dunno if I agree, kids are so tech savvy nowadays, I bet most kids who want a game will be able to get them if they want them badly enough.

Back in the 80s, I was big into Commodore 64 and apple 2e piracy. It was wrong, but I had a big network of friends and acquaintances who pirated games with contacts in Erie, Canada, Pittsburgh, and others. Even the Cranberry Computer Club, particularly the C64 branch, was devoted to C64 piracy...

Now with the Internet, I could imagine some groups respawning with kids doing the same over broadband or even trading bootlegged DVDs with each other...

I wouldn't do it, I've tried to abandon that and buy games, but I'd imagine others would do that...

 

[Proto]

dude, most 5 year olds know how to troll bittorrent now.

Hence the stricter control part. It's trivial for an ISP to block bittorrent as a whole application, and bypassing such wide ban isn't so trivial for your average 15 years old to do it.

By stricter controls I don't mean that it will ward off every child on Earth who could possibly fathom playing the game. The more tech savvy people will always find a way, and they will share it with a mid tech level circle. However, as for the majority of the population it should be sufficient to contain most of the problem.

Of course this most part will require a secondary measure in order to close the control percentage to 100%.

My main message here isn't how to implement a measure that will somehow enforce absolute control over who plays what, since that is impossible. It actually centers around two areas:

- Raise awareness that some form of control is necessary. Our current 'advise system' and 'leave it up to the parents' system is obviously not working.
- After that it would be productive to brainstorm over which forms of control would be actually effective without overly invading over people-s freedom, but that's only after we agree on the first point.

 

[Irukapooka]

Here we go with this discussion again...it's been up for years so I'll give my say like I do with all the other ones...

I do not think it's the video games' fault for causing these kids/adults for going on killing sprees. Look at GTA and how long it's been out. If everyone who played GTA went psycho on us and went crazy with a gun, we'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble. The theory that violent video games make people go on sprees is such a dumb idea.

I think it's the parents' faults for not being there for the children and letting the video game be their babysitter. Parents need to interact with their children and COMMUNICATE. If the child adopts the video game as a temporary parent then, yes, it will become a problem because they are learning and feeding off of it and seeing how they should deal with a situation from a video game.

Ugh...I'm done ranting about this **** now. It's the same **** over and over again...

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

of course it doesn't work. Parents have fobbed off the duties of parenting to TV, music and video games, and are too self obsessed wit htheir own pathetic lives to take any notice of the fact their kids smoke, do drugs and are off having sex at 12.

<3 Bree, We're so in sync ^_^

 

[Irukapooka]

of course it doesn't work. Parents have fobbed off the duties of parenting to TV, music and video games, and are too self obsessed wit htheir own pathetic lives to take any notice of the fact their kids smoke, do drugs and are off having sex at 12.

<3 Bree, We're so in sync ^_^

Lol, I so love you, Squall. :thumb:

 

[Proto]

of course it doesn't work. Parents have fobbed off the duties of parenting to TV, music and video games, and are too self obsessed wit htheir own pathetic lives to take any notice of the fact their kids smoke, do drugs and are off having sex at 12.

Sigh... Squall. You are preaching at the choir. As I told you there is not much use in complaining. It might be more interesting if you posted a viable solution.

I do not think it's the video games' fault for causing these kids/adults for going on killing sprees. Look at GTA and how long it's been out. If everyone who played GTA went psycho on us and went crazy with a gun, we'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble. The theory that violent video games make people go on sprees is such a dumb idea.

No one here ever said that everyone who was a videogamer suddenly felt a murderous rampage once in his life ever in this thread,nor will you see anyone seriusly debating this issue arguing so. The argument here is that there is a sufficient number of emotionally and pyschologically imbalanced people, to whom playing these kind of games just further accentuated the imbalance, that it warranted society to take some action in light of recent happenings.

I think it's the parents' faults for not being there for the children and letting the video game be their babysitter. Parents need to interact with their children and COMMUNICATE. If the child adopts the video game as a temporary parent then, yes, it will become a problem because they are learning and feeding off of it and seeing how they should deal with a situation from a video game.

Great. As I have agreed before, that IS the long term solution, that will most probably prevent the next generation from seeing what we are living right now. (well, in fact it is only the tip of the solution. One would still have to argue how one actually would raise awareness among the parent community to promote this kind of behavior).

Now, that aside, what is the short and mid term solution?

 

[LoneWolf]

I cant understand the reason kids dont understand the difference between whats right and whats wrong and why are the so stupid

Im a kid but i know whats right and wrong expect on a few things ( like eating junk food and playing a lot of video games )

I also play GTA vice city but i never felt like doing what the do in the game i know what ever they do is unreal and cant happen in the real world and whats the fun in killing and doing crimes in the real world

those guys who do those crazy things are psychos

 

[Irukapooka]

No one here ever said that everyone who was a videogamer suddenly felt a murderous rampage once in his life ever in this thread,nor will you see anyone seriusly debating this issue arguing so. The argument here is that there is a sufficient number of emotionally and pyschologically imbalanced people, to whom playing these kind of games just further accentuated the imbalance, that it warranted society to take some action in light of recent happenings.



Great. As I have agreed before, that IS the long term solution, that will most probably prevent the next generation from seeing what we are living right now. (well, in fact it is only the tip of the solution. One would still have to argue how one actually would raise awareness among the parent community to promote this kind of behavior).

Now, that aside, what is the short and mid term solution?

The reason why I said that video games are not the reason for people going crazy is because I feel that the government is trying to make people believe that they are the reason for why people go crazy.

Is that a better explanation?

And honestly, I don't think there is a "short term or mid term solution" to this stuff. You can put them in counseling. But who's going to know they need counseling until they do something this extreme? Society likes to brush things off and tends to not care about things until something extreme happens. We like to keep to ourselves. Of course, not everyone is like this, but seriously, do you see people running and tending to the quiet kid who is sitting in the back of the classroom? No, because we don't want to deal with the situation. What's the benefit for us?

Like I said, not everyone acts like this...but for the majority, people do. This is reality. And reality sucks.

 

[Squall-Leonhart]

I cant understand the reason kids dont understand the difference between whats right and whats wrong and why are the so stupid

Im a kid but i know whats right and wrong expect on a few things ( like eating junk food and playing a lot of video games )

I also play GTA vice city but i never felt like doing what the do in the game i know what ever they do is unreal and cant happen in the real world and whats the fun in killing and doing crimes in the real world

those guys who do those crazy things are psychos

Are you special ed?

Its been said multiple times now.

PARENTS ARE NOT TAKING AN ACTIVE ROLE WITH THEIR CHILDREN WHICH IS CAUSING PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE.

The reason why I said that video games are not the reason for people going crazy is because I feel that the government is trying to make people believe that they are the reason for why people go crazy.

Is that a better explanation?

And honestly, I don't think there is a "short term or mid term solution" to this stuff. You can put them in counseling. But who's going to know they need counseling until they do something this extreme? Society likes to brush things off and tends to not care about things until something extreme happens. We like to keep to ourselves. Of course, not everyone is like this, but seriously, do you see people running and tending to the quiet kid who is sitting in the back of the classroom? No, because we don't want to deal with the situation. What's the benefit for us?

Like I said, not everyone acts like this...but for the majority, people do. This is reality. And reality sucks.

I was the quiet kid in class..... when i was in class.
If i wasn't in class i was off daydreaming or reading a book.

.....Do i wanna kill people? sometimes.
Difference is i know its not the right thing to do (unless its in self defence or to protect someone else).

hell sometimes i want to plow down pedestrians after playing Carmageddon for a few hours..... i still don't.

 

[Irukapooka]

I was the quiet kid in class..... when i was in class.
If i wasn't in class i was off daydreaming or reading a book.

.....Do i wanna kill people? sometimes.
Difference is i know its not the right thing to do (unless its in self defence or to protect someone else).

hell sometimes i want to plow down pedestrians after playing Carmageddon for a few hours..... i still don't.

Yes, but you understand what I'm saying, don't you?