Video Games.... Teaching Kids To Kill?

There has been so much controversy in recent years regarding violence in video games. Could a game like Grand Theft Auto actually trigger violence in real life? In 2011, the Supreme Court decided to give a verdict in the case of Brown vs. Entertainment Merchants Association (formerly known as Schwarzenegger vs. Entertainment Merchants Association) . The case was brought to the Supreme Court after California senator, Leland Yee, tried to establish a ban of sales of violent video games to minors. Yee, like many others, believe that violence portrayed in video games can cause aggression and violence in players. However, others argued that censoring the sales of these video games was unconstitutional, a direct violation of the First Amendment. In court, it was asked how video games differ from other forms of violent media such as violent movies, music, or books. Why should the Court make an exception for video games? 

According to Chief Justice Roberts, a main distinction between video games and other forms of media, is that "a child isn't sitting passively there with a video game. That child is doing the killing, the maiming, the sexually assaulting." In the end, the Supreme Court ruled the California law was indeed a violation of the First Amendment and the law was overturned. Here's a short clip from PBS News regarding the arguments made for this case in court:

Although it has been ruled unconstitutional to withhold sales of violent video games to minors, it doesn't change the fact that the violence in the games may be contributing to real life violence. There have been many instances in which video game murder scenes have been re-enacted in real life. It's almost impossible to argue, then, that video games don't have any influence over the minds of killers. Perhaps, some may argue, video games can even lead a "normal" person to become more aggressive and act violently. 

For example, take the case of teenage boy Devin Moore. In 2003, he shot two police officers and a dispatcher to death, "mirroring violent acts depicted in the violent game [Grand Theft Auto]." The boy's nonstop playing of Grand Theft Auto that went on for months is believed by many, including family members, to have inspired the teen to kill and then immediately steal a police car and drive off. This case is specifically interesting, because Moore had no prior criminal record. After being arrested, Moore had reportedly told police that "life is like a video game. Everybody's got to die sometime." 

Child psychologist David Walsh, co-author of a study that examines the link between violent video games and aggressive behavior, explains that, in-line with recent research done by the National Institutes of Health, it makes perfect sense that David Walsh was affected by Grand Theft Auto. Research shows that the prefrontal cortex in the brain is underdeveloped in the teenage brain. This part of the brain is responsible for thinking about consequences of actions and managing urges. So, therefore, "when a young man with a developing brain, already angry, spends hours and hours and hours rehearsing violent acts, and then, he's put in this situation of emotional stress, there's a likelihood that he will literally go to that familiar pattern that's been wired repeatedly, perhaps thousands and thousands of times.. " Walsh further explains that "not every kid that plays a violent video game is gonna turn to violence. And that's because they don't have all of those other risk factors going on... It's a combination of risk factors, which come together in a tragic outcome."

Sources:

Leung, Rebecca. Can A Video Game Lead To Murder? CBS News. February 11, 2009.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18560_162-678261.html

AP. Lawsuit: 'Grand Theft Auto' Led Teen To Kill. February 16, 2005.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147722,00.html

Court Evalauates Violent Video Game Case. PBS News. November 2, 2010.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec10/videogames_11-02.html

School Shootings

The recent Chardon, Ohio school shooting tragedy sparked my interest in investigating school shootings to see if there is any link to violence in the media. Reports about T.J. Lane, the suspect in the Chardon shooting, are still coming in, and I will be keeping an eye out for any mention of violent movies or video games linked with the case.

School shooting massacres have taken place all across the country. One of the most infamous of all is Columbine. I don't think anyone will be able to forget it.

What turns these kids into killers, though? Most likely, they already had some form of mental illness, whether anti-social personality disorder or depression, for example. But still, could media, in any form, have played any sort of role in helping these kids actualize their murder plans?

Columbine: April 20, 1999. Two seniors from Columbine High School in Colorado, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 12 students, left 21 injured, and then turned the guns on themselves. Both teens have been described as being depressed and victims of bullying. While some may believe that the Columbine massacre was a result of the boys' mental illnesses alone, psychiatrist Jerald Block disagrees. He believes that the teens' actions are not well explained by the diagnosis of psychopathology and depression. He instead suggests that their intense immersion in the "virtual world" of video games had a greater influence than most think. Both boys were supposedly obssessed with violent video games such as Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. And the popular movie Natural Born Killers even inspired the pair to use the initials "NBK" as some sort of code in their home-made videos and journals.  To illustrate exactly how important the video games were to the boys, Eric Harris is quoted as saying that his "mod", called Tier, for the game Doom was his "life's work." The mod was uploaded to the school computer and to AOL, but was soon lost. Many believe that the mod included a simulation of Columbine High School. The two teens soon after had their computer privelages restricted. Psychiatrist Jerald Block believes that it was now that the teens' anger that was always being expressed in the video games was now able be "unleashed" on the real world since they had more free time on there hands. Then, after displaying more defiant behavior, the pair was arrested and had computer privelages completely taken away. Around that time is when the teens became homicidal and started planning the high school attack.

Another reference to the media was made regarding the "costumes" that the two boys chose to wear to school on that frightful day. Dressed in black trenchcoats, they seemed to be re-enacting a scene from the movie The Basketball Diaries. In The Basketball Diaries, Leonardo DiCaprio, the main character, imagines walking into his school sporting a black trenchcoat and machine gun. He then proceeds to shoot six students.

(It's worthy to note that two years prior to the Columbine massacre, The Basketball Diaries, Natural Born Killers, and various computer games were all brought into a $33 million lawsuit after being blamed for inspiring the 1997 Heath High School shooting in Kentucky.)

    "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam:

"Jeremy," written by lead singer of Pearl jam, Eddie Veder is based around two true stories. One story is of a boy named Jeremy Wade Delle who, after being a victim of bullying, came to school one day and shot himself in front of his whole class. The other story is one that is more personal for Eddie Veder. He told the story in a 1991 interview:

"I actually knew somebody in junior high school, in San Diego, California, that did the same thing, just about, didn't take his life but ended up shooting up an oceanography room. I remember being in the halls and hearing it and I had actually had altercations with this kid in the past. I was kind of a rebellious fifth-grader and I think we got in fights and stuff. So it's a bit about this kid named Jeremy and it's also a bit about a kid named Brian that I knew and I don't know...the song, I think it says a lot. I think it goes somewhere...and a lot of people interpret it different ways and it's just been recently that I've been talking about the true meaning behind it and I hope no one's offended and believe me, I think of Jeremy when I sing it.”

Sources:

AP (April 13, 1999), Media Companies Are Sued in Kentucky Shooting, The New York Times

Jerald Block. Lessons From Columbine: Virtual and Real Rage PDF American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry. July 2007.

Violence in Media Portrayed Through Political Cartoons

Jihad and Terrorism

Disclaimer: I know that this topic is quite controversial. I am in no way, shape, or form claiming that Islam, as a religion, promotes violence.

Terrorist. Jihad. Al-Qaeda. Nasrallah.

How does reading these words make you feel? What images do these words bring to your mind?

When I hear these words I get angry. I think of all the innocent people that are being slaughtered. Somehow, it doesn't seem right. I don't understand how anyone could truly believe that killing innocent civilians is not just okay, but praiseworthy. I guess this is because I was raised in a country that values freedom and respect, the USA. What would I believe if I grew up in Syria or Iran? Would I still have the same value for human life? How much do the media in these countries affect its citizens? Do the messages on TV, in schoolbooks, and in popular music incite violence and acts of terror?

Memri (the Middle East Media Research Instiute) and PMW (Palestinian Media Watch) are two organizations that examine and monitor the use of media in the Middle East. Memri, founded in Washington DC, was created to “bridge the language gap between the Middle East and the West by monitoring, translating, and studying Arab, Iranian and Turkish media, schoolbooks, and religious sermons.” PMW's main focus is similar, as it examines "the messages that the Palestinian leaders, from the Palestinian Authority, Fatah and Hamas, send to the population through the broad range of institutions and infrastructures they control."

After spending some time looking through the thousands of video clips and articles that are cited on both websites, it pains me to know that such violence-provoking material is reaching millions of viewers. Some may even argue that these people are being brainwashed by the hate-infused sermons and TV shows that air on public television. What bothers me most, however, is to see how all of this is affecting innocent children. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears when I saw footage of a 5 yr old girl (if even that old) reciting a poem about the greatness of being a “martyr” and destroying the Jews. A five-yr-old! These children are being indoctrinated! Here I am, worrying about what my daughter might be seeing on Sesame Street or Tom and Jerry, while in the middle East, preschoolers are actually being TAUGHT to hate and to kill not only others, but themselves too! It seriously just blows my mind.

See for yourself. Here are a few examples of recent media that has been aired in the Middle East:

Children Show on Hamas TV:

#3303 - Sheik Bassam Al-Kayed, Head of the Palestinian Islamic Scholars Association in Lebanon: The Jew Is a Satan in Human Form, Who Violates All International Laws, All Human Norms, and All Values
Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas/Gaza) - February 1, 2012 - 01:42

Music Video: Sheikh Terra feat. Soul Salah Crew - Dirty Kuffar

#3107 - Recently Deceased Saudi Prince Muhammad Abdallah Al-Faysal Blames Saudi Curricula for Giving Rise to Terrorists
Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai/Saudi Arabia) - August 25, 2011 - 01:30

The media in the Middle East clearly plays a huge role in the creation and provocation of jihadists and terrorists. Children are being taught to hate from their favorite cartoons! Radical Islam is portrayed way way too abundantly in Middle Eastern media and is glorified. No wonder little kids are exclaiming that they want to blow themselves up! I also think that the media brainwashes not only the children, but also the adults. Imagine day after day of watching sermons given by “clerics” who blatantly condone the extermination of Jews and the destruction of America and all Western culture.

Wes Craven's Scream

Does everyone remember director Wes Craven’s Scream? When I think back to 1996, I remember thinking that this movie was more of a comedy than a horror flick. Yes, it had its semi-scary parts, but so much of it was just plain funny! What I found most amusing, was one of the characters, named Randy, who was a horror film junkie and who basically revealed many of the generic horror/slasher film stereotypical "rules", the same exact ones that appear in Scream:

Randy: There are certain RULES that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. 
Randy: You can never drink or do drugs.
[crowd cheers and raises their bottles]
Randy: The sin factor! It's a sin. It's an extension of number one. And number three: never, ever, ever under any circumstances say, "I'll be right back." Because you won't be back.
Stu: I'm gettin' another beer, you want one?
Randy: Yeah, sure.
Stu: I'll be right back.
[crowd cheers]
Randy: See, you push the laws and you end up dead. Okay, I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife.

Back in 1996, Scream was considered a hit. Everyone I knew was watching it and loving it. (It also helped that Skeet Ulrich, the main villain, was super attractive.) “Ghostface” even became the coolest new Halloween costume.
However, there were some people who were inspired by this movie a little too much... and in the wrong way….

Quite a few teenagers have committed murders using Ghostface as their inspiration. A mother was stabbed 45 times by her son and his cousin, both of whom were supposedly obsessed with Scream. Another woman was shot and killed by a man wearing the Ghostface mask. A teenage boy, allegedly acting as Ghostface, killed his own parents.

Perhaps the most intriguing case of Scream-inspired attempted murder, was the story of two boys from England, Daniel Gill and Robert Fuller. They stabbed someone eighteen times and then left him to die. It was only after a day and a half that a man who was walking his dog happened to come across the victim’s body. Surprisingly, the victim was not dead and later recovered from the wounds that the boys inflicted. When questioned, both Gill and Fuller had claimed that Scream had made them commit the crime. Before attacking their victim, the boys had visited a drug dealer’s house with whom they were friends with. It was there that they were shown different Scream collectibles and weapons and then were convinced by the friend that killing their victim, who happened to also be a friend of the two boys, was a request from “the gods.” According to BBC, in the midst of the investigation, drawings of Ghostface and pictures of knives were discovered in one of the boy’s schoolbooks, which further testified to the influence that Scream had on the two boys.

In my personal opinion, I don’t think that a movie like Scream can actually create killers. I do think, however, that horror/slasher movies can evoke strong emotions that may prompt a person with a personality disorder or other mental illness to act more violently and even murder.

Skeet Ulrich’s character in Scream, Billy, said it best:

Billy: Now Sid, don't you blame the movies. Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative!

What do you think? Do you think that watching a movie can drive a man to kill?

About This Blog

Hello everyone!

This blog is about how media is accused of promoting anti-social behavior, and more specifically, acting as inspiration for real-life murders. Movies, music, and video games, for example, have all been accused of triggering violence and, sometimes, even murder. This is my first blog and it was created for a college course in Communications. So far, I've been having fun with it and getting myself acquainted with all of the blog tools.

I'll be taking a look at specific examples of the connection between media and murder from different news stories and would LOVE your opinions and comments :)

Thanks,
Kim