Halo 3: Jack Thompson Responds

Every time the gaming world thinks he's disapeared back under his rock, he comes out spouting spinned/fabricated crap about the video games industry. Truth of the matter is - parents are responsable for their children. No one else is.
I can't help but think Thompson's just trying to keep him self in the limelight. The amount of stuff thats availble to kids on the internet is alot more disturbing then than gunning down a grunt.
Maybe i shoudn't have said that. He'll be starting a crusade to shut the internet down next.
Anyone else think the Thompson household is probably akin to the Flanders?

Wrong, we all are responsible of the children education, they are the future of the world therefore a very important part of our society, so if you care about the handicap people, and not buying furr to protect some animals from extintion, we all should take part in helping parents to rise theyr children.
If we show our opinion against this hyperviolent games, music, and other kind of art which use the nonsense violence to fill the people morbid curiosity.

The thing is that this violent expressions are widely exposed in the media, it is almost imposible for parents who also have a job to control everything theyr childrens watch on tv or listen on the radio, or play in a neighbour house. It is unrealistic to think that the rating system is enough to prevent our childrens from watching or hearing violence. Thats the reality and we have to deal with it. Till there is a good system of ditribution which asure us that childrens wont be reached by that information, we have to do a sacrifice for the sake of our childrens , our and theyr future. It is called social concsience , and it is above individual short term interests.

If we dont help parents to rise theyr kids, then weŽll se more violence in the near future, less enviroment concsience, at theyr age they are highly influenciated by the world that surround them.

I think Halo 3 is violent, but not enough to be banned, there are limits, and I think GTA exceed them.

Actually the whole public school thing is a fairly new idea and one that is not held in high regard by a decent percentage of the population. Many believe that private schooling is best while other still thing an organized school system with little flexibility to adjust to individual students needs is more stifling than anything and choose to take on the huge responsibility of educating their children themselves.



true



I do, i pay taxes, they go to schools. I dont have kids in schools, yet I pay for them. Those schools also provide food for kids whos families cant afford it. Also my taxes go to helping give money to those in need to help properly raise their kids. Not to mention child protective services an organization whose whole purpose is to ensure that children are raised by good parents.



then what happens? Then I know your opinion and respect it. Mine is different. If I was of the opinion that kicking you in the groin when ever you leave the predicate of a sentence off would make you a batter person I still wouldn't be aloud to inflict that on you. Good intentions or no.



Don't own a radio/tv/video games and don't let your kids hang out with people who do. Sure it's harder, but it's an option. If your so noble with your concern then you've got to suck it up and remove those dangers from your home.



Ok so you are willing to sacrifice my right to play and watch and listen to what I want so you don't have to sacrifice judge judy? Get bent.



Wait, more violence equals less environmental conciousness? Jack, is that you? Seriously, that's grasping at straws.



Then don't let your kids play GTA. It's easy, there are parental controls on all the new systems. Enable them and walk away. Easy as that.

Here's a fun story, I was born in texas, went to rodeos and monster truck events, have known hunters my whole life. I've played video games as long as I can remember and when MK came out I was only like 12. I played it constantly, loved it. I am now not insane. Never been in a fight in my life. Never struck another human being in anger and am very environmentally conscious, if a bit lazy. How did this happen? Simple, My parents taught me to be a good person and to care about others. They led through example. If more people would just take the 5 minutes a day to read their kids the lorax from time to time the world would be a better place. Taking freedom of speech away from anyone does not make anything better. If you let the government tell people what kinds of art they can and cant make then you open up a whole can of worms. Between the patriot act and Bushs new power to become king of the USA in case of a disaster mixed with out new RFIDs i really dont think the government needs any more control over the people it's supposed to serve.
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OK, let's deal with the short term at least: why do official US statistics show that youth-related violence is at a 30 year low, which is surprisingly about the same length of time videogames have been available to the general public? Surely, if all these videogames are having an adverse affect then we should be seeing a rise in youth-related violence, shouldn't we?

Whilst such horrendous acts, as committed at Columbine and Virginia Tech, should be roundly condemned, the facts would suggest that the opposite is true with regard to all the alarmist claims made against videogames; these occassional "blips" are not the norm, they are extreme examples of troubled youths who live in an environment where playing videogames is commonplace, they are not the causitive effect resulting in readily obtained firearms being used to maim and kill.

That's the biggest load of b******s i've ever read. Jack is that you?
It reads like the rant of someone trying to excuse themselves out of parental obligation.
I agree that stores shouldn't be selling mature rated games to underage kids. But kids are clever enough to get round these things. So it's up to the parents to keep on top of things.

Jack will never get the picture hopefully MS will end his carreer though. I truely hope someone will take his license someday soon. So I can play my violent, bloody, gorely, sexual themed videogames in peace.

I wish someone could tell me how to contact JT. I really wish I could get a chance to talk some sense into him. Its a shame he is wasting his life doing this when he could be doing something with his license to law in a courtroom.

So you're saying a massive "18+" number or a huge "M for Mature" label is too complex for the parent to understand? I think you're violently under-estimating the intelligence of many people with that statement.

The truth is those who buy it just don't care. I can recall countless times sat on that counter in Argos about to sell GTA to an adult with 7 year old kids in tow (the game obviously being bought for them), and when I outline the fact that underage kids shouldn't play it they joke around saying "Oh, I guess you're not playing it then little Jimmy, ho ho ho".

The kid looks like he's about to get upset but there's a knowing twinkle in the parent's eye that communicates to little Jimmy that as soon as they get home he can not only have his game but he can play it in the comfort of his own room without any supervision whatsoever while Daddy goes to the pub.

It is a conscience thing, but it's purely on the parent's side. Many parents do care; but those that do buy the games like that believe their kids can handle that stuff. They are more than educated on the risks, but simply turn an ignorant eye to it all.

Then they complain to the Daily Mail when it all goes horribly wrong.

There's only so much we can actually do to help parents. It's not like we can take other people's children away from them if we knew they were going to buy a mature game for them. A large portion of the blame, responsibility and action has to be on the parents side. You're simply living in a fantasy world if you believe this to be any other case.

Nice try, Duke Thompson.

You wana know how to solve this problem, and a great many others? Take math, science, reading, history and add on finance and child psychology in every public school. Also sex ed would be good (yes i know a lot of places have them but most are terrible or none existant or full of lies) but I have a feeling they would have an easier time getting a parenting class into schools than a class about how to become one.

That way instead of restricting intelligent sane people form enjoying the media they want for the sake of the uneducated and dim, we could just have more well educated people capable fo making responsible well informed decisions. And the finance thing might make for less miserable parent who would then perhaps be more concerned with their kids. And to round it all out the sex ed would keep em form having kids before they are financially and mentally able to do so.

Then in 30 years when we have a generation of reasonably well educated peopel running around we can work on those pesky drug laws.
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I wonder if Jack Thompson has kids. If so, does he monitor what they play and do, or is he off fighting a his own crusade while his kids are becoming "Victims." *shivers at the thoughts of little Jack Thompsons*

Yes, he does have offspring. Sadly - and stupidly - his family has been harassed. We make no assumptions about his family life or his care or love of his children. That's not the point. Frankly, leave his family alone.

The point is one of freedom of expression, creativity and choice.

The argument is with the lawyer and his assertions.

wow. i still cant get this guy.

man, i think the whole world agrees that things should be restricted.
but the whole world does not agree that the worlds thoughts should be led by a retarded megalomaniac.

ive tried, every single time to ignore it. which is what the world needs to do.
but every single time he comes out with more of his crap.

i hope microsoft shuts him down for good because when theres a wonder like this, no one is going to simply ignore it.

Bravo Svend, couldn't have put it much better myself. So I won't even try...

Is it just me or does his letter to Bill letter read like some bad mafia protection racket?



Sounds like blackmail to me...Ol' Bill should sue this guy just for fun, its not like he doen't have a few lawyers on retainer...

As to the question "Why Halo 3?" Easy, big target. Any victory at all for Jack is big here, extremely high profile, lots of media coverage, and ol' Jack is nothing if not a media whore.

I still find it amazing how this individual has teh audacity to raise his head up in public after his quite frankly sickening display following the Virginia Tech shootings. He jumped on his soapbox and preached his ill informed theories (remember theories are not facts) - and that is now conveniently forgotten in his crusade to "save childrens inocence".

How about he just dissapears and stops wasting everyones time ... he is doing more damage to the legal profession (and we all thought it couldn't get any worse)with his ignorant factless rants.

He lost the plot many years ago, and is dillusional to the fact that he is a laughing stock. The only people willing to give him the time of day are the ill informed sensationalising press ... the sooner this is resolved the better for all.

Maybe then the focus will move to real issues rather than one mans personal crusade.