Connecticut Town Launches "Violent Video Games Return Program"
SouthingtonSOS sends out mixed messages
A community in Newtown, Connecticut, has organised a "Violent Video Games Return Program", which rewards citizens that voluntarily dump their violent games, music and movies with $25 gift vouchers.
The initiative is intended to honour those that were affected by the recent Sandy Hook tragedy, where once again 'violent media' was blamed for the crazed shooting of innocent schoolchildren. It was launched by SouthingtonSOS, a consortium of community members consisting of members of the YMCA, Chamber of Commerce, local clergy and the fire department.
It's all very reminiscent of the 2009 "Killerspiele" binning event by a German action group. After plenty lot of media attention, that event only saw a pitiful three games (one being Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, another being Small Soldiers for the Game Boy) and a CD being dumped. Any similar results in Connecticut would underscore a public understanding that violent media is not the cause of such incidents.
Having said that, an official statement from SouthingtonSOS says that the event was "not intended to be construed as statement declaring that violent video games were the cause of the shocking violence in Newtown on December 14th.
"Rather, SouthingtonSOS is saying is that there is ample evidence that violent video games, along with violent media of all kinds, including TV and Movies portraying story after story showing a continuous stream of violence and killing, has contributed to increasing aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and is desensitizing our children to acts of violence including bullying."
The problem is that there is ample counter-evidence that debunk such claims.
What's sad is that SouthingtonSOS's goal is quite noble - to force a parents to take a deeper interest in their kids' activities and spark genuine conversation about the content they consume. However, the "Violent Video Games Return Program" only seeks to conjure up a scapegoat that highlights a gross misunderstanding of the tragedy that took place. Focusing on 'violent media' simply draws attention away from the real symptoms and causes of harrowing incidents such as this.
SouthingtonSOS seems to understand this, with the statement adding that "Social and political commentators, as well as elected officials including the president, are attributing violent crime to many factors including inadequate gun control laws, a culture of violence and a recreational culture of violence."
But with this activity, such understanding may well be lost in the noise of the country's National Rifle Association, which has hilariously laid the blame squarely at the door of violent video games, while in the same breath claimed that the answer to such tragedies involves 'more guns'. And frankly, who is going to listen to SouthingtonSOS' admirable statement when it has a headline-grabbing violent games dump drive to get press attention?
Source: Polygon
The initiative is intended to honour those that were affected by the recent Sandy Hook tragedy, where once again 'violent media' was blamed for the crazed shooting of innocent schoolchildren. It was launched by SouthingtonSOS, a consortium of community members consisting of members of the YMCA, Chamber of Commerce, local clergy and the fire department.
It's all very reminiscent of the 2009 "Killerspiele" binning event by a German action group. After plenty lot of media attention, that event only saw a pitiful three games (one being Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, another being Small Soldiers for the Game Boy) and a CD being dumped. Any similar results in Connecticut would underscore a public understanding that violent media is not the cause of such incidents.
Having said that, an official statement from SouthingtonSOS says that the event was "not intended to be construed as statement declaring that violent video games were the cause of the shocking violence in Newtown on December 14th.
"Rather, SouthingtonSOS is saying is that there is ample evidence that violent video games, along with violent media of all kinds, including TV and Movies portraying story after story showing a continuous stream of violence and killing, has contributed to increasing aggressiveness, fear, anxiety and is desensitizing our children to acts of violence including bullying."
The problem is that there is ample counter-evidence that debunk such claims.
What's sad is that SouthingtonSOS's goal is quite noble - to force a parents to take a deeper interest in their kids' activities and spark genuine conversation about the content they consume. However, the "Violent Video Games Return Program" only seeks to conjure up a scapegoat that highlights a gross misunderstanding of the tragedy that took place. Focusing on 'violent media' simply draws attention away from the real symptoms and causes of harrowing incidents such as this.
SouthingtonSOS seems to understand this, with the statement adding that "Social and political commentators, as well as elected officials including the president, are attributing violent crime to many factors including inadequate gun control laws, a culture of violence and a recreational culture of violence."
But with this activity, such understanding may well be lost in the noise of the country's National Rifle Association, which has hilariously laid the blame squarely at the door of violent video games, while in the same breath claimed that the answer to such tragedies involves 'more guns'. And frankly, who is going to listen to SouthingtonSOS' admirable statement when it has a headline-grabbing violent games dump drive to get press attention?
Source: Polygon