# Video Game Violence Update: Americans are stupid and FBI profiler speaks



## Krory (Feb 25, 2013)

In a recent Harris Poll, 58% of American said they believe there's a link between violent video games and violent behavior in teenagers.



			
				Escapist said:
			
		

> It was heartening to hear U.S. Vice President Joe Biden insist that the government wasn't reflexively pointing fingers at videogames in the wake of the Sandy Hook mass murder, but a lot of people expressed dismay at the mere presence of videogames in the conversation. Why, they asked, are we talking about videogames when guns, violence and mental health are the obvious issues?
> 
> The findings of a recent Harris Poll may offer some insight into the situation, and why games are likely to remain a hot topic for some time to come. Despite years of research finding zero correlation between the two, a survey of 2278 Americans found that 58 percent believe videogames contribute to real-life violent behavior in teenagers. Furthermore, a whopping 47 percent said they are not at all confident that ESRB ratings will "keep mature games out of the reach of kids," yet 38 percent claimed they knew nothing about videogame ratings and 33 percent said they just let their kids play whatever they want.
> 
> ...





On the flipside, former FBI Senior Profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole says that video games do not cause violence but they are not "strangers to how this material is misused."



			
				GamesRadar said:
			
		

> A former FBI analyst has stated on CBS News: "It's my experience that video games do not cause violence." Former FBI Senior Profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole explained her professional stance on the subject in a live debate on Sunday, discussing the link between violent games and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December last year. However, she also added: "We're not strangers to how this material can be misused."
> 
> She explained that video games are "one of the risk variables when we do a threat assessment for the risk to act out violently," adding that violent games can be used alongside newspaper clippings or textbooks as educational tools as part of the potential offender's preparation for an intended crime. "As a thread assessment and a former FBI profiler, we don't see these as the cause of violence. We see them as sources of fuelling ideation that's already there."
> 
> It was also pointed out by Texas A&M International University psychology professor Christopher Ferguson that when new media comes out, it tends to go through a period of moral panic and this has been seen in everything from movies to comic books.



Sauce (includes a video of the interview).


----------



## Death-kun (Feb 25, 2013)

lol Muricans.


----------



## Kaido (Feb 25, 2013)

What else is new.


----------



## dream (Feb 25, 2013)

At least the FBI doesn't see it as a cause of violence.


----------



## LivingHitokiri (Feb 25, 2013)

ESRB should feel sad right now


----------



## Krory (Feb 25, 2013)

Seeing people are ignorant and stupid is, indeed, a sad thing.


----------



## martryn (Feb 25, 2013)

I think a lot of violent people are driven to play violent video games, but I don't see video games as a cause for that violence.  

And the ratings are a joke.


----------



## Whip Whirlwind (Feb 25, 2013)

"It was also pointed out by Texas A&M International University psychology professor Christopher Ferguson that when new media comes out, it tends to go through a period of moral panic and this has been seen in everything from movies to comic books."

DingDingDing! We have a winner!



martryn said:


> I think a lot of violent people are driven to play violent video games, but I don't see video games as a cause for that violence.
> 
> And the ratings are a joke.



Just curious, how do you think the ratings are a joke?

I don't see anything really wrong with them, just the fact that parents completely ignore them and then flip out when they actually notice what they're buying their kids.


----------



## Morgan (Feb 25, 2013)

I don't play video games (I can't even play Word Mole without freaking out), but I don't believe it causes violence. Human beings are just inherently violent, and I think it's just easier to blame it on video games, than to accept this notion.


----------



## martryn (Feb 25, 2013)

> Just curious, how do you think the ratings are a joke?
> 
> I don't see anything really wrong with them, just the fact that parents completely ignore them and then flip out when they actually notice what they're buying their kids.



They're a joke because of the fact they're completely ignored.  I don't know a single parent that takes a look at the ratings before purchasing a game.  I've been surprised in the past by people I thought were good parents buying their 9 year olds games rated "M".

Television and movie ratings are also jokes, though, for entirely different reasons.


----------



## RogerMD (Feb 25, 2013)

Bad parenting is mostly to blame for their kids behaviors. You see signs that something is up with your kids yet you ignore them? That's all on you. Not the kid in need of help. Video games have nothing to do with it. I've been playing violent video games forever. I am still sane and have no mental issues. Ppl don't want to blame themselves so they always try to find something else to point fingers. People continue to make excuses as to why tragic events keep happening is beyond me. Take responsibility, cowards!


----------



## Hatifnatten (Feb 25, 2013)

well, it's murika, what were people expecting


----------



## Death-kun (Feb 25, 2013)

Hatifnatten said:


> well, it's murika, what were people expecting



we, the people


----------



## Whip Whirlwind (Feb 25, 2013)

martryn said:


> They're a joke because of the fact they're completely ignored.  I don't know a single parent that takes a look at the ratings before purchasing a game.  I've been surprised in the past by people I thought were good parents buying their 9 year olds games rated "M".



Ah okay, I figured I misunderstood. I thought you meant the ESRB ratings themselves were jokes. I think there's a fair logic to how the ESRB rates the games, and I like that they make it a point to specify why that game is getting that rating.

The issue is just that they're ignored.

At the same time though American morals are just goofy sometimes. I used to work part time at toys r us and the most common concern with all these M rated games was "does this game have bad words?"


----------



## Ultimania (Feb 25, 2013)

Krory said:


> Seeing people are ignorant and stupid is, indeed, nothing new.



Fixed for accuracy.


----------



## Krory (Feb 25, 2013)

Ultimania said:


> Fixed for accuracy.



This statement itself is inaccurate as neither statement is more accurate and thus need not be changed.

More accurately, the statement was "changed for attention and hip-internet-status."


----------



## Corruption (Feb 25, 2013)

I have to be a genius compared to the intelligence and ignorance of the general American population.


----------



## ShiggyDiggyDoo (Feb 25, 2013)

Morgan said:


> I don't play video games (I can't even play Word Mole without freaking out), but I don't believe it causes violence. Human beings are just inherently violent, and I think it's just easier to blame it on video games, than to accept this notion.


This.

God, if only the people thinking this realized that even without it, violence will STILL occur. It has always occured throughout history. Do these same people think the Rwandan genocide was caused by video games? Nope. WW2? nope. 9/11? Hell no. So why is it that everytime some obviously batshit insane fucker goes out and kill somebody, video games get blamed? 

But I already know the answer to that question... People got to look at the easiest things to point blame on. It's like a damn witch hunt. People who are ignorant start to get this mob mentality and start to get fucking idiotic.

God, as if the gaming industry needs this when it's already in a declining state.


----------

