A nine-year-old boy committed suicide at his school in Texas, and a psychologist decided to implicate videogames in the tragedy. After ironically stating that she did not want to "blame and cast dispersions" on the boy's family, Dr. Brenda Wade blamed and cast dispersions on videogames instead.
"The other factor is that younger and younger children are exposed to very violent videogames with content that I would shudder to have an adult watch on a regular basis," states Wade. "We just covered, a couple days ago, the story that children are watching as much as 52 hours a week of TV and sitting in front of a screen. A lot of that content is not uplifting and it’s not teaching our children how to handle problems and feelings."
... And yet, who would be letting the nine-year-old boy play these games? Why, wouldn't that be the responsibility of the family? The family that Wade didn't want to blame? Oh, you media psychologists, you do love your hypocrisy, strawmen, and irresponsible buck-passing.
The fourth-grader hung himself in a bathroom at Stewart Creek Elementary School. Exactly why he killed himself is something we do not know. Nice to see that some intelligent people have already decided what caused it, though.
After Tragedy, Dr. Plays Violent Game Blame Card [GamePolitics]
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Contest:
6:20 PM on 01.26.2010
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ALERT THE INTERNET!
ain't never a video game made me as sad or depressed as hearing a little boy hung himself.
how can anyone not look into his home upbringing? no video game has that kind of power, not one.
:(
That said fuck you Prof. Bullshit.
That's some straight up hippie shit. Whatever happened to bottling it all inside?
BTW has anyone played a game that actually promoted suicide. In most games you stay alive no matter what.
You can't blame the family because you'll seem like a heartless bastard.
You can blame video games because of their bad image and inability to fight back.
BTW Jim, what's the art there? I really like it.
No shit doc, isn't it the family's job?
But damn, this is so tragic.
@NateT
"What could a fourth grader be so down about that he would kill himself?"
Kids can be evil. He was probably picked on at school for some stupid shit and decided to hung himself instead of talking about his problems to his parents. Thing is, that kind of shit happened way before games existed.
Wow, thats really really sad....
Well done your majesty. *kisses hand...and ass*
But I'm sure this is just a doctor struggling with the thought of herself never being known for anything and dieing in obscurity. What is the quickest way to get attention? Witch hunt. Try to put people in an angry panic.
Either way, very sad to hear this but even more sad because of the blame. No way videoganes cause this, it's all mental. Nobody in their right mind would kill themselves...
It was years ago, but if I'll find it somewhere online, I'll make english subtitles and send you the link.
Was this before or after they sent planes containing mining equipment to Africa disguised as humanitarian aid?
That said, I have never played a videogame that promoted the killing of ones self. Most of the games I play promote the killing of others. At least when crackpots blame school shootings on videogames there are similarities to be found. This is just preposterous.
I doubt this kid was playing any games that teach you how to hang yourself. It takes a lot more real life issues (Maybe with, I don't know, His family?) to even consider doing something like that.
"Kids can be evil. He was probably picked on at school for some stupid shit and decided to hung himself instead of talking about his problems to his parents. Thing is, that kind of shit happened way before games existed."
/this, it's not hard to paint a picture of bullying and games being a mere respite from the real world. But if the child was playing concerning amounts surely it's the families responsibility to step in, if not to prevent the video game playing, to at least discover the reasons behind it.
/end speculation
Most games are primed to trigger an adrenal or endorphin response(aka action games or rewarding games of any kind), both of which oppose depression quite strongly. If the child was playing video games, then it's quite possible he was depressed and the video games naturally help. But no, what's SCIENCE got to do with anything, silly me.
I can't ever recall a single game that had or dealt with any type of suicide in it. I don't even understand how a 4th grader even can grasp the concept of suicide but maybe I am out of touch with todays issues.
BAN THIS SICK FILTH!
Being in Texas, among the average Texan, is more than enough reason to make suicide understandable.
That, or I'd like to blame and cast dispersions that psychologists did it. Even at nine the kid was amazed at what douchebags passed for authority and said "Screw this world."
But never the parents or maybe even the kids at school? Picking on him or something?
Also, I love that header.
deadly towers maybe?
I think the fact he did it at school was probably the biggest pointer in all of this. At the most extreme down point in gaming i doubt I'd carried on being depressed for as long as it took to contemplate suicide then head to school, get myself in place think "yup this is still a good idea" then go through with it.
From the location he did it I'd deduce that he either had problems at school, bullying etc or severe problems at home.
Only game I can think of where you commit suicide is The Darkness but I strongly doubt this child had just watched his girlfriend get waxed by his uncle.
Isn't it about time this doctor did the job he's getting paid for and not lie to the media and the kids family by placing the blame on a form of media that (being non-sentient) can't defend itself?
Just because someone was intelligent enough to become a psychologist doesn't mean they are not conservative enough to say something phenomenally ignorant.