Dr. Phil Blames Video Games for Virginia Tech Massacre

[MeMing]

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sorry for the extremely delayed reaction but i just saw this thread. hehe

i think almost everyone is right here that violent video games are not to be blamed TOTALLY. but we all have to admit, that it has to contribute in some sort.

has anyone ever tried playing NFS or any of the GTAs and then minutes after, you have to drive your way somewhere? and while driving, didn't you ever get the "feel" or "idea" of driving as fast as you can so you'd be the only car up front (the NFS kind of feeling)? or haven't you felt like shooting or bumping a taxi for suddenly cutting in on you in on heavy traffic? if not, then i guess you haven't played these games that much or you just have no imagination whatsoever.

the point is, no matter what your upbringing is, these violent video games PARTLY give the younger generation IDEAS of violence. now, these ideas are nothing to a completely normal person, but given to those people who have been victims of whatever discomfort in life, they could be an eye opener for a mass murderer.

and if say, "nganong gamay raman ang mass murderers sa pilipinas nga daghan man kaayo manuwa"? all i can say is, we are in a country that easily gets happiness from our families, religion and some other forms of easily accessible comforts. unfortunately for some societies, they don't have these comforts. but, nevertheless, any society SHOULD NOT FEED YOUNG MINDS with such violence. we will never know when and where these kids might end up in their lives. we will never know, that some day, something might trigger them to live their GTA lives in our society.

ergo, violent video games are PARTLY responsible for present and by the looks of it, more mass murders like this. i wouldn't be surprised when the day comes when one of my frequent customer at my cafe will one day come and rob us since not all cafe establishments are controlling R rated games like GTA.

[jiro]

hehe. i saw this thread bump on new response thread.

react lang ko.

has anyone ever tried playing NFS or any of the GTAs and then minutes after, you have to drive your way somewhere? and while driving, didn't you ever get the "feel" or "idea" of driving as fast as you can so you'd be the only car up front (the NFS kind of feeling)? or haven't you felt like shooting or bumping a taxi for suddenly cutting in on you in on heavy traffic? if not, then i guess you haven't played these games that much or you just have no imagination whatsoever.

the point is, no matter what your upbringing is, these violent video games PARTLY give the younger generation IDEAS of violence. now, these ideas are nothing to a completely normal person, but given to those people who have been victims of whatever discomfort in life, they could be an eye opener for a mass murderer.

compared to violent movies? news? story books? our history?

its funny they added video games. and its like they are making VIDEO games as the sole reason for student mass murderrers.
these games are sort of stress relief 'for ***'s sake. oh come on! ITS A GAME! do you like playing chess that you cant kill the other chest piece? Do you think pacman eating those monster is making you a monster? Do you think playing games like warcraft is programming you into a killer? Do you want entertainment?

clame 1:
DR. PHIL: And the problem is we are programming these people as a society. You cannot tell me - common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they’re on a mass killing spree in a video game, it’s glamorized on the big screen, it’s become part of the fiber of our society.

claim 2:
You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high.
he says - Psychopath/sociopath/or crazy people + games = highly suggested massmurder.

buang man ni phil oy.
TRY Psychopath/sociopath/or crazy people + Access to guns

claim 3:
And we’re going to have to start dealing with that. We’re going to have to start addressing those issues and recognizing that the mass murders of tomorrow are the children of today that are being programmed with this massive violence overdose.

see .. he says phychopath plus games. now he is saying playing video games are turning children into mass murderers. HELLER!? GAMES!? TRY Depression... Psycopath... unhappy... no love... violence...
he should say mass murders of tomorrow are the psycopath children (playing games... :mrgreen: all right ka Phil!).

there is no scientific proof what so ever games are turning students into murderers.

pirting daghana video games sa philippines. mas makaafford pa man gani ta palit ug daghan games compared sa ilaha. is there a student massacre in philippines? then wanna try blame it on games? funny giud. mao ni kano, bisan unsa na lang gud. quick solution - ban violent games arun wala na mass murderers.

in short - Dr Phill = baseless claims and opinions and not facts.

[brownprose]

Dr. Phil can't just easily put the blame to video games ALONE...although in fairness, much of what kids are playing now glamorize killings like GTA: San Andreas. These type of games shouldn't reach the hands of kids nor a game like that be allowed to clutter in our homes.

[MeMing]

Dr. Phil can't just easily put the blame to video games ALONE...although in fairness, much of what kids are playing now glamorize killings like GTA: San Andreas. These type of games shouldn't reach the hands of kids nor a game like that be allowed to clutter in our homes.

exactly my point sir. but unfortunately in our almost free internet cafe rates and no social concern whatsoever from the cafe owners, many of our kids are enjoying their killing sprees on the computer. we just have to thank God that we have better emotional and psychological well beings than other cultures. if not, we won't just be seing frat wars and all these "vigilanti" style drive-by murders specially because we also live in an island where guns can be easily and illegally bought through the black market of Danao gun makers.

and again, even if playing violent video games are not the only reason for more violence, i'd say it's better not to ADD more reasons to such behaviors.

[brownprose]

exactly my point sir. but unfortunately in our almost free internet cafe rates and no social concern whatsoever from the cafe owners, many of our kids are enjoying their killing sprees on the computer. we just have to thank God that we have better emotional and psychological well beings than other cultures. if not, we won't just be seing frat wars and all these "vigilanti" style drive-by murders specially because we also live in an island where guns can be easily and illegally bought through the black market of Danao gun makers.

and again, even if playing violent video games are not the only reason for more violence, i'd say it's better not to ADD more reasons to such behaviors.

agree...there's just too much violence everywhere...y keep the fire burning?

[aditti]

i think u have to consider and factor in that video games are quite pervasive nowadays in american culture and it gives the player a first person outlook in shooting2x and killing2x... some people feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in doing this on tv...and sa kanang mga naay psychological and mental health problems specially those violent ones they would want to do this in real life cgro..

many movies are so violent, bloody and gorey na ma r-18 na... some crazy people do get inspired from watching massacres and etc. since most of us are normal, we would tend to brush videos/movies/media as wala lang..doesnt influence us much cgro...

there is no exact scientific formula or explanation why there are serial killers and mass murderers and etc... daghan kau different reasons and triggers why the killer did what...

the mind of a crazy person works in a different level... bisan imong smile-an cgro and uban see it as a threat and would want to kill you

maybe a little ot: but my brother likes to play those shoot em up games specially grand theft auto... and i can say that mas ni samot cya og ka bastos tungod ana... bastos og baba..walay batasan samot... he likes to watch kana sad mga war/violent movies so i guess apil sad cgro na sa factor.. and yes, he had said more than 1 time that he'd like to bomb the school.

[brownprose]

i think u have to consider and factor in that video games are quite pervasive nowadays in american culture and it gives the player a first person outlook in shooting2x and killing2x... some people feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in doing this on tv...and sa kanang mga naay psychological and mental health problems specially those violent ones they would want to do this in real life cgro..

many movies are so violent, bloody and gorey na ma r-18 na... some crazy people do get inspired from watching massacres and etc. since most of us are normal, we would tend to brush videos/movies/media as wala lang..doesnt influence us much cgro...

there is no exact scientific formula or explanation why there are serial killers and mass murderers and etc... daghan kau different reasons and triggers why the killer did what...

the mind of a crazy person works in a different level... bisan imong smile-an cgro and uban see it as a threat and would want to kill you

maybe a little ot: but my brother likes to play those shoot em up games specially grand theft auto... and i can say that mas ni samot cya og ka bastos tungod ana... bastos og baba..walay batasan samot... he likes to watch kana sad mga war/violent movies so i guess apil sad cgro na sa factor.. and yes, he had said more than 1 time that he'd like to bomb the school.

I wouldn't conclude that ur bro's recent behavior was bcoz of solely on GTA alone...although we can't rule out the possibility. You're right... theoretically, violence is an acquired behavior or an accumulation of several factors...influences and experiences. Examples could be abuse or oppression, political/religious beliefs, excessive exposure to actual or fictional violence (such as in the movies or videos). Coping mechanisms vary in each person...and those that can't handle them would easily find violence almost natural choice to suppress those adverse experiences.

And as I have said...we need to brign good media in our homes and legislate policy against violent media to reduce or if not eliminate violence at home or in the communities.

[jiro]

maybe a little ot: but my brother likes to play those shoot em up games specially grand theft auto... and i can say that mas ni samot cya og ka bastos tungod ana... bastos og baba..walay batasan samot... he likes to watch kana sad mga war/violent movies so i guess apil sad cgro na sa factor.. and yes, he had said more than 1 time that he'd like to bomb the school.

you really think that games is turning your brother violent? i dont think so. we have the same brother. All my brothers and sisters love to play games, we play online and we meet online (World of warcraft). My brothers like violent mature games like Fear, HalfLife, GTA 3 and SanAndreas, Resident Evil, FatalFrame. My sisters are different, they play girly like games - Sims, RollerCoaster, and not to mention - Fatal Frame, WoW and Diablo. No, it doesnt affect violent personality. it makes us even closer because we play together and have fun together. We play online games nowadays cause we apart. I think i was because we were mature enough.

I do believe FRIENDS and FAMILY are the biggest contributor to their personality.

I do believe that the games they like is the type of person they are.
If they are aggressive, thrill seeking, adventurous - guess what type of games they like? Fear, Fatal Frame, GTA
If they are childish, happy go lucky, gay - guess what type of games they like? Sims, Spongebob, Yahoo Games
If they are intellectual, witty and mature - guess what? chess, starcraft, roleplaying games, strategy games
If they like basketball - guess what? NBA
If they are into sports - guess what? sports games

Its the after effect.

Well if you let a child play an adult game... THATs your fault. Child is different - they are still learning. again, i stress, Its friends and family, its your fault letting a child playing an adult game. Its your responsibility to guide them. Its much like television (Which they have easier access compared to computer games). Even if they play these games, It still all depends on his friends and family which affects their behavior. I dont think games and adult materials like playboy is affecting their personality, its already in them.

Its just like the story of adam and eve. Do you think its the Apple's fault? or the Devil's fault? or its their own fault? or is it God's fault? Eve's fault? Adams fault?

but can you really blame the Apple(a.k.a. games?)

[MeMing]

"but can you really blame the Apple(a.k.a. games?)"

yes you can PARTLY blame the apple in this case. please take note, the key work is PARTLY in case it's not that apparent to you. why is it PARTLY to be blamed? because children are curious by nature. and no matter how hard any parent in whatever country tries to prevent their own children from taking a curious bite on whatever "apple" it may be (media, violent video games etc.), they (including you my friend or any person for that matter even the president of whatever country) can not stop what goes around in any child's environment. when a child goes to school or whatever place where he can meet other children or child-like adults, there's nothing anyone can do if these children/people will give your kids a healthy dose of violent curiosity from the influence that they might have from whatever "apple" they got it from. and as curious as any child is, they will find ways to see what the fuzz is about and all that.

now, in such cases, is it the environment's fault? or the presence of all the "apples" that some children can easily access?

"If they are intellectual, witty and mature - guess what? chess, starcraft, roleplaying games, strategy games"

lolz! i've been a wcg competitor in starcraft brood war (not to brag, i've been the wcg champion in cebu for 2 years and i was the 1 game away from going to Korea in wcg 2001) and i don't think all the people that plays strategy games are intellectual, witty or mature. i think game preference has something to do with your personality but it does not really follow all the time (if not most of the time). ergo, violent people don't really tend to play violent games all the time.

lastly, i don't think WoW and other FANTASY based online/offline games can really be considered violent. compare them to GTAs which simulate real life scenarios but your friend Tommy can just easy dispose of any of the characters in it.

in conclusion, i think the "apple" is PARTLY to be blamed. PARTLY! PAAAAAAAAARTLY! lolz

[jiro]

agree..

i like GTA btw.. WoW is similar. the difference is that there's real people.

I like hunting lowbies from lvl10-lvl40. i like killing them. cause its fun? Mwahahaha (milk comes out from nose)

going back to the topic - He blames games for the massacre. (is childish). Correct me if im wrong, the killer doesnt even play games.