Posted by Juline Lambert on April 29, 1999 at 07:56:43:
With the rest of you, we have watched with horror the events of this week in Denver. We have cried and mourned with the rest of the country. Alyssa still won't sleep at night. It has effected us along with the rest of you. Because of my job here, it has brought up some very interesting conversations regarding violent computer and Nintendo games.
I have long been careful to not allow the extremely violent games in the house. I must admit to letting things slip a bit in the past few years as Joe has started to review games, and is in the teenage years. There is still a very definate limit, however.
I felt that one of the best discussions was on the Today Show the other morning. They were discussing this subject and said that one of the problems is that violent games may not CAUSE violence, but they can be a stepping stone for troubled kids. Then they brought up the point that the real danger is that there is not always a way to tell which kids are the troubled ones and which ones are not the troubled ones....until it's often too late. They said that the technology used today is sophisticated enough to train killers to be extremely efficient. The newer games are even worse! I am appaled at some that I see on the store shelves and wonder who would buy some of these for their kids.
I'm not sure what I think of the new proposed legislation yet. Will have to see how that plays out. There is no way you can keep them out of the hands of kids, but perhaps it is time to see that they aren't the one purchasing them. Haven't sorted out my feelings on this one yet.
I am wondering this week how you feel about violence in games, how you handle it in your family, and what your opinions are. Maybe we can all sort some of this out together.
Juline