[qoae] Mr. Wonderful: Game Over, Man!

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Posted by Mr. Wonderful:
Game Over, Man!
http://www.qoae.net/posts/1214845224.shtml


   Recently, [1]six New York teens were arrested after a two-hour crime
   spree that police say was inspired by â yup, you guessed it â Grand
   Theft Auto IV! Now, Iâm not usually a person who likes to say âI told
   you so,â but â¦

   Nassau County Police say that six area teens went on a crime spree
   after the noobs decided to emulate the gameâs âprotagonist,â Nico
   Belic, thus beginning the crime spree. Here are the âhighlightsâ of
   their activities:

     * Mugging a man at a bus stop near the park. The teens allegedly
       beat him and knocked out some teeth.
     * Breaking into some sheds and garages, to steal baseball bats and
       crowbars. They then met up with a couple more teens â Stephen
       Attard, 18, and Dylan Laird, 17 â and continued their rampage.
     * The six then attempted some car-jackings in Garden City, where one
       of their erstwhile victims called the police. In other words,
       these noobs got pwned!

   So, you still think allowing teens and pre-teens to play this game is
   a good idea?

   I donât ⦠and no [2]long-winded rhetorical extolling the virtues of
   bonding with your children over video games is going to convince me
   otherwise. Why? Common sense! Kids are extremely impressionable and
   are often impressed by the gratuitous amounts of sex and violence that
   seem to be coming at them from every angle these days. From
   ultra-violent video games (such as GTA IV) to movies and music thatâs
   highly inappropriate, kids are being bombarded with the idea the
   victimizing others through the use of sex and violence is normal.
   Whatâs worse, these notions have become part of âpop culture,â thus
   giving the impression that âeverybodyâs doing it,â so it must be okay.

   Even though examples of sex and violence permeate all forms of
   entertainment that kids are subjected to, these youngsters donât have
   the maturity to separate fantasy from reality. Theyâre also too young
   to appreciate the rights of other people, and other peopleâs property.
   More importantly, they donât understand the concept of cause and
   effect ⦠until itâs much too late. Unfortunately, in the game of real
   life, there is no reset button, save-game function or cheat codes to
   help you through. When you get busted ⦠well ⦠youâre busted. Game
   over!

   And we canât just blame the kids â itâs the damn parents buying them
   these games.

   In these days of broken families and eroding social values, parents
   are either blissfully unaware of just how much crap their children are
   into; or, they seem to be want to be their childrenâs friend instead
   of being their parent. In the latter case, a game like GTA IV becomes
   a hot commodity, and any parent who purchases it for their kid gets an
   automatic âcool factor.â And in regards the gameâs gratuitous sex and
   violence, responsible, level-headed parents have to hear the lazy
   parentsâ many justifications for this monumentally obtuse decision. To
   wit:

     * âThis is the only way I can bond with my kid.â
     * âIâd rather have him playing GTA IV with me at home, where I can
       monitor him, than playing it somewhere else where I canât.â
     * âAll his friends are playing it, and I donât want my little angel
       to feel left out.â
     * âUnlike all the other kids, my kid is so uniquely intelligent and
       special that he/she can easily separate fantasy from reality.â

   I could go on at length with this nonsense, but you get the idea. Itâs
   just validation, justification and good, old-fashioned bad parenting.

   So, to all the parents out there that still think GTA IV is a great
   thing for Little Billy or Baby Suzie, you might want to consider the
   fate of the six New York teens. If thereâs one thing we know about
   history â itâs doomed to repeat itself. And please donât try that old
   canard â âThat will never happen to my kid.â Iâm sure the parents of
   the âNew York Sixâ said the same thing, up until the point when the
   police contacted them and said, âWe have your son in custody.â

   If you allow your teen or pre-teen to play this game, check your
   motivations for doing so. Do you really believe this is harmless fun?
   Or did you buy him/her the game out of some lame-assed attempt at
   winning your childâs approval?

   If so, itâs a classic case of âThe tail wagging the dog,â as my Uncle
   Glenn always used to say.

   By: Mr. Wonderful

References

   1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2207044/'Grand-Theft-Auto-gang'-arrested.html
   2. http://www.deanesmay.com/2008/06/18/the-modern-dilemma-what-games-do-you-play-with-your-kid/%20-