As we look back at 2012, the Sandy Hook massacre was a major shock. But was it a complete surprise?
Originally published in Go Erie
As a society, we need to examine the impact of some popular video games that promote such violence. I was troubled to find one such game named “Bully.” The player assumes the character of a 15-year-old boy who was expelled from every school he has attended. In the setting of his new private school, he is forced to make decisions about beating up enemy classmates with weapons that include a bottle rocket launcher.
The fact is that the medical literature supports an association between violent video games and aggression among adolescents. And the main society for pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, cautions parents about allowing their children to watch violent screen media.
In 2013, as we make sense out of the madness of Sandy Hook, the question now is whether we are willing to pull the plug on violent video games for children.
