What Came First, the Violence or the Video Game?
On September 13th, a 25-year-old man walked
into Dawson College in Montreal and went on a shooting spree that took
at least one life and wounded 19 people. News outlets were quick to
point out that the gunman, who died in a shootout with police, enjoyed
violent video games. Headlines pointed to a link between the rampage
and the games the murderer played.
Back in 1989 another 25-year-old, Marc Lepine, killed 14 people in a
similar incident at another Montreal college. Unfortunately, there was
no large-scale Internet or GTA to blame at the time. If violent games
had been available back then, would a violence-obsessed Lepine have
played them? Would they have been to blame?
Montreal is the only link in these two cases, but I’d feel like an
idiot claiming it meant anything at all. Charles Whitman killed 16
people and wounded 31 at the University of Texas in 1966. The
Columbine Massacre that took 13 lives is so named for the school it
took place in. As a real-life parent, should I take this as proof that
my child should avoid school? It is the one overarching link in all
these cases.
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Nelson Rodriguez
Source: Planet Xbox 360