i would have nominated them for a darwin award if they killed their parents first... as it stands now, 2 sets of bad parents can still unleash their stupid spawn onto the world...
When I saw this article, at first I thought it was a joke, then it sunk in that it wasn't, and all I felt after that was pity for the people bringing the suit. Pity, that someone would be so narrow minded and greed filled, that they would turn a horrendous event such as Columbine into a source of money.
I'll give you a little background on my situation. I'm a 20 year old Network Administrator from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I graduated from a local Private school with average grades, and went on to University to take Computer Science. When I discovered that it wasn't what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life, I found a summer job, and stuck with it.
I am also a gamer. I have been playing computer games since I was 2, and I have been playing online games since I was 14. Doom, Doom2, Quake, Quake2, Quake3, Half-Life, and all the other games that the media has stereotyped as "Violent" and completely out there, plus more. I've played them all, and I've played them all against real people, not just computer controlled characters. And you know what? I don't have a problem distinguishing between reality and fantasy. Sure, when I see these shoot-em-up movies on TV these days with gratuitous violence, people blowing up, etc, I don't get squeamish, hell, sometimes when it's so over the top it's funny. But when I see footage of real events on TV, acts of violence that REALLY happened, it gets to me, and I know it gets to almost all of my online brothers.
The fact that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 16 people, and the fact that they played violent computer games are completely separate. They would have killed people anyways, that's just the type of people they were. Maybe their parents smacked them when they cried as children, maybe they were breastfed too long. The fact remains, they killed people, and I don't kill people. And _I_ have played games that are WAY more violent than Doom ever was. Doom was the first of it's kind. You were running through complete fantasy lands, blowing up aliens, NOT humans. Quake was the same thing, it just looked a little nicer.
And another trend I have been noticing about this incident, and similar incidents in general is no one blames the parents. If I was about to go kill a bunch of my classmates or co-workers, you can be sure MY parents would have noticed signs, and would have caught it before the event took place. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's parents were either very very detached from their kids, or didn't care when their kids started becoming destructive. And what the hell do they expect to happen if they let the TV and Computer raise their kids for them. I know both of their parents might have worked full time, I know time might have been a item that wasn't stocked in a large quantity, but I do know it sure doesn't take a hell of a lot of time to ask their kids how their days went, and how they are doing.
Maybe instead of persecuting the media and gaming industry, and wasting money on stupid court cases, the US Government should invest in a parenting program. All kids when they enter puberty have birth control devices implanted under their skin which last for 3 or so years. They are renewed every 3 years, and then after marriage or whenever a child is wanted, the couple has to go to a parenting program. If they fail, they have to have the birth control devices renewed, and if they fail the program 3 times in a row, they are permanently sterilized. Sound stupid? Almost as stupid as suing people who have done nothing, and ignoring people who have everything to do with it. Suing people for events they have absolutely no control over is stupid, greedy, moronic, despicable, etc.
So, in closing, let me make my position perfectly clear. The fault is not with the Media, or with the Software Industry who produce violent movies / games. The fault is with the Parents of the kids who act on the movies and games for not taking more interest in the kid's life and giving them a proper set of morals. If Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's parents had taught them right for wrong, this event would never have taken place. And if the media wasn't so high-and-mighty about who's right, who's wrong, and why they killed them, and oh what a tragedy, these copycats would have never done it.
Matt "BuBBa" Lowe
www.ministryofpain.com
By the way, you might want to look at gun control for a solution to your problem, just take a look at how many violent crimes in Canada involve semiautomatic hand guns compared to the states. Only school shooting we've had here in Canada (in Alberta) involved hunting rifles, and you can't take down half your graduating class with a hunting rifle. Just something to look at when people get tired of suing each other.
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ya, ok... so, you are going to charge budwiser and gm execs when some guy goes out gets drunk and then runs over a family? kthxno
i would have nominated them for a darwin award if they killed their parents first... as it stands now, 2 sets of bad parents can still unleash their stupid spawn onto the world...
When I saw this article, at first I thought it was a joke, then it sunk in that it wasn't, and all I felt after that was pity for the people bringing the suit. Pity, that someone would be so narrow minded and greed filled, that they would turn a horrendous event such as Columbine into a source of money. I'll give you a little background on my situation. I'm a 20 year old Network Administrator from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I graduated from a local Private school with average grades, and went on to University to take Computer Science. When I discovered that it wasn't what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life, I found a summer job, and stuck with it. I am also a gamer. I have been playing computer games since I was 2, and I have been playing online games since I was 14. Doom, Doom2, Quake, Quake2, Quake3, Half-Life, and all the other games that the media has stereotyped as "Violent" and completely out there, plus more. I've played them all, and I've played them all against real people, not just computer controlled characters. And you know what? I don't have a problem distinguishing between reality and fantasy. Sure, when I see these shoot-em-up movies on TV these days with gratuitous violence, people blowing up, etc, I don't get squeamish, hell, sometimes when it's so over the top it's funny. But when I see footage of real events on TV, acts of violence that REALLY happened, it gets to me, and I know it gets to almost all of my online brothers. The fact that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 16 people, and the fact that they played violent computer games are completely separate. They would have killed people anyways, that's just the type of people they were. Maybe their parents smacked them when they cried as children, maybe they were breastfed too long. The fact remains, they killed people, and I don't kill people. And _I_ have played games that are WAY more violent than Doom ever was. Doom was the first of it's kind. You were running through complete fantasy lands, blowing up aliens, NOT humans. Quake was the same thing, it just looked a little nicer. And another trend I have been noticing about this incident, and similar incidents in general is no one blames the parents. If I was about to go kill a bunch of my classmates or co-workers, you can be sure MY parents would have noticed signs, and would have caught it before the event took place. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's parents were either very very detached from their kids, or didn't care when their kids started becoming destructive. And what the hell do they expect to happen if they let the TV and Computer raise their kids for them. I know both of their parents might have worked full time, I know time might have been a item that wasn't stocked in a large quantity, but I do know it sure doesn't take a hell of a lot of time to ask their kids how their days went, and how they are doing. Maybe instead of persecuting the media and gaming industry, and wasting money on stupid court cases, the US Government should invest in a parenting program. All kids when they enter puberty have birth control devices implanted under their skin which last for 3 or so years. They are renewed every 3 years, and then after marriage or whenever a child is wanted, the couple has to go to a parenting program. If they fail, they have to have the birth control devices renewed, and if they fail the program 3 times in a row, they are permanently sterilized. Sound stupid? Almost as stupid as suing people who have done nothing, and ignoring people who have everything to do with it. Suing people for events they have absolutely no control over is stupid, greedy, moronic, despicable, etc. So, in closing, let me make my position perfectly clear. The fault is not with the Media, or with the Software Industry who produce violent movies / games. The fault is with the Parents of the kids who act on the movies and games for not taking more interest in the kid's life and giving them a proper set of morals. If Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's parents had taught them right for wrong, this event would never have taken place. And if the media wasn't so high-and-mighty about who's right, who's wrong, and why they killed them, and oh what a tragedy, these copycats would have never done it. Matt "BuBBa" Lowe www.ministryofpain.com By the way, you might want to look at gun control for a solution to your problem, just take a look at how many violent crimes in Canada involve semiautomatic hand guns compared to the states. Only school shooting we've had here in Canada (in Alberta) involved hunting rifles, and you can't take down half your graduating class with a hunting rifle. Just something to look at when people get tired of suing each other.