Some 'violent games causing violent behavior' cases, again..

[xdarkyrex]

And how did a 17 year old get access to liquor in the first place in the US where you have to buy 21 in most states to buy alcohol ?

lol are you kidding?
How?

In America, getting alcohol is ridiculously easy.
Any average 13 year old can get alcohol at any time, without even trying.

Is it not like that in Denmark?
Getting cigarettes was even easier as a kid, and even getting weed or coke was something anyone could do if they wanted to.

 

[PlanHex]

In America, getting alcohol is ridiculously easy.
Any average 13 year old can get alcohol at any time, without even trying.

Is it not like that in Denmark?
Getting cigarettes was even easier as a kid, and even getting weed or coke was something anyone could do if they wanted to.

It's even easier here because you only have to be 16 to buy alchohol in a store or 18 in a bar.
It really helps when you're tall. I've been able to get into bars since I was 13 or 14 I think.

 

[Mord_Sith]

Am I the only honest vagrant who actually waited until I was 18 to get pickled?

(Canadian legal age is 18, although it might as well be 16 these days -.-)

 

[Madbringer]

Funny thing is, it was easier for me to buy beers and smokes when i was seven than now... there wasn't a law against selling those things to people under 18 back then, all it took was saying "it's for my dad!". Now i have to carry my ID around with me, the shopkeeps usually ask me for it, probably because of my youthful, and innocently beautiful face.

 

[JohnnyEgo]

My wife is 35, but looks considerably younger. She still gets carded for R-rated movies. It angers her, but I find it quite amusing.

I'm a big guy with a deep voice, and I've been that way since junior high. Used to have no problems scoring booze and cigarettes for my friends. Those were the late 80s and early 90s, where anyone with a laminating machine and a polaroid could turn out a passable fake ID. I was quite the accomplished drunk by the age of 18, having three juvenile convictions for under-aged drinking, as well as assorted miscellaneous ass-hattery common amongst teenagers.

It was relatively easy to get alcohol then, and it remains so for teens today. Someone's always got an older brother or parents that don't lock up the liquor cabinet. What's funny is that for all the dumb things I did, and all the violent media and video games (Space Invaders! - It taught me to use cover and to lead my shots at moving targets!) I had, I still managed to avoid killing myself and others. I blame good parenting.

Lawn Darts Rock!!

 

[SuAside]

i always marvel at the fact that at 16 americans are supposed to be mature enough to drive & whatnot.

yet have to wait til 18 (or 21 depending on the state i think) to be responsible enough to sit on their lawn & enjoying a good cold brew.

 

[Pablosdog]

drinking laws are 19 here in Canada...you'd think it be lower considering the common stereotype portraying us as fat overweight beer guzzling hockey loving slobs. *sigh*

*on topic* I heard of an old story about a kid going into movie theaters and shooting up mirrors in the bathrooms because he was influenced by duke nukem 3d.

Urban legend?

 

[S]

Re: Some 'violent games causing violent behavior' cases, aga

One is in Beijing, China.
The boy thinks he's a firemage when commiting the crime News here

The next one is a toddler, killed by her sister's dumbass boyfriend while he was imitating moves from Mortal Kombat.

these 2 examples do say much about peoples ability to diffrentiate between fantasy and real world. I disagree with people that say tv and games turning people violent. Its more like people today don't have "human" values as much as they used to have.
Possible because of parent simply not albe to teach their young

 

[Mord_Sith]

Differentiating between reality and unreality is hardly an issue usually, it's just that those that are going to be idiots act like idiots, the MK bit as tragic as it is, was a combination of Liquor and human stupidity, not because he believed he was actually the fellow from MK, but because his sensibilities were so far gone from the combination of age/booze/intelligence that he didn't think before he acted.

As for the firemage bit, it sounds more like an insanity plea rather than an actual issue with the kid's head, although there's gotta be a few screws loose or some serious trauma to consider dousing someone in gasoline and putting them to the torch.

Fire mage, doubt it, pyromaniac, definitely, requires some psych help, certainly, will this mage bit derail the doc, maybe, but they're the professionals so perhaps they'll see through to the real problem.

The question I have is, why did the kid let himself be doused in gasoline, it almost sounds like either a dare, or they were mucking about later on afterwards and the pyro decided that he wanted to demonstrate what he could do in game, with devastating events.

Once again human stupidity can be connected even to Fire Boi.

 

[xdarkyrex]

Fire mage, doubt it, pyromaniac, definitely, requires some psych help, certainly, will this mage bit derail the doc, maybe, but they're the professionals so perhaps they'll see through to the real problem.

I digress, pyromania isn't always violent or destructive

 

[Moving Target]

i always marvel at the fact that at 16 americans are supposed to be mature enough to drive & whatnot.

yet have to wait til 18 (or 21 depending on the state i think) to be responsible enough to sit on their lawn & enjoying a good cold brew.

Interesting little tidbit about those numbers:

Every few years, some state tries to get the driving age brought up to 18. I think California almost did it about two years ago, but it never sticks, despite the fact that drivers aged 16-23 are the most likely (by a broad margin) to get into collisions, speed and so forth. Something about rights blah blah.

And the drinking age in the U.S. is 21, no exceptions. What varies there are the "blue laws," state, county or city laws regarding where and when you can buy liquor, and how strong the stuff can be legally.

The age of consent for sex and marriage is what varies like what you're thinking of.... I think the lowest is 14, but I'm not sure.

And I was one of those rare people who (almost) made it to 21 without drinking more than, say, a sip of wine. Of course, I was a very strict Baptist Christian at the time, so I had a valid reason, but it did happen.

 

[Robert Czarwolski]

Games aren't the problem retarded people playing games with retarded parents are the problem... Like that guy that was going to kill everyone is his school (that goddamn table was full of AKs, SVDs and has even a browing!). Why? Because his retarded mother gave him the weapons or the poor kid would get sad... Oohh... [sarcasm]And the fault violent games![/sarcasm].

 

[JohnnyEgo]

Interesting little tidbit about those numbers:

<snip>

And the drinking age in the U.S. is 21, no exceptions. What varies there are the "blue laws," state, county or city laws regarding where and when you can buy liquor, and how strong the stuff can be legally.

<snip>

Almost. The federal law regulates sale of liquor. In essense, it takes the form of a bribe/threat - states electing not to enforce the 21 year age limit face the loss of a good chunk of their federal highway funding.

Note this is a prohibition against sale and public possession, and not against consumption. Most states set private consumption rules for minors. Many have statutory exceptions for family and traditional consumption. That's why you don't see the vice squad hanging out at Catholic churches with a wary eye on the communion wine.

Puerto Rico, a US territorial possession, has maintained it's 18 year drinking age.

 

[Plasma-pip]

Time for imitation of Manhunt.

 

[DarkCorp]

I think the big problem with idiocy in america these days is because we give our kids tons of excuses for doing stupid ass things.

Everyone is like "hey, hes a kid, let him play and do his thing", If they do something wrong, many parents just ignore it or givem a slap on the wrist.

Jesus christ the standard media these days for kids is mindless programming such as ed, ed and eddy, naked brothers band, zack and cody, etc, etc.

I say why not use reverse psychology on the kids. Show them why doing stupid things is wrong and how it feels to be on the recieving end. Some tell me that they are too young to comprehend such tactics but I think thats utter bullshit.

If we can teach babies to sign, then yeah, kids understand hitting other kids is bad if they don't like getting hit themselves.

 

[Mord_Sith]

Horses are the dumbest creatures on the planet, but they still understand a good beating when they feel it, it's cruel to say, but pain is probably one of the greatest teachers in the early stages of human psyche development.

However it has to be balanced correctly otherwise you end up with a mentally unstable person who avoids contact with others...

Ok I'm gonna go cry in my beer now

 

[DarkCorp]

I think a single hit would do. Many kids got smacked in the butt or on the thigh and are still functional ordinary adults.

The only time I condone the use of a belt or coat hanger for one smack is if the kid is just getting out of control.

Its funny I am quoting Mao and a line from starship troopers but it makes sense. Mao said that peace comes through the barrel of a gun and the teacher in starship troopers comments that violence more than any other method throughout history has been applied to solve problems.

Its like bullies and dickwads. They push and push until they either get beatup (thankfully) or get their brains blown out by some kid that just got picked on too much and snapped. Its human nature to push your limits till it pushes back.

 

[Blakut]

In my counrty there were no laws prohibiting the sale of cigarettes and alcohol to minors until i turned 18... so i could go to a bar and drink a beer and smoke a cigarette when i was 14 with no problems . (14 is the age i first went to a bar - i went to buy beer for my dad when i was younger. Got drunk once when i gulped one beer bottle to see how it feels guess i was 12 or somehing)
Looking back on all of this i realise that it shouldn't surprise me. Everyone in every village in my country grows fruit for fermentation. I remember that i used to spend a few days every year around the still with my grandfather making moonshine. In fact now i think i can make booze out of anything organic that ferments.

I've played the most violent computer games (and so did all the kids from my generation): there were no laws prohibiting the sale of games or movies. My country had just emerged from communist dictatorship, so for a few years all cesorship (which was seen as a dictator's tool) was dropped. So i got it all as a kid: violent games, violent movies, erotic movies on tv (no porn though ) As a kid i played Doom, cutting people with chainsaws, Duke Nukem, Doom2, Hexen, Warcraft... all the goldies of the era. Then it all became regulated again, TV that is. But there is absolutely no censorship or rating for games. At least not yet. Seeing as my fellow citizens have no access to firearms, my guess is that guns are the issue, not the videogames.

I guess that being exposed to that level of violence makes one more indifferent to the suffering and violence in the world. I don't know though.

The news on tv are far more violent than any game: people exploding in Irak, murders, rapes, hostage takings, school shootings. For example, i clearly remember, as a kid, i once saw on tv some news about a guy who killed his neighbour, cut his arms and head. Then the killer nailed the severed hands of the victim to the front gate to his garden, placed the victim's head in a bucket next to his hands and then burned the remaining body. All this was shown on the news, in the middle of the day, with absolutely no cesorship (no large pixels over the severed hands, no blurring when filming closeups of the corpse). I was 13 at the time and i was thinking: man, these guys are showing these things on tv, well, shouldn't this affect me and turn me into a psycho or something? Guess it didn't. Or did it!? dun dun dun duuuun.

I believe that the fault lies in bad parenting, easy access to guns and a mental disorder.

 

[Sorrow]

I guess that being exposed to that level of violence makes one more indifferent to the suffering and violence in the world. I don't know though.

The news on tv are far more violent than any game: people exploding in Irak, murders, rapes, hostage takings, school shootings.

The worst thing is that the "informational" media are creating an image of nightmarish world that is full of crime - more, people from certain groups (gamers for example) are presented almost exclusively as murderers, while they don't show millions of gamers that aren't murderers.

Other bad thing is promoting compassion and mercy towards violent criminals, which results in lack of consequences for their crimes and lack of security for victims.

 

[Mord_Sith]

Geh that is so bloody true it hurts, I know people who are moving away from the city I live in because it's spiraling down the drain as far as criminal control is concerned.

Despite it's faults I'll still live in this city, 'tis my home after all.