He looked up and smiled broadly. “Yes,” he said, “I want this video game.” From the description in the catalog, I was a little surprised that it was an extremely violent game. So I asked him, “Why this game?”
He smiled again, “It has the very best fatalities.”
“Excuse me?” Darn earwax, I must have heard wrong.
“This game has the very best fatalities,” he repeated.
His mother did not pay the slightest attention so I asked, “What are fatalities?” He looked up and said, “When people die.”
“What makes them the very best fatalities?”
He broke into a grin. “That is when the blood spurts out and their bones show and the skin burns off while they die.”
His mother gave me the look, “boys will be boys.” Later I asked her if she thought it was good that a six-year-old wants a game featuring death. She told me most young kids feel the same which is why there are so many violent games on the market.
I persisted, “That begs the question. It does not matter that they like it, my question is if it is good for them.”
There has been much concern about violence in our society. Some people think the violence is caused by a lack of communication. I believe we have so much violence because many Americans like violence. The enjoyment of violence, for itself, is a product of the American entertainment industry.
Violence in America is promulgated by those people who find violence enjoyable. Much of the violence in America happens because the perpetrator simply felt like hurting someone. Guns and knives are not the cause; rather, the source is the sickness of enjoyed violence within our society. Read full column
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