*sigh*

Where to begin.

First off, read this story.

You read that right. A 16 year old boy shot his parents, killing his mother and wounding his father, because they wouldn't let him play Halo 3. As is getting too commonplace in todays society, a young person commits a horrific crime and the fingers are pointed at a videogame.

Under normal circumstances, gamers such as myself would be screaming "But where were the parents? Why would any self-respecting parent let their underage kid play a game rated for people older than them? Why would anyone let a young teen play an 18 or M rated game?" But I can't. Not in this case.

Because the parents here actually forbid their son to buy this game. And when they discovered he'd bought it behind their backs, they confiscated it, locking it away in the fathers secure, locked gun box. Just like a respectable parent. And what happened? He waited, waited, waited, then walked into the room, asked them to close their eyes as he had a "surprise" for them, and then shot them both with the very same gun the game was locked away with.

Now we have the dilemma - who do we blame? Violent videogames, or the parents?

Well, the violent videogames can't be at fault here, as the kid in question was obviously kept away from such games. The current argument runs that kids do violent things because they play violent games, so remove the games and you remove the act. Right? Well, no. This kid never got the chance to throw grenades at grunts. This kid never got the chance to blow the shit out of Guilty Spark. So there's only one option left, yes?

Well, no. The parents actually did their duty as parents, and prevented their child from playing a game that was deemed unsuitable for his age! They did what we, as gamers, regularly shout at our monitors whenever we read about kids doing stupid stuff and having videogames take the fall for their actions.

So if the only two options available are not accountable for this awful incident, then what IS?

Could it be that people like Jack Thompson, Tipper Gore, and all the other people who have been actively outspoken about the "dangers" of games, film and music, have actually given people a virtual "Get Out Of Jail Free" card? Could it be that across the world we have kids giving it "Hey, I'm pissed off at my parents, maybe if I put the GTAIV disc in my PS3 and then go shoot up my school, the game will get the blame and I'll get off lightly!" Could it be that those people have demonised the industry so much that it has now become the scapegoat for all bad crimes committed by young people? Have Thompson, Gore, et al, become the very people they set out to destroy?

One thing is for sure: people have ALWAYS done bad things, ever since time began. Young and old, black and white, before music, before movies, before games. Hell, nowadays you can't move more than 10 yards without seeing a newspaper stand detailing the latest stories about teens dying after stealing cars, about people dying through drug abuse, and with programs like "Cops" and "Worlds Wildest Police Videos", the dangers of breaking the law are streamed into our houses every single day, so its not like we're not being educated on the pitfalls of being a dick.

So where are we going wrong? Where did Susan and Mark go so wrong that their sixteen year old son Daniel would shoot them in the head over a videogame? Who can we blame? Or are we left with the one, terrifying, obvious yet horrific conclusion?

That people just do bad things.

Discuss this on the forums