It was only a matter of time, dammit. With the recent rage against violent games as a possible cause of violent crime, it was inevitable that someone would end up telling police that their games influenced them more towards violence.
The fact that it was a 14-year-old who was arrested for shooting both of his parents after they banned him from all electronics is not going to make this any prettier. Thankfully his parents are both alive and stable, though the mother is awaiting surgery. The ultimate trigger after the electronics ban was allegedly being told to do chores and play basketball.
He reportedly told police that he’d stopped playing video games because he felt they made him more violent, which is undoubtedly going to be touted as evidence that he was right. The boy is being held while prosecutors try to get permission to try him as an adult for two counts of attempted murder.
I look forward, more than ever, to seeing some actual research done on this particular topic if anything just to help prevent it from coming up so often. One can only hope that the boy, whether tried as an adult or as a minor, will not be turned into a rallying cry against the evils of video games.
