“You get rewarded for killing people, raping women, stealing money from prostitutes, driving cars crashing and killing people,” says NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.
In an article in the Telegraph (or at least the Australian version), Scipione said that the prevalence of people that are “not just prepared to carry a knife, but prepared to use it” has “increased significantly” and that there is “nothing more potentially damaging than the sort of violence they’re being exposed to, be it in movies, be it in console games they’re playing.”
“How can it not affect you if you’re a young adolescent growing up in an era where to be violent is almost praiseworthy, where you engage in virtual crime on a daily basis and many of these young people (do) for hours and hours on end,” he said.
“You get rewarded for killing people, raping women, stealing money from prostitutes, driving cars crashing and killing people,” he added, presumably referring to the usual scapegoat of the Grand Theft Auto series, although the second point he raised is absent from the games.
Killing people is mentioned twice in the quote.
“That’s not going to affect the vast majority but it’s only got to affect one or two and what have you got? You’ve got some potentially really disturbed young person out there who’s got access to weapons like knives or is good with the fist, can go out there and almost live that life now in the streets of modern Australia,” he said.
“That’s concerning.”
As VG247 correctly state, here in the UK PEGI is now law, so at least clear ratings are shown for our videogames. Perhaps that should be a clear focus for those responsible?
skibadee
wonder what jack the ripper played to make him that way.
colmshan1990
So would this Police Commissioner let me off with a crime if I said video games made me do it?
I somehow doubt it, so it’d be nice if he stopped spewing his rhetoric into places where I can read it. And because of the internet, I can read it anywhere (literally, I’m sat on the toilet right now), so perhaps he’d best just shut up?
Especially as I play video games, and might kill him, rape him, steal from him, drive a car (is this an issue?), crash a car, and then kill him again if he annoys me.
Or something.
Sad Panda
It’s the same bullshit, just a different scapegoat.
In the 80’s and 90’s it was Rap music
In the 50’s it was Rock and Roll
The older generation need to find something to blame for the younger generations mistakes, without seeing that it’s their flawed teaching and parenting skills partially to blame.
Video games have a hell of a long way to go to catch religion in the killing stakes, where are all the articles complaining about kids attending churches???
Minion4life
I would’ve thought the police not doing their jobs would cause a rise in crime but, no, it’s obviously video games.
blarty
IIRC, Australia has (or until recently had) some of the most restrictive laws on game censorship and no 18 game rating, meaning that any 18 games had to be imported… So how can his little quips be even remotely correct? Do you mean to say that a number of games that couldn’t be classifies as an 18 featured knifing people?! I think the Australian law should look a little closer to home rather than throw out pretty much unsubstantiated rumours about gaming and violent assaults.
Gadbury
I blame the lack of power police, teachers and parents have over children. Lack of discipline.