Headlines are trumpeting a tragic shooting that happened in Louisiana last Thursday, August 22. An 8-year-old boy shot his grandmother in the head with a .38 caliber handgun that belonged to her, while she was watching television.
A tragic story, for sure, where a lot of questions as to why it happened have to be answered. Where did he get the gun? Why was he unsupervised with it? Did he have even a modicum of gun safety knowledge?
The news media, of course, barely if at all touches on these questions. Instead, they stampede towards the easiest, most sensational assumption that video games are the culprit. Since the police have taken the trouble to mention in their statement that the young child was playing Grand Theft Auto IV “just before” the shooting, most of the headlines read something to the effect of “8-Year-Old kills caregiver after playing video game”. Causality is baked right into the headline.
Why not “Kid shoots grandmother after brushing teeth”? Can we instantly rule out aggressive teeth brushing as the main factor? How about “Child murders caregiver after hot cocoa”? Sugar has been linked to aggressive and uncontrolled behaviour in children for decades.
Even if you want to cloud the event with the idea that violent video games can contribute to real-life acts of violence, the question in this case must be asked: why was an 8-year-old playing a game labelled M for Mature? I only read one article that even mentions the fact that GTA IV is so rated, and surprisingly that source was the Fox News website.
Of course, in the end we all know why CNN and its ilk chooses to visibly and aggressively stir up controversy about video game violence over this deeply unfortunate occurrence. Because mentioning the rampant gun-culture in the U.S. is “un-American”. Because calling out bad parenting is “strident” and “lecturing”.
Because video games get clicks.
