January 22, 2008
Last week GamePolitics reported that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown blamed video games - at least in part - for a wave of knife violence in English cities.A prominent member of the U.K. gaming press, gamesindustry.biz editor Rob Fahey, has taken Brown to task over his remarks about knives and games:
[Brown's] grand idea is that game designers should stop characters in games from using knives... The notion that videogame characters using knives leads directly to teenagers stabbing one another plays well on the tabloid front pages, but has yet to stand up to any kind of scientific scrutiny.
It's not a policy, it's not researched and it's not supported by evidence - it's a mucky piece of political finger-pointing, nothing more... the real reasons for knife crime are complex, difficult, and will take a long time to solve - and none of those things is popular with Britain's rabid tabloid journalists.
So, our politicians don't talk about poverty and deprivation. They don't talk about the failure of Britain's drug policies or the cultural isolation of ethnic minorities, they don't talk about the distrust of police and authorities due to perceived racism... instead, our politicians point the finger at videogames.
Comments
You expected them to tackle REAL issues? ;)
Because, unless you consider being ABLE to use knives as glamourising knife usage, I'm quite unconvinced that games really glamourise knife usage..
Huh?
Shouldn't that read as "the real reasons for crime are complex, difficult, and will take a long time to solve"
http://www.gtagaming.com/gtaiv/inc/information/weapons.php
Then why carry it if you don't intend to use it? You and the lack of maturity people like you show are part of the problem.
Like the author said, violence has much larger and more complex roots than a mere video game. The person's home life, family, friends, level of poverty, and the crime that already exists in the neighborhood are much more telling factors in crime and violence. While the person in question may watch a movie or play a game and become inspired to attempt what they see, they wouldn't think of that unless the seeds for it were already in them.
@ Oh Noes
Why not? Why shouldn't he carry a weapon? He merely said he didn't intend to use it. I'm sure if he were threatened, or saw someone being attacked, he'd be ready to use it to defend himself or others. That's not so much immature as prepared.
Why do you wear a seatbelt? Do you intend to get in a car crash? Same principle.
Another politician... Who's made a career out of grabbing for power and playing a politics game - is once again telling the world what is wrong with it.
Unlike us; however, he's in a position to fix a great many things. I seriously doubt any intelligent, sane person would even think for one second that video games are prompting massive amounts of violence, particularly 'knife violence'.
After all, for the thousandth time - Government has killed more humans than anything else.
Maybe it's a failing of the Government and not caused by video games - but then if he admitted that, he might have to do something to fix it, instead of skimming the tax dollars of the population, taking kickbacks, and working on getting more power.
But who knows? Without Video games, perhaps our streets would be a calm serene utopia - just like they were prior to video games, eh?
I carry a knife. As part of my multi-tool. Because you never know when you'll need a tool to do something.
I don't consider it a weapon, but a tool. If you want to insist, then I could consider my laptop a clubbing weapon, my keys a gouging weapon, my screwdrivers a stabbing weapon, etc.
QFT!!
I feel it makes a bad situation worse. The fact hes carrying the knife for self defence means he intends to use it otherwise why carry it. Any situation where he were to brandish a knife immediatley causes an encounter to escalate.
I highly doubt he is mature enough to understand that by carrying a knife he may kill someone.
So in your mind, when would it be acceptable to carry a weapon? To work? To school? To a bar? When your walking to a friends? What kind of weapons should be ok? Guns, clubs, big knifes, pen knifes, flick knifes, swords, a board with a nail in it?
I don't debate the point that knifes have a utility, but that isnt his reason for carrying it.
"i carry a weapon- for saftey pourposes."
As you quite rightly pointed out, you have many utilities on your person you can use for defence that are far less lethal than brandishing a knife.
Please, You seem to be inferring that anyone who would think about drawing a knife against an assailant is just as bad as their attacker.
You're an idiot.
In an insecure world where the government is so unable to police it's citizenry (see above article referenced about knife violence) that its publicly blaming the crimes on a media that is far more dominated by guns than knives, you're stupid not to protect yourself.
Mostly, if it's less than lethal, it's less than capable of defending you person and your property, because some PCP'd up crackhead isn't going to slow down if you ask nicely so you can slap him with your laptop.
To reiterate, you're an idiot.
I do not currently own a weapon that I can safely and reasonably carry (a 3-foot sword is not reasonable - and due to laws based on blade length, illegal to carry where I live), but if I did, I would carry it - because it could mean the difference between life and death for myself or someone I care about. And make no mistake - I will not carry a weapon that I either don't know how to use or am unwilling to use. I made up my mind a long time ago that, while I do have somewhat pacifistic tendencies, if push comes to shove, I'm willing to hurt or kill someone who intends to do the same to me.
That's not immaturity speaking.
This. That is all.
Video game characters would sooner use M16s rather than a steak knife. ;)
A police officer never intends to shoot anyone, but they still carry a gun in case they are forced to
I'm assuming you've never been out-gunned. You know what it feels like? Do you know? There's a reason I keep fireams on my property - the scum you find on the streets. I am not prepared to have a weapon in reach that I can use to defend myself, my family and my loved ones and have it taken because it makes me as bad as them.
@ Oh Noes - would it be completely out of line to suggest that we round up the Chavs, cull them and use them for fuel? They're a renewable source of energy, after all...
You don't live in London mate.
I keep a powered stun gun in my car's glove box, but I don't expect I'll ever use it. Now this isn't quite the same as a knife, but a stun gun is painful if applied correctly...
yes and if every student equipped with weapons VTech wouldnt have happen, neither columbine or 911.
Matter of fact it should be a law for every one to carry weapons so then we can duel people like we did in ancient times.
and if anyone threatens my safety then well I might as well just kill them, especially that hobo asking for change, he could be asking for change or out to rob me.
And those girl scout with there cookies, I dont know there isnt a bomb in that box.
Or that minority I see sitting outside, I dont know that he wont just jump out and mug me. I should just shoot him so I can safely pass by.
for further details google 'devvo' which may be parody, but like all good parody, is true to life.
Rednecks crossed with wiggers (I can say that, right? Please don't ban me! If anybody knows a PC term for that word I;d much rather use that instead!).
Rednecks are entertaining though. They're also consistently smarter than Chavs.
I don't think there is an acceptable term for "white people who act like black stereotypes." Mostly because the concept itself relies on [1] stereotypes of blacks, and [2] the idea that whites should not act like /those/ people.
A few points for you. First, you have less gun crime, but more crime overall. Taking the guns away didn't solve the problem; neither will taking the knives away. People intent on killing other people will find a way, even if it means taking a big rock off the ground and beating someone else's head with it.
Second, you're looking at one detail of the problem, and assuming that's the problem. You see, "kids die in knife fights," and somehow conclude that the knives are to blame, not the kids. Ask yourself this question: What can make a person feel so powerless in their lives that the only way they can feel empowered is to kill another person?
Third, what you call, "who's the hardest," goes by a different name here in California (and Mexico). Here, it's called, "Quienes Mas Macho," which loosely translates to, "who's more badass." It's not a unique problem to England; it happens everywhere to one degree or another.
- - - - -
To @(#*$0: There's a word for what you're talking about. It's called paranoia. Or a bleeding stupid strawman argument. Take your pick.
Video Games made me bad, right?
/poorly applied sarcasm
The world we live in is far from utopian, those who want to do harm to others will always find a way to do it. Take away the knives they'll come up with something else to use, then you'll take that away and yet again they'll find something else to use.
A knife is not only a weapon but a tool we've been using for a very long time. As a tool it has millions of uses only 1 of which is "Stabbing another human being". People need to stop acting like Knives are guns, guns have a sole purpose of injuring/killing something else, you can't use a gun to chop an onion, debone a chicken, dig, cut rope, etc.
Yeah, it can make a situation worse, but it can also help someone out
Jerros also makes a good point that knives have a million uses, only 1 of which is stabbing another human being.
oh no that breaching my safety, maybe I should stab him.
Now all you is for the PM to read it....
But they've not really gotten firearms out of the way. Since handguns were banned there in '97, their use in violent crime has tripled.
Besides that, even with enough guns to arm every man, woman, and child here in the US, we still have more homicides involving knives than the UK. IIRC, we also have more people beaten to death with bare hands than are killed in the UK via knives. Yet overall, our violent crime rate is like one tenth that of the UK. Go figure.
My theory/gross oversimplification is that since most of our homicides involve criminals killing each other over drugs/turf/whatever, it means they're generally too busy to mess with the general public. Or maybe because it simply lowers the rate of recidivism.
Well, that, and, given that we have one of the most heavily armed populations in the world, there's less of an incentive to rob or attack random people. When a gangbanger or whatever confronts someone in a similar line of "work," he knows just what he's getting into. Kick in a randomly selected person's door though, and, there's like a 1 in 2.5 chance of meeting some serious firepower on the other side. Unknowns aren't very attractive for those looking for an easy, predictable way to score some loot.
"If you carry a weapon it doesn't mean you will be safe from attackers, it will mean that people will attack you more!"
wow, the stainless steel pushblade that has been elasticised on to my arm, which as far as I am concerned, should stay there, I never plan on using it, in fact the only reason I have it is in case I become the victim of an attacker on our chav filled streets!
yet I am more at risk of being attacked because I carry a weapon that no one knows about?!
I haven't been attacked since the fight in the last year of high, which left my arms almost separated from my torso, (try kerb stomping with toe cappers), the fight which prompted me to get the weapon in the first place.
I keep hold of the tool just in case I get involved in another such engagement, yet so far no such fight has occured, no one knows about my weapon, and for all I care no one should, if I haven't been attacked in the last 3 years, then what does that say for these politicians theories?
"well apparently someone cant detect sarcasm.
oh no that breaching my safety, maybe I should stab him."
I can detect sarcasm just fine... but since you seem to be unable to make your point without using over-the-top sarcasm, perhaps your point is rather weak to begin with.
or just stating how stupid ur arguement is?
what you going do about it? huh? I carry a gun around. Wanna make an argument about it?
You are not with me your against me and thats a breach of my security. I should shoot u where u sit.