Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School Shooter 'Game'

April 8, 2011 -

Pennsylvania State representative Lawrence Curry (D- Montgomery/Philadelphia County) is warning parents about " a violent video game" called School Shooter: World Tour 2012. He apparently doesn't know that it's a modification for Half-Life 2, or that it will be free to download if its creators actually ever finish it, but we won't split hairs.

"The game is modeled after the Columbine incident, or Northern Illinois or the Virginia episode. It is a real concern to me," said Curry to News station CBS 21.

"I think it's definitely in poor taste," adds Dr. Kathleen Doherty, the chair of psychology at Harrisburg Area Community College.

She tells them during the interview that she believes all the studies she has seen that link violent media to aggressive behavior in children.

"And the research shows that the correlation between violent media and violent behavior is as strong as the correlation as smoking and lung cancer," adds Dohery. "They do impact our behavior. They don't impact everybody in the same way. Just like not everybody who smokes gets lung cancer...but we know that there's a correlation."

To State Representative Curry's credit, he is calling on parents to pay closer attention to the ESRB ratings on the covers of the games they buy for their kids. Parents should at least head that advice.

Source: WHPTV CBS 6

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Comments

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by Vake Xeacons on Sat, 04/09/2011 - 08:57.

"They fear what they don't understand and they despise what they fear." - Janos Audron

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by MonkeyPeaches on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 17:37.

True, but this is a mod and hence wouldn't be rated by the ESRB.

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by Father Time on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 14:11.

Ok how long until that insanely wrong cigarette comparison goes away? Grand Theft Childhood and others have demolished that pile of crap for what it is.

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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.

---------------------------------------------------- Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by Avalongod on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 17:00.

HEre's a published statistical (and unfortunately highly technical) debunking of these kinds of claims: http://www.tamiu.edu/~cferguson/effectsRoGP.pdf

they get repeated because they are "good news stories" to psychologists who are insecure about their research vis-a-vis other fields (speaking globally, there are exceptions of course, but as a field it's one of the motivations for why this nonsense isn't shot down).

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 14:16.

Probably not until it doesn't scare parents anymore.

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by Erik on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 13:44.

There isn't a correleation between smoking and lung cancer, there is a causation between smoking and lung cancer.

-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by DorthLous on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 12:43.

"They don't impact everybody in the same way. Just like not everybody who smokes gets lung cancer..."

What, but, gah, argh... *poooof*

Re: Pennsylvania State Rep. Warns Parents About School ...

Submitted by Zerodash on Fri, 04/08/2011 - 12:00.

Ah, gotta love the cigarettes = games angle.

Shout box

Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm

Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm

Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm

Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm

Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm

Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm

Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm

Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm

ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm

MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm

Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm

MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am

Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am

quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm

quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm

Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm

Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm

Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm

james_fudge: I think Evan killed it. He's a great guy and super smart.10/17/2014 - 6:38pm

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