Connecticut Town To Hold Mass Burning Of Violent Video Games, Films, And Music

By on January 4, 2013 in News 22

Connecticut makes progress in the war on fictional violence. The Guardian reports:

A Connecticut community is to hold an amnesty of violent video games in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in Newtown. Organizers Southington SOS plan to offer gift certificates in exchange for donated games, which will be burned. The group, a coalition of local organisations, argues that violent games and films desensitize children to “acts of violence”.

The video game amnesty will take place on 12 January in Southington, a 30-minute drive east from Newtown. The town of Southington has provided a dumpster, organisers said, where violent video games, CDs or DVDs will be collected.

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  • Haystack

    And when they’re done with that, they’re gonna patrol the area for any violent people, and kick their ass.

    • Phillipede

      That kinda goes along with my thought that we are in the midst of “The War on Violence”. The thinking being that the only way to dispel violence is to combat it.

      • DeepCough

        Oh, I just can’t wait for that slogan to appear in the mainstream media, and it will happen.

  • DeepCough

    I say we’re making great progress: ten years ago, we were burning Harry Potter books; now, we’re burning violent video games–because of, y’know, for the children!

  • charlieprimero

    A crude way of expressing that murder simulators might not be healthy for kids.

    • http://twitter.com/RayButlers Ray Butlers

      bad parenting might not be healthy for kids either

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Kurt-Webb/53801531 Kurt Webb

    Reminds me of George Carlin’s “they want to ban the fake guns and keep the fucking real ones!” Still, this is the right step.

  • Phillipede

    Much in the same way that book burnings dispel certain ideas, this will
    surely get rid of violent thoughts and activities. Because, obviously,
    violent movies, games and music are solely responsible for violent
    people.

    I know that activities such as these are mostly designed to make people feel like they have some power over a situation that they, in reality, are powerless in, but this is just about as “old world” as you can get without stepping in a time machine.

  • http://twitter.com/RayButlers Ray Butlers

    always attack free speech when guns are at stake.

  • Crew

    this is so bass-ackwards

  • BuzzCoastin

    I love primitives and their superstitions
    they’re so colorful

  • Anarchy Pony

    Let’s not address mental illness and how to treat the people that suffer from it, or try to prevent it, let’s just be ridiculously reactionary, that’ll fix everything.

  • lazy_friend

    Lets cut off hands, because they hold the guns and pull the triggers

  • Calypso_1

    Male children, like males of many other species, develop natural sensitivities to violence. Desensitizing is precisely what needs be carried out to prevent the child from turning the most mundane act of play into proto-warfare.

    • http://twitter.com/RayButlers Ray Butlers

      thank god you’re not in charge

      • bobbiethejean

        Why? She’s quite possibly right.

    • Monkey See Monkey Do

      So what do females develop natural sensitivities towards? I wouldn’t think you mean to imply they were naturally inferior in science and the arts for 2000 or so years of patriarchal rule, or did you just give a good example of ‘deterministic fallacy’?

    • http://www.ContraControl.com/ Zenc

      I mean this as no insult to women, but you’re talking to a generation of men raised by women. (Largely due to the failings of men.)

      You’re trying to explain color to a blind person or music to the deaf.

      • Calypso_1

        I was curious where such an expression would fall. A footnote of sufficient length is in order. As a preliminary diclaimer, when such effort emerges it will be less out of desire to claify than to add further complexities to whatever personal alembic another might wish to apply.

  • alizardx

    meanwhile, in the real world, Crime Is at its Lowest Level in 50 Years. A Simple Molecule May Be the Reason Why. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/lead-crime-connection

    and AFAIK, every peer-reviewed study on the effect of video games on actual young people says that the correlation between usage and violence is either null or slightly negative.

  • http://twitter.com/praticuschaotic John Doe

    Thanks for the purchases. Doubly thanks if you’re burning your kids’ shit that they’ll buy again once they’re out from under your crazy influence.

  • http://www.facebook.com/bruel.hennet Bruel Hennet

    As much as I like the odd game, I get it, and perhaps it is time we took control of the social media that is overtly violent. To a degree, we become what we consume. I have seen children play-acting after using games, so they are conditioning tools, no doubt about it.

    But will burning a pile of games stop wars across the globe – don’t be silly ;-)