Submission + - Is it dangerous to stop playing computer games? (denverpost.com)
ZookieByMail writes: "A new research study looking at Columbine and the two shooters concludes that it was not the violent games that were played that was a problem. Instead, the author, Jerald Block, MD, seems to believe it was the setting of limits on the gaming that generated the rage.
The article's abstract reads as follows:
"The 1999 attack on Columbine High School by two of its students resulted in 15 dead and 24 wounded. The death toll might easily have been over forty times higher. An attempt is made to understand the motivations of the two shooters and to explain the critical events that changed them into mass murders. The history leading up to the attack is reviewed. A theory is proposed wherein virtual reality, as experienced in computer games, can act protectively in allowing the non-violent processing of rage and sexual impulses. However, when implementing time or content restrictions, caution is warranted. If such constraints are too blunt, too dismissive, or too contemptuous, one might provoke a potentially dangerous crisis."
Block's article is pretty long and controversial with plenty to disagree with. But, for those inclined, it is very interesting and has much that I had not heard of before.
The doctor posted the article to some horrendously long link. Easier is to go to http://www.jeraldjblock.medem.com/ and click on the title, "Lessons for Columbine: Virtual and Real Rage""
The article's abstract reads as follows:
"The 1999 attack on Columbine High School by two of its students resulted in 15 dead and 24 wounded. The death toll might easily have been over forty times higher. An attempt is made to understand the motivations of the two shooters and to explain the critical events that changed them into mass murders. The history leading up to the attack is reviewed. A theory is proposed wherein virtual reality, as experienced in computer games, can act protectively in allowing the non-violent processing of rage and sexual impulses. However, when implementing time or content restrictions, caution is warranted. If such constraints are too blunt, too dismissive, or too contemptuous, one might provoke a potentially dangerous crisis."
Block's article is pretty long and controversial with plenty to disagree with. But, for those inclined, it is very interesting and has much that I had not heard of before.
The doctor posted the article to some horrendously long link. Easier is to go to http://www.jeraldjblock.medem.com/ and click on the title, "Lessons for Columbine: Virtual and Real Rage""
