In 1997, Michael Varneal, 14, shot three students at his school in Kentucky (King, B. &
Borland, J., 2003: 175), and in the wake of the crime, game development companies
including id were sued for releasing violent videogames (King, B. & Borland, J., 2003: 175).
Two years later, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 of their fellow students and one
teacher (Poole, S., 2000: 219) at Columbine High School, Colorado, with guns and
homemade bombs (King, B. & Borland, J., 2003: 173). Following an investigation into the
crime it was revealed that the two teenagers were "avid" players of the videogame Doom, and
that Harris's computer archives "contained a 'mod' version of Doom based on the layout of
Columbine High School" that was set to 'God' mode (King, B. & Borland, J., 2003: 174).
Videogames are seen to enable and encourage real-world violence beyond the gamescape,
and as a result held accountable for violence in children (Poole, S., 2000: 219). It is the
intention of the essay to explore violence within the GTA series, one of the biggest games
series of all time (Hourigan, B., 2008: 21), and the effects it has on players.
The visual representation of characters and settings encourages a greater sense of immersion
in the violence of the GTA series. The improvement of graphics has changed the way that
players engage with the virtual environment, making it more perceptual (Wolf, M. J. P.,
2008: 284). The characters and settings in the Grand Theft Auto series are greater in detail
and resolution, and as a result, are more ‘real’ to players (Wolf, M. J. P., 2008: 284). Settings
within the GTA series are also designed to imitate reality. Whilst Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas is an "expansive versi...
... middle of paper ...
...://www.ipa.org.au/library/publication/1213772642_document_60-3_hourigan.pdf> 2008
(12 March 2014).
King, B. & Borland, J., 2003: Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture
from Geek to Chic (United States of America: The McGraw-Hill Companies).
King, G. & Krzywinska, T., 2006: Tomb Raiders & Space Invaders: Videogame Forms &
Contexts (United States of America: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.).
King, L., 2002: Game On: The History and Culture of Videogames (Italy: Laurence King
Publishing Ltd.).
Wolf, M. J. P., 2008: The Video Game Explosion: A History from Pong to PlayStation and
Beyond (United States of America: Greenwood Press).
Poole, S., 2000: Trigger happy: the inner life of videogames (Great Britain: Fourth Estate
Ltd.).
Turtle Beach, Inc., ‘Why Turtle Beach?’
2014 (10 March 2014).
Two boys by the names of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris walked into Columbine High School around 11:19 A.M. with 99 home-made explosives, a 9mm carbine, a pump shotgun, and a double barrel shotgun. As well as being accompanied by four knives. Both managed to murder thirteen innocent people in total, twelve students and one teacher.
April 20th, 1999, Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, experienced a mass shooting. Thirteen people were injured and more than twenty were injured. Twelve were students and one was a teacher. Two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their high school for forty one minutes before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. School shootings are notorious for making headline news but in 1999, school shooting were not as prevalent as they are in the present day. The media blew up on the catastrophe that was Columbine and many questions were raised, who were these kids and why did they do this? Speculation arose about why they did it. Maybe they were bullied for being goth and social outcasts or maybe they
An examination of videogames in popular culture is a complicated one. There is a large debate as to what is the very first video game. The supposed earliest known video game was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann on a cathode ray tube in 1947. The game was a missile simulator similar to radar displays from World War II, and overlaid sheets of paper were used for targets since graphics were unknown at this time. On May 5, 1951, the NIMROD computer was presented in Britain. It used a panel of lights for its display and was used to play a game called “NIM”. Later, in 1952, Alexander S. Douglas made the first compu...
At 11:19 in the morning of April 19, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold stood at the west entrance of Columbine High School preparing for the deadliest shooting in American school history. One of them yelled, "Go! Go!," and then the two pulled out their shotguns and began firing, killing two students almost immediately (Jefferson County 3). Harris and Klebold began moving through the school randomly shooting students, detonating pipe bombs, and yelling about how much fun they were having. While this was happening, Coach Dave Sanders and other heroes were frantically trying to get students out of harm's way. At 11:26, while running past the library warning students of the killers, Sanders was shot by one of the shooters. He made it into a science room where first aid was administered by students. He died several hours later in that same room. The worst killing took place in the library during a span of about eight minutes starting at 11:29. Ten students were killed and twelve others were wounded. After leaving the library, Harris and Klebold wandered around the school in movements that appeared to be "extremely random" (Jefferson County 18). They eventually returned to the library at about 12:08 and killed themselves. In 49 minutes, 14 students were left dead, one teacher was left dying, 23 people were injured, and an entire community's sense of safety and security was shattered.
On the morning of April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold approach Columbine High School, in Jefferson County, Colorado. Armed with one 10-shot Hi-Point model 995 carbine rifle, one Intratec AB-10 (TEC-9) pistol, two Savage 12-gauge shotguns, and as many as ninety-five explosive devices, Harris and Klebold enter the school near the cafeteria. Upon doing so, they are met with the words that God commanded unto Moses on Mount Sinai: Thou Shall Not Kill. Harris and Klebold tremble in fear and shame for what they have come to accomplish. Dropping their weapons, the boys fall to their knees, bow their heads in penance, and pray to God for forgiveness.
Kulling, Matthew. “GTA:Link between violence and video games lacks a smoking gun.”. marquettetribune.org. 15 Nov 2013.
The time prior to this case, violence due to videogames was being shown by the media more than ever. There was always a news article on the kid who beat up another kid because he learned it in the video game he just got. A game fell into the violent category if its depictions of
In 1998, the US software industry sold $6.3 billion worth of video games (see Unknown). Not bad for an industry that didn't exist 25 years ago! Yet despite its continued growth, all is not well in the video game industry. School shootings in Littleton, Colorado; Pearl, Mississippi; Paducah, Kentucky; Conyers, Georgia and many other towns have shocked the nation (see Malcolm). Understandably, grieving parents and sympathetic citizens are searching for a cause for this "outbreak" of youth violence. It is natural to assume, "when children, the symbol of innocence, commit the severest of crimes, then something must be going wrong with society." (see Maker)
Children today are exposed to more graphic violence in video games compared to any past generations. This is because the media finds that making a profit, surpasses the lives of the adolescents that play these games. However, over time two set of views formed from the violence in video games. James D. Sauer, is a graduate of the School of Phycology. In his article, “Violent Video Games: The Effects of Narrative Context and Reward Structure On In-Game and Postgame Aggression,” Sauer, describes that adolescents gain forms of aggression and violence after playing certain games. Not every video game causes post game aggression, but documented in his article, “Players who enacted in-game violence through a heroic character exhibited less postgame
“Kill me, please. I can’t believe I did that.” These were the chilling words of Michael Carneal, a fourteen year old boy who massacred a group of students in a prayer circle at his school (Johnson). Many cases of school shootings show students distressed and sometimes incapacitated by certain mental diseases that cause them to lose conscious control of their actions, such as Carneal who was later diagnosed with schizophrenia (Johnson). Many more cases however, are perpetrated by students suffering from severe depression or extreme psychosis. Nine out of ten shooters surveyed were depressed and/or experiencing suicidal thoughts (Toppo). “Research shows that people who carry out school shootings are usually social outcasts, full of rage, and show little signs of remorse or regret during their crimes,” (Johnson). One of the most famous school shootings was the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in which 15 people were killed and 24 injured by two high school students (Timeline of Shootings). One of the shooters, Dylan Klebold, was later discovered to be a severely depressed and miserable youth, whereas his partner Eric Harris was discovered to be a psychopath with a strong superiority complex and need for control (Toppo).
On the morning of April 20, 1999, Eric Davis Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold went into the Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, and went on a rampage killing spree leaving 12 students and 1 teacher dead and over 20 people injured before killing themselves. This crime is known as one of the most deadliest school massacres in the United States history (Pittaro).
This essay is going to talk about one of the deadliest school shootings that killed 13 students and injured several. On April 20, 1999 two teens went on a shooting spree killing 13 and wounded several more before turning the guns on to them killing themselves. The columbine shooting one of the worst shootings in U.S history raised a debate on the gun control and school safety. This essay is going to bring out the real cause of the shooters actions and apply two juvenile delinquency theories to them.
Games such as Grand Theft Auto are often suggested as a cause for aggressive or risky
The shooters at Columbine high school, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold frequently played violent video games such as Doom, and Harris even created a modification for the game. The modification allowed two shooters to use a large arsenal weapons to shoot unarmed civilians (Anderson 353). Is seems eeril...
3. “Video Games” by Chris Jozefowics. Published by Gareth Stevens Publishing 2010. Pleasantville, NY 10570-70000 USA. Produced by Editorials Directions Inc.