Jack Thompson Lays His Legal Sights on Halo 3

"Extending his fifteen minutes just a little bit longer, Thompson targets Bill Gates and Microsoft over Halo 3"I don't know about you, but Jack Thompson annoys me to no end. If you read this article he threatens to sue Microsoft should any copies of HALO 3 be distributed to kids. He also claims the Lee Boyd Malvo used Halo to train for his shootings. I own Halo 1 and 2, and I also have fired guns before, and I don't see how you could consider playing Halo as training for any kind of realistic use of weapons. Had he accused the Army and thier game, "America's Army" his accusation would have held more weight. Maybe even Valve and "Counterstrike." Halo? I don't think so.

Also while it is true that Halo is violent, I would like to see a valid study conducted in such a way as to consider every possible contributor to the violence we see from teens today. In fact, I'm willing to bet that such a study would show that when the other factors such as divorce, the erosion of family structure, and lack of discipline at home, it would turn out that violent video game actually reduce violence by giving these teens a release. I say this because when I was in high school I played quite a few video games, and most of them were violent. My friends and I would spend hours playing death matches, yet for some reason, not one of us is violent. Not one of us killed anyone. Gaming was a release for our anger and tension.

I don't know where Mr. Thompson gets his motivation. I tend to wonder if he's every played one of the games he so willingly slanders. In any respect, he's a dangerous advocate, advocating to take away the games we like to play without ever stating a good reason. I'm sorry but claiming that someone used one to learn to kill isn't a valid argument. That's 1 person, perhaps we should also get rid of cars as well since people could actually use them to run someone over. I'm sorry Mr. Thompson, but if you're going to convince me that violent games cause people to be harmed, it will take alot more than your word. I want cold hard statistics that show that video games contribute more than any other factor that has changed since violent video games have been introduced. Once you do convince me - It's still none of your damned business if my kids do play them, I'm the parent, I'll tell my kids what they can and can't do, that's my responsibility.

That brings us to my theory. This is a theory, pure speculation based on observations, and is not meant to be interpreted as a fact, but instead as food for thought. I believe that a lack of discipline at home has led to these violent teens, not video games. The blame for this lies squarely on the backs of people like Mr. Thompson who feel that it is their purpose in life, since they are so much better than everyone else, to tell everyone else how they should live their lives and raise their children. It seems that after decades of people doing this parents have gotten lazy and have started to expect everyone to tell them how to raise their children, and often times expect their children to be raised for them. On top of that children can no longer be disciplined the way they used to be. My parents could never send me out back to get my own switch so they could teach me a lesson because had they, they probably would have gone to jail. With their parents and grandparents, however, it was a different story. Sure it doesn't seem humane to beat a kid with a stick, but there was more to that punishment than the beating. First of all, the dread of having to retrieve your own switch. Secondly, there was that crucial period while you were out getting the switch for the person who was punishing you to cool down so they wern't beating you out of anger. Lastly, you got your punishment, but I dare say the first step would have been the most dreadful. Now days that would be considered child abuse. As an unfortunate side effect, our children no longer dread being punished. Often when I put my daughter in time out, she spites and mocks me because she knows that's not a real punishment.

This leads to a lack of discipline and to children who don't listen to their parents because the parents are at a loss to provide punishment severe enough to even come close to what the children will face when they enter the real world. The concept of a consequence to them is lost, only to be discovered when they really mess up.

So Mr. Thompson, if you really want advocate something, why not advocate against advocates who generally have near-sighted views that often cause unforseen consequences. Tackle the issues where they really lay, and stop jumping to misinformed conclusions. That's where these problems came from in the first place.



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