Connecticut boy urging kids to ditch violent video games

A 12-year-old Connecticut boy is reportedly leading a campaign urging teens to power down their violent video games.

[yesmynameissumo]

Stop watching rated R movies and reading books. Avoid cartoons too. That'll work. SMH.

[jujubee88]

/HARDCORE-TROLLIN'

Also, the middle school kid needs to be taught about social care and family counseling (from his parents, teachers, etc).

The kid should not just be telling kids to do something because he made a few posters, besides it could be seen as a proxy for bullying. Imagine an adult saying to a teen, "You didn't want to donate your COD game? You are going to grow up to be just like Lanza!"

So sad. That is no way to progress from a situation like that. :(

[ApolloTheBoss]

While we're at it, why don't just stop eating and drinking? Hell, let's stop breathing too! Killers do need that oxygen.

[The Matrix]

Also stop arguing, playing sports, and forcing constipation: all acts of aggression that are preparing you for something more sinister.

[ATi_Elite]

..

stupid double post

[tachy0n]

funny how more people are dying in mexico because of guns than on the US, and guns are banned severely on mexico...

the massacre is being used to modify the constitution of the US the government fears people revolt against them.

New World Order you are F@&$ED!!!

[extermin8or]

and yet here in the UK where guns are controlled gun crimes a % of all crimes are lower than in the usa and in mesico; you can't go by "number" because it doesn't reflect that mexico actually has a very large population, as does america; also the cultures a difference and in mexico as a whole less people see the governement as authority they need to listen too and do they actually have the money to fully enforce their anti gun laws? saying having guns as legal reduces crime from them is like the people in the UK that argue if drugs were legal less people would use them- I direct them to most british people (including a fair portion of my friends) and alcohol... from about 15/16 when they decided it was interesting/fun/cool to go and get some and drink it for the pure purpose of getting pissed and it's only gotten worse since we all turned 18 and could buy it legally; not saying I never drink but I don't do so purely to get drunk as many people do; would banning us from being able to buy it at our age stop this? no not completely but it'd reduce it; not saying they should but it's the same for guns-make them illegal to be bought unless under strict rules from specific places and with a license and it makes them a hell of alot harder to get hold of for the individuals that wish to misuse them- plus if you find out where the guns trade across the black market you can spot when someone is buying them for maliscious purposes as a police/intelligence force it must be easier to see when controlled goods are chaninging hands than something that can be traded pretty much openly.

[Kurylo3d]

how many school shootings took place in mexico?

[tachy0n]

0 school massacres in mexico by guns(similar to the US), narcos do recruit kids of about 14 and above, but NEVER minors of anything less younger, why? at least narcos have some moral respect towards kids, they only want to pass their crap to the US thats all.

subcomandante marcos made a return recently(he is like the V for Vendetta guy for mexicans, i left a video so you see what an amazing person he is) mexico will probably go into a revolution soon, and the US government is scared because it can spread to the US and US citizens actually have guns!!!!

the world will soon revolt and im happy for that, the people will finally put an end to all this BS by the illuminati.

[ATi_Elite]

I got a better idea.........

Stop teasing and making fun of Mentally challenged kids therefore they wont snap and shoot the place up!!!

He sat at home playing Video Games cause it was the only enjoyable thing to him and every time he tried to make friends he just got laughed at and teased by so called "Normal People".

So blaming video games is just a COP-OUT to a society that teases and rejects people thus turning them into loners.

Art imitates life......not the other way around!

[DarkBlood]

What in the almighty holy ##### did i just read here and yes i read it all but still i dont even........

"I don't believe it's a root cause, but it's a contributing factor,"

^ lol that still means to me that video games are being blamed here but props to the kid who can drop all of his games that especially for a 12 year old

but good luck trying to get everyone else to do the same

[rainslacker]

I guess it's supposed to be one of those "awww look at how cute this is" moments.

Seriously, while there are some smart kids out there, I doubt at 12 years old he has a firm grasp on the real issues at play here. I also doubt he figured all this out in a week since the shootings happened. Hell, I'm 37 and I've been looking at this issue since the Mortal Kombat days, and I don't even have a firm grasp on it, nor do most of the people who report or respond on it.

I don't want to dissuade this kid from trying to make a difference, but if your going to make a difference at least do it in the right way. Don't let yourself be pulled in to all the media hype. The quote in the article is from his mother, and if that's the only source this kid has for his campaign, then why would any teen, us, or any media outlet, listen to him? Doing so would make them just as naive as he is, spreads misinformation, and solves absolutely nothing

[ForgottenProphecy]

People blame video games because it is the easiest thing to blame for all our problems. Whenever something bad happens, we need something to blame. It is how we were designed. In a divorce, it's a stereotype that the child blames him/herself. Is it his/her fault? No. If anything, violence in video games prevents violence in real life. You know who we can blame? Bad parenting.

[rainslacker]

I honestly don't know if a vast majority blame video games. It's just what the media reports on, because it's sensational. Quite honestly most of the real issues and research on why things like this happen are rather boring. It's not easier to blame, it just makes more money.

[GreenRanger]

Games aren't to blame for what happened in Connecticut, or probably anywhere else.
Adam Lanza was a disturbed, Satan-worshipping lunatic.

[lashes2ashes]

I agree in him being a lunatic but satan worshipping? Please tell me that's a joke. Satanist do not even be leave in satan. Plus there is been no reports of him believing in anything god or satan.

[pr0digyZA]

Hate to break it to you but satanists do believe in Satan.

[lashes2ashes]

@pr0digyZA you don't know anything About the church of satan do you? You should look it up and Anton lavey. The first chapter of the satanic bible states they don't be leave in satan or god. The name satanic was only used to scare the Christians. Kids running around "worshipping the devil" are stupid kids that have no clue about anything related to the church of satan. Not trying to be a dick,I grew up in the 1980's and there was all this shit in the us about satanic killings and crap. The FBI looked into it and ruled in America there has never been a killing tied to any true belief in satan. Know if what you are talking about is the the whole black metal Nordic stuff they also don't really be leave in satan they just want to be as evil as they can lol.

[daggertoes83]

lashes actually has it right. While some satanist may believe in him the actual teachings of a satanist or the satan bible, cleary do not belive in satan.

[GreenRanger]

@ lashes2ashes
i wasn't joking.
http://www.examiner.com/art...

[pr0digyZA]

I think you are thinking of the offshoot of satanists which believe he is a symbol, but the theist satanist believe that he is a god

"Theistic Satanism (also known as Traditional Satanism, Spiritual Satanism or Devil Worship) is a form of Satanism with the primary belief that Satan is an actual deity or force to revere or worship.[26][27] Other characteristics of Theistic Satanism may include a belief in magic, which is manipulated through ritual, although that is not a defining criterion, and theistic Satanists may focus solely on devotion. Unlike the LaVeyan Satanism founded by Anton LaVey in the 1960s, Theistic Satanism is theistic as opposed to atheistic, believing that Satan is a real being rather than a symbol of individualism."

[playnextgames]

The kid is 12 and the deceased friend is 7. No 12 year old is going to hang out with a 7 year old. This isn't normal behavior.

[Zodiac]

You never had any siblings? Don't say that it is normal for siblings because the only difference is that they share DNA. Although, every human is 99 percent the same in terms of genetics and DNA, so even siblings hanging out should be weird to you.

[playnextgames]

What are you talking about? It never says they were related. They have two different last names. Am I the only one the READS the article? There was not ONE eye witness that saw the shooter. Everything about this seems like a huge lie.

[playnextgames]

Also, they never mention the child in the photo is the 12 yr old. It does't even look like a 12 yr old. This is a psychological tactic to make you believe the story more.

[Reverent]

@Play, Lol, he isn't saying they were siblings... -_-

Try to think a tad harder and understand his comment.

[smokey_vols]

Doesn't the article say that it was his friends brother?

[Relientk77]

Many studies have been done and playing violent video games actually relieves stress

[BLAKHOODe]

I'm evident of that. I have anxiety issues and don't handle stress very well. When I'm having a bad day, I usually play video games - often violent - to help calm my nerves. A guy I know who spent time in Iraq and suffers from PTSD does the same. It works.

[Summons75]

Yupp same here. Long day of work (use to be school) go home and an hour of video games made me good as new. I was also very heavily teased as a kid so video games became a place where I could to go hide from the world. I never shot up my school or even thought about it. Which one of us as a kid hasn't played GTA with all the cheats on and just gone to town just for a bit of fun.

Video games are helpful in someways and even if someone is mentally ill or can not tell the difference between reality and fiction should be consoled by the parents.

[Starbucks_Fan]

That is true. Helps me out too haha. It is sad how many people don't take the time to find this research and then be all ignorant about how video games are the cause.

[justlikeme]

I'll get right on that.

After I play through the Manhunt game again.

[Ninjamonkey82]

Off course he is Daddys paying him more pocket money so he dosen't lose his guns :).

[fOrlOnhOpe57]

Wouldn't it be more relevant to persuade the population to ditch their assault rifles?

[BLAKHOODe]

"NO!" said me to that 12 year old kid.

[dennett316]

While I admire the thought behind it, this action just doesn't sit right with me. Why should people be shamed into giving up the entertainment they enjoy? Because a disturbed individual flips and massacres a bunch of people? The key word there is individual...stop looking for the easy scapegoat and start educating people on the real problems. Mental health is the real issue, and it's time to stop sweeping the issue under the rug and start giving out information and advice to those who are worried about the people they know.
Videogames didn't cause this lad to kill, his disturbed mind did. The means to kill weren't provided by video game companies, they were provided by the NRA and it's obsession with a holdover from an age long since gone. They were provided by his Mother who herself was driven by the fear that is often instilled by the media and the supporters of guns. There are larger issues at work here than simply "games made him do it" or "movies made him do it".

[rainslacker]

This kid is 12 years old. He doesn't have the first clue on what the real problem is. Even a plethora of research and discussion, and incredibly smart people can't resolve what the real problem is. Or maybe it's just as simple as it's different for everyone, and what causes one person to go off the deep end, isn't the same as what causes someone else to go off the deep end, so there is no real issue to solve. That's not to say, though, that you can't mitigate the effects going off the deep end has for the victims, and their families and friends, of these tragedies.

Having read the article it's obvious his mom put that thought into his head. I also admire that he wants to make a difference, and wish that ambition could be funneled into something more meaningful and productive.

[TemplarDante]

Okay, now, this is clearly going to far.
Babies died in the shooting.
Can people please just mourn the tragic incident?
I feel parents(like this kids) are using this painful event to garner celebrity fandom.

So, when is MC Hammer going to join in? Say he's going to ditch whatever it is he does to heal America?

Why stop there..
Lets ban Smartphones too, dont want Angry Birds making people become devient. Look at how mean that bird looks on startup?

Bad parenting, an underlying physical and mental condition led to what that crazy guy did.
Again I state, 21December2012 was the mayan "doomsday".
His mother was a "doomsday prepper", do you think the life she lived and portrayed to him contributed to his actions? OFCOURSE.
He had no friends, she was his primary contact with the world.

[IIC0mPLeXII]

Rated M for mature bitch.

[TIGHTESTJEANS]

MATURE

Content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

Soooo, why is a 12 year old playing this in the first place like the article states?

[IIC0mPLeXII]

Interesting.

[tigertron]

The kid's heart is in the right place, but he hasn't thought things through properly. Violent video games are NOT the reason why people go off the rails.

It's about time the media understood this.

[manman6]

First let me start of by saying that my heart goes out to all the families and friends that had lost somebody in this tragedy event. No one should ever experience a lost of so many young lives at once.

However blaming violent video games is not going to help solve any problem. To be fair if you ban games you should just ban all violent media like movies, books, and music.

Rather than using violent games as a scapegoat, like always, let's try strengthen our gun laws and make it harder to obtain them. It is way to easy to go out and get a gun now in days. In the United States we have so much violence here and most of them are cause by guns that people have require so easy.

If we don't want situation like this to continue let's find a real solution that would actually work.

[Summons75]

No. People who want guns for a criminal purpose will get one no matter how many laws or band are in place. Why punish the people who want to protect themselves because someone illegally got a gun? This kid stole his mothers gun, a gun she purchased legally for safety. Yeah she should maybe have had a brain and locked it up and stored it in a high place and not told her mentally ill child but that clearly didn't happen. Connecticut has some of the strictest gun laws and his mentally ill person obtained one illegally. Gun laws are fine but taking away the right to own and protect yourself with one is a huge mistake and unconstitutional. Video games aren't to blame either. This kid should have been sent to a special school for kids with mental illness so they can be taught properly about the world instead of being the subject of jokes and pranks by kids who aren't mentally ill (though someone who dose make fun of a mentally ill person probably is too for having no respect for himself or the other person).

[sourav93]

"Kids" shouldn't be playing violent games anyways.

[gatormatt80]

Completely agree with you.

Maybe instead his campaign should be... "Parents, Pay Attention to Game Ratings."

[rainslacker]

God, that would actually mean something. I, and I'm sure much of our community, would fully support him on that.

[vikingland1]

We should ban cars also , can you not kill with a car?
My point is don't blame the tool blame the user of the tool.

[aLucidMind]

That's a fallacy; a car's main form of use it transportation. A gun's only use is for killing (unless you want to use one as a hammer for whatever reason). That's why people don't go "ban cars!" when a drunk driver hits someone, some do go "ban alcohol" though.

That said, I do agree; what we need to focus on changing is society itself, not gun laws. Focusing on educating children in proper reasoning skills and the facts and stamping out bullying rather than advocating it (as our society seems to do more often than not) would go farther than illegalizing guns.

[SpecialK]

Personally I think there is probably some sense in restricting the sale of assault rifles. No normal person needs a gun powerful to blow a door to pieces.

You look at other countries with stricter laws (Europe) and the rates of gun crime are waay less, it seems to happen in the US so much that is as if you just accept it as part of life now.

If someone wants a pistol for their own protection, in their own home, then whatever, but a fully automatic weapon has only one use, to kill lots of people very fast...

[Oschino1907]

@SpecialK

I have a feeling you don't have much knowledge about guns or the details of the statments you made. Not to sound condescending but you should probably read up a little more on guns and what classifies each gun type and how that transfers over to current U.S. gun laws which can vary from Federal, State and City.

And I feel like a broken record lately but again people need to stop comparing what happens in the U.S. to what happens in other countries or areas around the world. So many factors to consider that you can not make blanket statements to explain how that does or does not provide the main factor in most cases.
The U.S. in one of the biggest and easily the most diverse (racially and culture wise) country in the world along with being the #1 place people immigrate to, comparing it to almost anywhere else is often a moot point.

Lastly it's very hard to purchase any sort of fully automatic gun and many areas have them banned altogether or require special licenses which aren't the easiest to get. If you look at violent crime more often then not it's pistols being used and not the "dangerous" weapons the fanatics are content on banning. Also in a large portion of cases the offender has a stolen or an illegally purchased gun.

All I know is if I was a bad guy the last person or place I would want to go to do whatever it is bad guys want to do is somewhere where someone has a gun close by for personal protection, hunting or a gun collection. Really it comes down to securing the weapons properly and being a responsible owner/user of guns. Not everyone buys guns for killing, just like not everyone buys watches so they can see what time it is.

[modesign]

why is a 12 yr old playing with a 7yr old. seems creepy.

[Ares84HU]

Ohhh fuck off!!!! Idiot kid.

[Vic_Mackey]

12 year old shouldn't even have access to "violent"video games. Should ban bad parents.

[aLucidMind]

A 12 year-old playing video games is fine; it isn't the age, it is the maturity level. If the parent is giving their child a game they're too immature to play, then that is the parents' fault (like you said). Hell, I started playing GTA when I was 10; a good parent would raise their kid to be mature enough to handle it rather than just handing to them and not teach them a damn thing, which is clearly the norm with many idiots, I mean, "parents".

[Deku-Johnny]

GTA Vice City came out when I was 11. I convinced my mum to buy me it. I spent hours and hours each day picking up prostitutes and killing them for my money back, stealing helicopters and flying them down the beach tilted so the blades decapitated everyone they touched. Not once have I committed a violent act, I've never had the urge to commit a violent act. Buying kids violent games isn't bad parenting, not teaching them right from wrong is.

[Alos88]

He's calling his campaign "Played Out", at least he has some self awareness...

[Game3s]

I wonder who influenced this kid to beleave violent video games are to blame.

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

movies and video games may only influence mentally retarded people. For normal people is quite the opposite, it reduces the urge the kill or rape anybody. You dont need to do this in real life you can do in your fantasy world. wasn't the ps2 commercial: "Live in Your World. Play in Ours". Virtual violence and internet porn has reduced real life crimes and the urge to rape somebody. Dont let media convince you otherwise, they want to take your guns.

[DarkZane]

What is a 12 years old kid doing with Call of Duty? Parents are either very irresponsible and something should be done about them or the store clerk who sold him the game needs to be fired right now.

[aLucidMind]

1- The age of the child has nothing to do with it, it is how mature the child is; maturity and age is not mutually exclusive.

2- Yes, the parents are irresponsible if they're giving their child a game their child is not mature enough to handle playing. Incompetent, too, if they blame the video game when the kid does something stupid.

3- Every company has the policy that the parent must hand the cashier the M rated video game, and most of those have another policy that says the games don't leave the associate's hands until checking out. So no, nobody needs to be fired because they still sold it to the parent; the parent was just being dumb enough to give their kid a game that s/he was too immature to handle due to not being raised well enough to be able to be mature enough to handle it.

[sdplisken]

games dont kill people, people kill people

well except for that korean guy who didnt stop playing and refused food and water lol

[KontryBoy706]

Ok... also stop ALL kids from looking at TV they shouldn't watch, music they shouldn't listen to, drinking underage, driving underage, watching any movie PG-13 and above, and cursing. I guess if all that happens... there won't be gun problems and shootings anymore. Or maybe, kids would shoot BECAUSE they can't do those things. The problems is not the guns or the media... it's the people.

[XboxInnovation]

Let this run it's course people. Don't get upset. People just want answers as to why the killer did this. We all know it's not video games, but they don't. If it makes them feel better so be it. It won't harm the video game industry one bit.

[Deku-Johnny]

What a cunt this kid is, why couldn't he have been one of the victims?

[turgore]

It is always the video games, and never gun control laws and mental health issues. SMH.

Did Lanza even play videogames? Which ones ?

[extermin8or]

12.... can I point out it a)sounds as if he's been playign such games for a while and b) he's 12 soo um... HE SHOULDNT BE PLAYING THEM!

[Kratoscar2008]

I imagine he will be dissapointed when he see few people dropping their games.

Sorry for him but in reality not anyone thinks that videogames are the sole decisive factor on violence, first get rid of violent TV shows, thats a BIG start.

[kagon01]

Lmao is foxnews no wonder...

People are starting to know what's going on, that is why they're pulling crap like this to distract us.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MYp H_zAas

[FreshRevenge]

This logic kills me Stop playing video games but allow your children to enlist in the military and kill in the name of our country?

I think I need to leave the USA!