Mandatory Reading -- Addendum

My younger cousin Jackie who you may recognize from the Comments from time to time posted a very thoughtful response to the article I linked to in the previous post. Since I know most people don't bother to read the comments others leave, I wanted to highlight her reply, as it's one of the better commentaries I've heard on the matter.

Here's her comment:

"Normally I wouldn't voice my opinion about such matters, but I'm inclined to agree with the "gamers" on this issue. If we're all going to take "Dr. Phil's" words for truth, (bearing in mind that this is the man who has pushed forward the motto, "get real"), then we should not only point fingers to video games, but also to the war in Iraq and police violence and other REAL WORLD instances of violence. He and others are claiming that people are simply enacting the violence of the video games and that violence is GLORIFIED in video games. Is it not glorified in the media that we have soldiers overseas going after terrorists? There were many many signs that the person responsible for the VT shootings was ill and no video game or movie or cartoon or whatever could make much of a difference. It is such a tragic event and the whole world is pointing to video games and gun laws, etc., when the real issue is that the laws surrounding psychological help, especially on university campuses, are so screwy that this couldn't be prevented in the way it should have been. I will end my banter there, but there certainly is a lot more to say, and it is all counter
the argument these people are trying to make that video games are responsible."

Thank you Jackie for writing. You put my feelings on the matter into words much better than I could do myself. The one addition I would add is that the only aspect of pop culture that has ever made me want to strike out against another human being in a violent act was Dr. Phil, himself.