Florida Shooting: Trump blames increased violent behaviour on violent video games
By Elizabeth Ogunbamowo
Following the crisis of the Florida shooting, President Trump has vowed to take a measure against the violence in games and films watched by younger people.
President Trump revealed this during a meeting at the White House on school safety barely a week after the Florida school shooting incident which claimed 17 lives. President Trump had remarked that the violence young people are exposed to in some video games and films plays a role in shaping the way they (the young ones) see the world.
He stated that he would do something about violence in films and the ease with which young people can see films in which killing is involved.
Mr. Trump further condemned the violence in video games saying: “We have to do something about maybe what they are seeing and how they are seeing it. I”m hearing more and more people say the level of violence on video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts.”
However, the president did not go into detail about what would be done precisely.
It should be recalled that last week, Kentucky Governor, Matt Bevin, in a reaction to Florida shootings, claimed that violent games celebrated death while influencing the way younger people viewed the world.
According to him, “Many games celebrate the slaughter of people. They have desensitised people to the value of human life, to the dignity of women, to the dignity of human decency. We’re reaping what we’ve sown here.”
Survivors of the Florida shooting were present at the meeting.
Nevertheless, experts have proved that there is often no link between the violence in video games and the violent behaviour in youngsters.
Many however believes that linking video games to real life situations diverts attention away from the appropriate measures to gain saying.
Ethan Gach, a reporter at video games news site Kotaku, said video games were often held responsible for violence in the wake of mass shootings in the US.
“It’s a familiar scapegoat many of us have been hearing for decades, one which often acts like a smokescreen to deflect responsibility away from the Second Amendment and lax gun laws.”
John Walker, from games news site Rock Paper Shotgun, said that it was improper for politicians to link video game violence to real world events when research has consistently shown no link.
He said: “The reason this matters, the reason why blaming games for such terrible tragedies against all reasonable proof is so horrifically serious, is it distracts us from identifying and addressing the real causes.
“Statements such as Trump’s are easy, lazy get-outs, noise and bluster to keep people in a position of responsibility from actually doing the difficult, complex, long-term things that might actually help”.