Do Violent Video Games Kill?

Brenda tossed her briefcase on the hall bench. "Hi kids! I sneaked out of the office to have lunch with you!"

Young Tommy appeared with a bowl of cereal.

"Cereal? Wasn't your sister supposed to make you lunch?" Brenda frowned.

Tommy shrugged. "She never came."

Brenda drove off to Chrissie's high school to pick her up. "She'd better have a good excuse."

The traffic was bumper to bumper. Brenda turned on the radio, hoping for an explanation.

"Our top story…a shootout at Regional

High…6 students dead, 8 injured…"

......

Brenda slammed on the brakes in shock.

"That's Chrissie's school!"

She left her car and ran to the school.

The school yard was mobbed with police cars, ambulances and crying students and teachers.

"Mrs. Handfield! Over here!" It was Chrissie's best friend, Amanda.

Brenda rushed over. "Where's Chrissie?"

Amanda could barely speak. "She was with me when Eddy Green started shooting. It was gruesome. I ran out…I thought Chrissie was with me…"

The principal gave Brenda the news. "I'm so, so sorry. Chrissie is gone."

Brenda's eyes clouded over. She collapsed into the arms of some of the other shattered parents.

The principal could barely speak. "We don't know how this happened. Eddy was a real loner, always at the computer."

Brenda was in a daze for the next 24 hours, unable to sleep, unable to speak. People came to offer condolences.

At the first chance she got, Brenda slipped out of the house and drove off.

Across town, the police were gathering evidence from Eddy Green's bedroom.

The detective shook his head. "This kid had the most violent video games on the market."

Suddenly, the voice of a broken woman filled the room. It was Brenda. "All that violence…right here in this room. This is where he planned to kill my little girl…"

Brenda sued the video game makers.

IN THE COURTROOM

In court, Brenda argued passionately. "The video game makers are responsible

for my Chrissie's death. The experts who

examined Eddy say he was profoundly

influenced by these video games

which made violence pleasurable

and disconnected from natural consequences.

The videos trained Eddy

to be an extraordinarily effective killer

without teaching him any of the

responsibilities needed to inhibit such a killing capacity."

The video game makers fought back. "Your Honor, how could we predict that a 14 year old boy would play our video game, go to a friend's house, steal guns, take the guns to school the next day, and gun down his classmates? Even if he was influenced by our videos, we're not murderers. We can't check the mental condition of each player."

Are the video game makers responsible? YOU! Be The judge. Then see below for the court's decision.

THE DECISION

"Not responsible," held Judge Grace. "The game makers couldn't have reasonably predicted the death of Chrissie. So they didn't owe any duty of care to her. There are many works of art which may drive some people to violence and others to greatness. The first amendment protects those whose ideas inspire crimes."