Personally, I don't think that violent games have any particular influence on normal, well adjusted people, no matter what their age might be. I'll admit that certain games are perhaps a bit too violent, but I sincerely doubt that they actually cause anyone to do anything differently than they otherwise would. Here are some of my reasons.

It's kind of idiotic to base several laws about censoring games on the personal interests of two high school students. There are MILLIONS of children out there who are just fine, despite the various games and movies and sports, and everything else. Of course people who would actually go and massacre others would be attracted to games that allowed them to live out their fantasies. That's no big shock. In other words, I think people have gotten the cause and effect of things reversed. People who are demented enough to kill others are going to be attracted to games like Doom and Quake, but those games aren't going to influence anyone who isn't homicidal, to become homicidal.

As for those who say that Doom and Quake are 'target practice,' I invite anyone who genuinely believes this to go find a copy of either of these games, force themselves to play them for an hour or so, and then tell me how much they think it has improved their aim, or their desire to kill someone, because as anyone who has ever actually PLAYED one of these games knows, the experience cannot POSSIBLY improve one's aim.

Violence in movies: Okay, maybe there is too much. I'll agree to that. I'll even agree that in most cases, I feel that there is too much violence in games, also. However, I cannot justify censoring a medium of entertainment just because I feel that one part of it is too much for others to see. If parents want to censor the games that their children play, or the movies they watch, I invite them to do so! That's their JOB! Hell, any parent knows that if you don't want your kid to see a violent or dirty movie, you don't try and stop them from seeing it by contacting the producers of the movie and telling them to stop making such movies. You simply do not allow your child to go see it. It should be the same for games. Parents are responsible for their children. The government is NOT.

Violence in sports: As I was recently made aware of by a similar article, the violence found in professional sports is perhaps the worst kind of all! After all, it is not make believe, like in games or movies. It's REAL! And as a result, if you go to a little league game, or a kids' basketball game, or any number of children's sports, you'll find similar violence. Why? Because kids look up to these people. They're taught to all their lives, by their parents, their friends, their teachers. THESE are the people you should go after to prevent violence from influencing children.

Just to be clear on the issue, school shootings and massacres are nothing new. I recall once seeing an article about a 1920 school massacre. I apologize that I cannot remember the name or location. If you look through the history of our country and other countries, you'll see that violence from kids and teenagers has occured practically since time began. Also, something that I noticed. The number of school shootings on the average per year, are DOWN! They've been falling for years now. In fact, according to a policeman I happen to know, they've been falling for about ten years. Hmm, when did violent games start to catch on? Hmmm.......

In conclusion. People are looking for someone to blame for the columbine massacre. I admit, that I would like to do the same thing. It's much easier to say that outside forces like games and movies can affect children, than it is to say that they were simply already screwed up. I think that parents are sick of being blamed for everything their kids do. I know the feeling. However, parents, guess what? about 95% of what influences your kids is YOU. No one else. You're closest to your kids, you're with them the most often. You teach them their values, shape their personality, and even influence their interests. Sorry, parents, but I'm afraid that the blame will have to, once again, fall upon you. I think that shootings like this occur because of poor family values, too little time spent with the children, and parents simply ignoring the children. To really stop things like this from happening, you must bring the children up correctly, rather than leaving their fate to the influence of the things the children turn to when their parents won't do their job: raising their children.

	Thank you for your time,
		Bob Miller a.k.a. K_os