Video game addiction leads to murder

Video game addiction and parenting.

Although this is titled “addiction and parenting” it will look at the effects of addiction on adults as well as younger players.

Please note: This is not going to be an article advising parents to take away their kids video games, I respect how each parent raises their children in their own way. I just believe that video games are becoming a real problem, if played to the point of addiction they can become very real and dangerous problem. It is a lot easier to do than you might think, I myself was even addicted to them for a short period of time.

Oh and sorry if this turns into a “ranticle”, like my Police one! I tend to write what I feel while writing about a subject.

I will admit first off, even as an adult I have enjoyed playing video games. Not so much as I did when I was a child but times have moved on and so has the experience. I was chatting with a group last night when, two of the group are parents with teenage children. The topic moved onto video games and the fact that they cause violence in people of all ages. My own view on this, guided by what I have seen while playing online MMO's (Mass multi-player online) games and what I have read in the news leads me to agree with them. But, the others at the table all said it had no effect whatsoever. Here I am going to go into the different types of video game addiction along with some recent cases that have made the headlines, including some that have even lead the youth to murder.

So first, let's look at the different types of video games. The main stream ones, when most people discuss the real world issues revolving video games normally the first type of game listed is the “fps” this stands for first person shooter, meaning the player only sees the weapon and little else. Because these games often contain strong levels of violence, human interactions such as voice communication and in game profanity, has lead many to believe these sorts of games are dangerous, giving young minds bad ideas and in some cases the violence can escalate outside of the online realm.

Another type of game, which is the most common type that you will run into “e-thugs” a name given to those who will happily bully someone over a video game from the safety of their keyboard, but have also been known to give out real life threats. Are the MMO's much like I used to play, even as an adult in 2006 playing the popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft I would notice younger gamers blatantly trying to cause trouble for other players.

In my eyes there are three main types of gamers, first now like myself you have the casual gamers. Who play maybe a couple of hours a week when nothing else is going on and have a nice chat with friends while doing so. The next are the professional gamers, these players strive to be the best in the game they play often competing for money in e-sport competitions. The last and the type I will be focusing most in the article are the hardcore and addicted gamers. Those who either have little life outside of their virtual abyss or just choose to spend most of their waking hours lost in a virtual haven.

The trouble is, when a person becomes so involved in a video game. It really can become addicting, not only do you lose sense of time but also of reality. I love challenges and I am ashamed to say, even though I found it fun. When I left my addicted state of gaming, which started in 2006. Ending summer 2007, my character or “avatar” (the player you become if playing an MMO) had reached a total of just short of half a year logged in. Playing. In that amount of time, that really was the wake up call. But many don't see it that way, at the time of writing this World of Warcraft still has over ten million players, many of which on it daily for long periods of time. The time factor is not only surrounding games like World of Warcraft, for many it's the sense of achievement that comes with playing and completing goals in any type of video game. From console players to computer gamers, social gamers on facebook and those who just play now and again. The enjoyment and sense of accomplishment which can be found within these video games truly is something to be concerned about, if it is taken away. That is what I intend to take a look at here, what happens when a young person takes to the real world to settle a difference born in the virtual world and what happens to them when that video game, their addiction is taken away.

Here are a couple of very sad examples of what happens when some people have just that happen. But before I post the following news articles, let me make a point in saying I don't believe this applies to every gamer, I wouldn't even say half of the gaming population are addicted. What I would say is parents, brothers, sisters, friends need to spot the problem signs of addiction to video games early and help that person ease down or quit. As the following reports show just how lives can be lost, families torn apart and futures cut down all over video games.

The first and in my eyes, without a video game aspect one of the saddest cases I have read about in many years. In which a young man of 16 at the time, fatally shot his mother and then turned the gun on his father who miraculously survived. All that because of the game Halo 3. In Ohio, The teenager who shot and killed his mother and wounded his father after they took away his new and favourite video game learned he was to spend life in prison, but would be eligible for parole after serving 23 years behind bars. This young man was sentenced at just 17, not even old enough to buy a beer in most countries and already he has thrown away his life because of a $60 video game. I read the news article several times, I watched the video of the emotional interview with the boys father. Who even after seeing his wife shot dead and his son the murderer planting the weapon by him as he lay bleeding in an attempt to make it look like a murder suicide, still found the strength to stand by his sons side in court. He is quoted as saying "I can't count the number of times that he's said, 'Dad I miss mom, I miss mom.' His pain runs very deep, and it should ... if his pain did not run deep, I guarantee you I would not be standing here speaking on his behalf,"This leads me to think, this boy made a mistake. One which he will carry with him for the rest of his life. He has lost his mother, yes through his own actions. But someone who never truly felt hate will still carry the sorrow with them forever and some may say he deserved it. Although I still can't help feeling sorry for the boy, I am more sorry for his father, his whole world has been destroyed and those closest to him taken either by law or violence.

Now after reading that, you are probably wondering what lead the young boy of 16 at the time to kill his mother and attempt to kill his father? Well it really was as simple as they took away his video game. Worried about the amount of time he spent shut away cost in an alien world of violence and human v human combat (pvp – player v player) online. His parents took away the newly released video game only hours before the shooting. The defendant was reported to have come down from his room with loaded weapon, telling his parents “close your eyes, I have something for you” before shooting them both and placing the weapon down by his parents. Yet defence attorneys put forward their version, in which his youth and addiction to the game made him less responsible for the shooting. They said he often played video games 18 hours per day, 7 days a week. Far past the 48 hours addiction point. Doing so with little food or sleep. They said he may have been so obsessed with the game that he no longer thought death was real. To me, that would be more of a serious mental disorder than a video game addiction. But that is what they put forward to the court.

The defence went on to say. "His addiction was so strong, it was running rampant in a tired, exhausted young man, that anybody or anything that stood between him playing the video game and not having his way was in peril,"

Now was this a case of a poor parenting tactic on an already tired and stressed teenager, in which video games can truly be blamed? Personally I don't think so, but I am no expert. But to me, for a young boy to bring a gun to his parents. Utter the words “close your eyes, I have something for you” (as reported by the father) and then to pull the trigger, gives me the impression there was more to this story than a video game. But I don't have all the facts, I just like everyone else who was not in that courtroom, or their house on that night will never know exactly what lead him to shoot, it may have even been other things building up over time. But those actions to me spell out a very dangerous individual not a teenager having a mood swing over a video game. But, saying that. If the addiction was so strong like many people have reported when attempting to give up video games. Maybe that was the cause, there are so many lines and sides to a topic like this it is impossible to ever come to a discussion as to why this young man killed, you have the evidence but evidence like that can be misleading. Let's say his actions were because of the video game, because it was taken. What’s to stop him once let out of prison repeating it all again when something else gets taken from him. As lets face it, things come and go all the time in life. If he finds a woman he loves, then she leaves will he feel the same as he did that night when his other “love” at that time was taken away?

This next topic hit me quite hard, not only because of the tragedy itself but because of the assigned cause. In Jacksonville, Fla. Alexandra Tobias, who was a Florida mother. Is accused of shaking her three month old son to death simply because he interrupted her game one the popular social networking website Facebook, the game in question was Farmville. Farmville is a very popular game the world over in which players maintain a virtual farm including plant life and live stock along with buildings. This is where I feel, apart from the main stream MMO's listed at the top of this article, the sense of accomplishment aids in the building of addiction to a video game. Now I should know and this is why this topic hit me harder than the others, my income is generated, the money I live off. From games I have developed for the iPhone and Facebook which are not unlike Farmville, I have noticed people on my games sometimes for several hours at a time. Farmville is the same, players get immersed it in and their success in their virtual paradise.

But back on track of the topic at hand. This 22 year old mother, who murdered her baby simply because of him crying while she was playing the Facebook game. Now, babies cry it's what they do! In my eyes anyone who harms a child gets what they have coming to them once caught, and if I am honest with you. When it comes to men who harm children, my morals go out the window and I don't care what happens to them when locked up. But a mother, his own mother killed him because he was crying for attention. That really is just sick. The mother, told investigators she became angry when her baby cried while she was trying to do something in the video game (no excuse to me, or them). She then went on to explain how she shook him, also saying she smoked a cigarette to compose herself and then shook the baby again. At which time he “may” have hit his head.

Alexandra Tobias was given told she could face up to 25 to 50 years in prison, yet the prosecutor said it could be shorter than that.

Yet another young life cut short by another who had got so into their video game it lead to murder. A young Oklahoma City teenager of only 13 is accused by police of getting so mad with his 9 month old baby sister when she started crying during the time he sat playing his game that he too, like the mother mentioned above. Shook her to death.

Before I continue into this one, I would like to make a point that I am not choosing these news stories I have read because of the cause of death, it's more because of how close the victims always are to the killer and how in most cases it's always a young, weaker innocent victim.

The boy, named as Crystian Rivera reportedly admitted to his crime, when police questioned him. The reason he gave was that the infant had been crying to much he has lost his concentration which he believed responsible for causing one of his video game characters to die. He took his anger out on her, shaking her violently which ultimately made the baby cry even more until she stopped and feel “asleep”.

According to the police and medical reports published the baby suffered a skull fracture, was deprived of oxygen and significant brain damage. Doctors became suspicious after the baby was brought into their hospital with a story that didn’t match her injuries. This happened only last year, the little one died August 19^th, 2011.

Her brother, the killer was taken to the country jail. Where the local authority are not yet sure of what charge to press him with, the boys parents apparently left the infant in the care of the teen, perhaps the authorities are not yet convinced the young boy was cognizant of the consequences of his actions. Yet, to me why else would you violently shake a young child who is crying? Sure, he may not have intended to kill. But his actions had violence intended. The video game edge on this and the way “one of his characters died” leads me to think that this was a case much like I mentioned earlier, an MMO or an RPG in which the player spends hundreds and if not thousands of hours working on their characters and can become very attached to them, there have even been cases of suicide due to people stealing in game items or even whole characters. So as we are looking at this one from the video game addiction point of view and the boy admitting that was the cause of his violent actions I can only really see that his love for his game lead him to commit such a senseless act of violence. That in no way is an excuse for his actions, but he was only 13 at the time. His parents would surely of been able to tell if he was spending many hours on a video game in a week, if he had been. Were they okay with it? Am I right in thinking that all these cases are linked to gaming in some way or another? Do parents and players need educating in the dangers of gaming that few think of? Or is this to be accepted as another tragedy with a young life lost and another in chaos?

Each of these are tragic, each in different ways. But in each and most that I have read, keep in mind these are in no way rare. There are hundreds of these topics world wide every month, in the United Kingdom there was even one the day after Christmas. Many come from within the United States, I often find news of this sort on the likes of Fox News, but the location really is not the concern. What really concerns me with this side of addiction is the need to play and in some cases an almost “avenging” attitude towards gaming always leads to bad things, just take a look at the deaths in which the young children died, they lost their lives because their killer was forced to draw focus away from their game.

Like many random acts of violence like this, where the person has not intended to wake up that day and kill like they did. It is in most cases always someone close to them. Even as I am writing this I have been thinking about it, I also had about eight different incidents to write about, but as many on this website are parents I chose against writing about them as they are distressing. Not that the above are without upset but I feel my point has been made with those articles.

But the question remains, is video game addiction becoming a serious issue. I don't like to think of it this way, but look at a drug addiction. An addict who is denied their fix, what happens? Most of the time any corrections officer will tell you before there is calm there is violence. Well, look at that statement and then the above news articles once more. All three examples were “calm” playing their game lost in their own virtual experience. Until something happened which made them snap out of it, one had their fix taken away, another had their experience interrupted and the last felt they had lost something. All ended with the loss of a loved one, so the question remains:

Do parents, friends and gamers need to think about how much they play and the effect it has on others and change, or have others step in to help with their addiction?

Or do you believe people and parents should be able to decided how much they play and how much their kids play?