I’ve often marvelled at the myopic attention that lawmakers give to violence stemming from the consumption of video games. There are examples a’plenty of other sport and entertainment related acts of violence. Here’s a good one:
CNN.com – Brooklyn girl, 9, admits killing playmate – Oct 8, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) — A 9-year-old girl pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter Friday, admitting she fatally stabbed her 11-year-old playmate after a tug-of-war over a rubber ball went sour.
Quick! Someone tell Jack Thompson to stop chasing that ambulance and get started on a bill to limit the sales of rubber balls to minors!
I’ve learned through sources that this rubber ball was the “ultra-bouncy” sort, the kind that the marines often use to train for battle. Essentially a murder trainer. The constant up-down motion of the ball combined with its angry red color has been shown to stimulate the violence centers of the brain, vestiges of when humans more closely resembled dogs. These things are a ticking time-bomb, right up there with iPods and hand-held gaming devices. Satan’s own toys.
Seriously, has anyone ever bothered to do a study to compare actual incidents of video games being linked to real-world violence in comparison to other entertainment products (rubber balls included!) causing same such violence? I’d imagine that statistically video games are safer than golf. I say that because, in 15+ years of playing and being around video games I’ve seen *zero* instances of violence as a cause of games. In my less than 5 years of playing golf I’ve seen a half-dozen or more fights or near-fights. Anyone watch soccer lately?
21 responses to “Rubber Balls – Satan’s Toys”
WE MUST BAN ALL RUBBER BALLS!
WE MUST!
Why do mothers stand for these profit mongering companies who PUSH rubber balls on our children while LITTLE GIRLS ARE DYING IN THE STREETS!
It amazes me as well how as each year passes, some incident happens that they instantly blame on video games influence. Do they ever focus on whether or not the child had an abusive home? no. Do they ever take notice of the increasing number of Hitler posters on the wall? again, no. All that is focused on is “What games did the kid play?”
It’s only a matter of time before we all see a headline like this.
“TETRIS” TELLS 6 YEAR OLD TO MURDER PARENTS!
6 year old Billy Branderstein pleaded guilty between bites of his Snickers to the murder of his parents. When police placed him under intense questioning, subject claimed that the video game “Tetris”, (The already well known child destroyer) told him to kill his parents. Under further questioning, Billy said that he “pwayed it for a very wong time”, and that the blocks soon started to spell out words that told Billy to kill his parents. Shortly after, 8 year old Billy, went down to his basement, and created a hypothermic bomb out of duct tape and tapioka flavored benadryl. Relatives of Billy’s parents, mourne the loss of their family by suing nintendo for the “corruption of their nephew.”
Editor’s Note: When police were asked about the child owning a book on Bio-Chemical Science, the police chose “No Comment”
Really, I blame the retailers who sell these god awful spheres of terror, who market them right at the kids eye level in fancy looking machines for only a quarter. $.25!! They should just tax the shit out of the balls so the stores just stop selling them.
Then we can all sleep a bit better at night.
Fuck Jack Thompson.
American–
I was going to email this to you but I couldn’t find your email address. Sorry that it’s not an uber relevant comment but I thought you’d be delighted to know that your artwork has mutilated my body forever and I love it. =) Take a look:
American McGee’s Cheshire Cat Tattoo on my Leg
Okay, we did it. We made a game to Jack Thompson’s specifications (he proposed that someone make a game and distribute it with the main character being a father of a murdered son who’s killer was hyped up on video games. If someone would do this, he would give $10,000 to the favorite charity of the CEO of Take-Two Entertainment.) So we did.
http://home.cwru.edu/~tss9/zorkthompson.swf
Fuck that guy.
I agree with you, man- someone needs to put him in his place. I hope we can help.
Next thing you know, pillows will conspire to defeat humanity.
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/pressreleases/pillows/
I predict bold, decisive action from the Bush contingent.
How Sad. I blame the little girl AND her parents. First off, I blame her because she is a young to-be-woman and needed to act mature. Second off, No Decent parent[s] who raises A mentally healthy child does this. *Sigh* It’s things like these that make me want to move to Canada. Too bad I’m not 18. Anyways, Another depressing fact of human nature.
XD CtrlAltDel, your game is awesome. lmao ^__^
This is really dumb. Why DON’T they do something about these HORRIBLE rubber balls!? Protest against rubber balls, I say!
I almost lost an eye when a rubber ball bounced off the wall and back at my face.
I’ve yet to witness any incident in which videogames has caused any significant influence of violent behavior.
Nice comparison, but how’s this bit of enlightenment going to find it’s way into the hands of people who are doing the ambulance chasing and/or making legislation? No offense, but I keep seeing all these people making very good arguments on their blogs, yet all they accomplish is to preach to the choir.
Sports and Religion both cause a lot more fights and deaths than games.
Get rid of them instead, the difference for the good would be huge.
Hi American – Its a blast from your San Francisco past. Its been too long. I am glad to see you are doing well. Anyway, I couldn’t agree with you more. Stay well – Leigh Anne
You know what we REALLY need to worry about? Video games FEATURING rubber balls! Holy Poop!
I was readying an artical on this subject (video games, not bouncy balls) in a maganzine a while ago, and actually, people have started doing studies on linking violence in the real world to playing violent video games. The result was very indicative of there being no significant link between the two, but they still need to do more tests.
hey can you post a link to more info on this marine training? sounds like fun…. i cant find anything on google
Not quite rubber balls, but a retired Dr friend of mine told me of an experiment involving two groups of kids, one got a red ‘lanyard’ the other a yellow. Appareantly when they ‘played’ the kids with the red lanyard were more ‘agressive’.
If you take this a step further and swap the lanyards around you’d find the original holders of the red lanyard to be even more agressive becasue they want ‘their’ red one back.
Read into that what you will in relation to rubber balls!
Hmm..rubber balls? Well, I have to say, parents should take responsibility for their children, if they don’t want their children to view these games then don’t have them in the house. For me and mine…the bloodier the better ;-), There was an article some time back from the state of Iowa where a child set fire to a trailer he was in, the child was extremely young and the mom blamed Bevis and Butthead cartoon. Where was the mom while the trailer was being torched? Down the street visiting a friend for several hours..why would anyone in their right mind leave a little child unattended like that in the first place? Mine would simply build a new wing on to our house…lol..I see video games as an outlet for my bad days and simply fun. So many children are hurting inside because of bullys at school..should we ban those? Nooo because they have disorders and their behavior can’t be helped..puhleeeze..it’s not video games or movies or things of this nature, it’s parenting and society as a whole. We just like to place blame where it should not be placed. I remember my mom telling me how kids used to take pocket knives to school to whittle on the play ground and carried sling shots to school, the best thing was for the father and son to go hunting together, kids did not go around shooting each other because they knew better, now, you can’t even raise your voice to a child without CPS breathing down your neck..yup..govt abuse. But I think rubber balls should be banned, and big red clown noses too…they might scare the children into night terrors you know…;) and they do magic…a definite sin…rolls eyes..just my 10 cents.
Enigma.
You know, one of the first essays I ever had to write as a kid was about violence in video games and how it effected the ‘real world’. I caused a bit of an uproar in my year nine computing class by arguing that they didn’t promote violence. I’ve seen more fights over competitive sport than I have seen computer game related violence.
As the good JC puts it,
‘Any pile of stunted growth unaware that entertainment is just that, and nothing more, desearves to doom themselves to some dank cell, somewhere, for having been so stupid!!! Movies, books, T.V., music – they’re all just entertainment, not guidebooks for damning yourself!’
Murder isn’t commited by games. It’s commited by people. Why say it’s the games?
Because people want a reason for homicide.
No duh.
-BAC (vicki wayne, victoreanna.com & bad-art-collection.deviantart.com)
Let’s face it. Rubber balls don’t kill people, people kill people. I thought this site was a farce until I continued reading and found out how serious you bunch of paranoid lunatics really are.
It’s called irony 🙂 or is it sarcasm