Posts tagged with 'censorship'

School Shooting Game?

  • Posted on July 20, 2009 at 7:41 pm

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/07/zombie-school/

Nine times out of ten, I am against censorship.  I grew up watching war movies, and I saw many violent action films when I was well below the recommended age.  I never wanted to kill anyone, I’m not crazy, I was not scarred by these films.  I’ve always believed it’s up to parents to comment on these things, rather than block them out all together.  It is certainly not the government’s place to say what people can or cannot watch.

For one example, every time a person on the TV or in movies smoked a cigarrette, my parents would sneer.  They would say how gross it is, how dangerous it is, and that it can kill.  They would also point out that if/when I’m in a situation where I have to say that I won’t smoke, I might be teased or made to feel ‘uncool.’  They stressed that being a live, uncool person is infinitely better than a dead, once cool, smoker. 

Similarly, my parents always focused on the lessons in war movies, not the violence.  Rather than watching to see famous actors blow up the bad guys, we watched to see characters in extremely difficult situations.  My dad always stressed that the characters’ loyalty, motivation, and confidence were being tested.  The point wasn’t that killing is cool, nor that I should want to be a killer.  Rather, these movies showed me in the darkest circumstances, you can still have your honesty and honor.  No one can take that away from you.  No matter the grave danger, you can choose to run and hide, or you can choose to help your comrades protect your country.  These movies became way more life lesson than inspiration to buy a gun and kill someone. 

That being said, once in a rare while an instance comes along in which I am in favor of censoring something.  The iPhone School Shooting ‘game’ is such a case.  School shootings are no joke.  Someone, something, some as yet unstoppable cause is motivating children to acquire weapons, bring them to a place that should be safe for all, and shatter countless lives.  Children are affected by traumatic situations differently from adults, and the trauma stays with them for life.  School shootings are no joke to the people who experienced them as children. 

Does this School Shooting App have any life lesson?  Does it show honor or duty or a cause greater than oneself?

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