Are Games to Blame?
President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have claimed that video games are one of the causes behind mass shootings in the U.S.
Trump stressed, "We must stop the glorification of violence in our society! For example, the now-common, gruesome, and horrifying video games. Troubled youth today are too easily influenced by a culture that celebrates violence, so we must act immediately to curb video games."
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick also backed the "video games are harmful" theory in interviews, arguing that video games teach young people how to kill and include dehumanizing designs like shooting at others.
Actually, this is not the first time Trump has lashed out at games. He has repeatedly criticized the negative impact of violent games on people and suggested that the U.S. government pass legislation to restrict them.
Back in 2012, before he became president, Trump tweeted after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, slamming video game violence for "creating monsters." He named four games: Bulletstorm, GTA IV, Mortal Kombat, and Splatterhouse. At the time, netizens sarcastically said, "So you blame Call of Duty and not the NRA?"
In 2018, a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 people. The often outspoken president once again lived up to his reputation, speaking at a White House meeting on school safety without touching on gun control, and instead pointing at games: "I'm hearing more and more people say the level of violence in video games is really shaping young people's thoughts. What they see determines what they do."
The Guardian at the time bluntly mocked, "With Trump, everything old is new again."
This time, Trump's absurd attempt to blame mass shootings on the "poison" of video games sparked a flood of questions from American netizens, such as, "Does Japan not have video games? Why aren't there mass murders there?"
Others joked that they play The Elder Scrolls and Minecraft but don't think they can chop down trees with their bare hands.
Hillary Clinton tweeted mockingly that people in other countries also play video games and suffer from mental illness; the only difference is guns.
According to big data reports, Japan and South Korea have much higher per capita spending on video games than the U.S. and boast huge gamer populations; however, both countries have extremely strict gun control laws, resulting in far fewer gun-related deaths compared to the U.S., even ranking among the lowest worldwide.
Games as Passion and Career
Americans are tired of politicians using games as a "scapegoat" and are gradually realizing that the state of gun violence in the U.S. has nothing to do with video games.
In fact, this isn't the first time video games have been blamed for various negative news. Many parents call online games "digital drugs" or "electronic heroin," considering gamers to be "idle loafers."
However, social attitudes are quietly changing, with more and more people treating gaming as a passion and a career. The IG team's championship at a globally prestigious tournament proved the strength of Chinese teams to the world, and showed stuffy adults that esports is not a waste of talent, but a faith backed by results!
More and more universities around the world are establishing esports teams, scholarships, and even degree programs. Communication University of China was the first in the country to offer an esports major; each year, over 6,000 students apply, but the program only admits 120, yielding an acceptance rate of just 2%.
Many U.S. universities also offer generous esports scholarships to attract talent. Ohio State University became the first to establish a comprehensive esports program, with a curriculum focused on game studies, including esports management, game art and production, game design, programming, game business, and health and rehabilitation.
Don't think you can make easy money just by playing games; esports athletes endure grueling training. Beyond individual skill, positioning and coordination within a team are equally vital. They typically start training at 5 a.m. and don't finish until midnight. Without exceptional talent, passion, and patience, a career as a professional esports player is out of the question.
Should It Be the Scapegoat?
I once read a passage: "We don't need to know what video games are, whether they cause nearsightedness or addiction. We just need a scapegoat, something to cover up the failures of family education, school education, and social education. Now it's 'games'; fifteen years ago it was puppy love, thirty years ago it was pop idols, thirty-five years ago it was Hong Kong movies, forty years ago it was martial arts novels."
Until America resolves its gun problem, video games may remain the scapegoat. Hopefully, people around the world will soon acknowledge gaming for what it is and clear its name.
