Zona de Azar USA – Gamers Say #VideogamesAreNotToBlame After Criticism from Trump
USA.- August 7th 2019 www.zonadeazar.com
The gamer community is firing back with a #VideoGamesAreNotToBlame hashtag after President Donald Trump blamed America’s latest mass shootings on video games, mental illness and social media, after 31 people died in attacks in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the weekend.
President Trump announced plans on Monday to try to deal with the problem, including working with social media companies to detect “mass shooters” before they attack. The president stopped short of calling for gun reform and instead focused on mental health support, saying: “Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger – not the gun.”
“We must stop the glorification of violence,” Trump said, referencing what he called “gruesome and grisly video games” and blaming mental illness & “troubled youth” for the recent mass shootings.
“Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,” he continued pic.twitter.com/GKfiNJRRCu
— POLITICO (@politico) 5 de agosto de 2019
He then criticized the role of “gruesome video games” in brief remarks from the White House after the massacres:
“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this and it has to begin immediately.”
In immediate backlash from this comment, a graph created by Vox News has been widely shared debunking this claim:
There is plenty of research debunking video games as the cause of gun violence.
Here’s a chart that breaks it down: https://t.co/esXBaV3XwV pic.twitter.com/20u5mGRFib
— Vox (@voxdotcom) 6 de agosto de 2019
Aurora Bubbaloo tweeted, “I’ve made a lot of amazing friends thanks to video games. I’ve played since I could hold a controller and it has helped me be more social, confident, and happy. Never in my life have I felt the need to be violent towards others. Politicians, do your job. #VideogamesAreNotToBlame”
I’m sorry, but they really aren’t to blame. Video games have helped me in some of the best ways possible. I’ve met some amazing people thru video games, that I consider very close friends. Stop trying to blame Gun Violence on Video Games and Music. #VideoGamesAreNotToBlame
— 🎀💀 𝗕𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 🎀💀 (@MIWBailey666) 5 de agosto de 2019
Positive impacts gaming has done:
Raised BILLIONS for charity’s in events.
Has multiple cognitive benefits.This should be the face of gaming. It’s changed childrens lives for the better across the globe. Don’t let boomers write our narrative. #VideogamesAreNotToBlame pic.twitter.com/1r8MW7IoAp
— Cherry ✧ (@TheGamerCherry) 5 de agosto de 2019
Fortnite didn’t cause El Paso or Dayton.
Call of Duty didn’t cause Parkland.
Halo didn’t cause Sandy Hook.
Doom didn’t cause Columbine.Video games are just there latest social Boogeyman for those who are unwilling to actually accept the blame.
— The Real Szymaa (@TheRealSzymaa) 5 de agosto de 2019
People suffer from mental illness in every other country on earth; people play video games in virtually every other country on earth.
The difference is the guns.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) 5 de agosto de 2019
Trump wasn’t the only politician focused on video games in the wake of the recent gun violence. Over the weekend, conservative lawmakers, including the lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also suggested that violent video games were to blame for real-world violence.
“We’ve always had guns, always had evil, but I see a video game industry that teaches young people to kill,” Patrick said on Fox and Friends on Sunday morning.
Researchers told NBC News on Tuesday there is no evidence that violent video games encourage violence in real life. A 2019 study from Oxford University found no link between violence and video game usage, and another study from 2018 that also found no evidence to support the theory. Studies in 2016 and 2015 also failed to find evidence that video games spurred violence, and researchers even noticed signs that crime may be reduced by violent games.
A PS4 controller as players practice during day one of the 2019 ePremier League Finals at Gfinity Arena on March 28, 2019 in London, England. (Photo Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
“There’s absolutely no causal evidence that violent video game play leads to aggression in the real world,” Andrew Przybylski said to NBC — a researcher at Oxford University who studies the psychological effects of video games, and co-authored that 2019 study.
Edited by: @MaiaDigital (Twitter) www.zonadeazar.com
