This comic is dedicated to Southington, Connecticut. The town that launched a $25 violent video game buy-back program. Citizens are encouraged to take all violent video games to a dumpster behind the local movie theater where they will be incinerated. In return the Chamber of Commerce will issue $25 gift cards to participants for “non-violent” activities.
We usually try to steer clear of political comics, but this attack on video games has gotten rather ridiculous. Instead of taking responsibility and trying to come up with a legitimate solution to the problem, we turn and look for someone or something to blame. Plenty of other countries have violent video games and a fraction of the gun violence.
Love it!
Thank you very much!
They should ban the news. And election campaigns. Bloody, gruesome things, those are.
The news is all about ratings. They exaggerate every possible story in hopes for more views. It’s a disgrace to public media.
That is awesome!!
Thanks! We always appreciate some positive feedback. Plus it doesn’t hurt to knock those extremists down a peg every now and then.
Ha! Exactly, I cannot believe that stuff like that goes on. There are studies to prove that violent video games have no effect on violent behavior
Exactly. It’s not the games we’re playing, it’s our surroundings. It’s the way we handle, or more importantly, don’t handle things in the United States. We are entitled to everything, yet responsible for nothing.
The people who did that are probably angry parents who want to blame their child’s behavior on the games they play, not their parenting skills, or lack there of. It’s an escape goat.
And that’s what you call parenting in the USA. That could be a good parody of the terrible Mikey Cyrus song, “Party in the USA.”
Oh my gosh!! That made me laugh! I love it! Parenting in the USA!
Hahaha! I can hear it now!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!
Amurrrrrrrrica!!!!
This is absurd. How many people actually went along with this?
I haven’t really seen any follow up articles for it, but it’s apparently endorsed by the local YMCA as well.
Wow…wow… I can’t… I mean… Just… Wow..
This is an enormous step in the wrong direction. We should be fining parents for ignorantly supporting violent games and then turning right around and blaming them for their child’s short comings. If you can’t take a genuine interest in your child’s life, chances are they will act out in some way, but don’t you date blame video games.
Yeah… Gawd, what an ignorant witch-hunt. Oye, parents: ESRB rating. Read it.
For cereal guys! I mean come on!
Good to know that the next time I need a quick fix of feeling safe like rightnow, I just need to give up something I love that has no correlation to my fear for 25 bucks! Cosmetic sacrificial safety comes cheap!
It’s a vicious cycle that gets us nowhere. It’s upsetting that anyone would actually think this was a viable solution to the problem.
I dig it. We seem to be a society that has not learned to handle the times when fear and anger collide, and for whom the immediate bandaid–no matter how foolishly misguided–is always a better solution than a long term treatment plan.
Well put it. We can totally agree with that.
How ridiculous. Poor video games are an easy target because it’s already looked down upon. No amount of money would make me give up my games. They bring me a happiness that many other things cannot. And seriously. Mario and Link and Star Fox make people violent? Is that so? I guess fighting evil in our video games makes us want to hurt others? Sounds pretty contradictory to me.
And what’s ironic is I’d be willing to bet money that the very same people who say violent video games are bad likely watch violent movies and TV shows. “Sopranos” was super popular and super violent. Don’t tell me no one watched it. I know they did. Actually, there are many TV shows and movies way more violent than my games are.
Exactly, it’s a total double standard. We can have super violent TV shows and movies, but because kids are more interested in video games, it must be the video game’s fault. We are always looking for someone or something to blame. It’s disappointing to see an innocent genre under attack like this.
I don’t think the average, sane, person will see violent activity in a video game and want to recreate it.
As of a few years ago, Video Games actually surpassed film as the largest form of media. Pretty exciting news for us gamers.
Thanks for taking a stand on this. Like you, I see little direct correlation between video game violence and social violence. The problems are way deeper and more systemic. What about the horrible health care system in the US? As someone with family members who suffer from mental illness, I can tell you off the bat that the health system is broken, and impoverished where it counts.
We don’t want to think about cultural reform; only reactionary defense and maintaining comfort zones.
Again, thanks for speaking out – and speaking up!
As a country we are all looking for a simple, quick solution to these kinds of problems. No one wants to take the blame when something is going wrong. Petty attacks like this won’t provide any progress or resolution to the issue.
Another town in Mass. just jumped on this bandwagon. They are also offering gift cards and coupons to hand over your violent games and movies.
Thanks for taking the time to engage these issues. To many people simply read the headlines and move on. We all need to take some sort of stand if we want to see any change.
You know Parents of America you wouldn’t have to do this if you just didn’t buy your kids the video games in the first place! I mean if you’re against violent video games why did you buy the video games it’s not like your kids have their own source of income. All you have to do is turn the case over and check that letter at the bottom. See easy! Anyway enough of that thanks for bringing these points up. Love the comic!
Thank you very much, that is a very good point. Unfortunately many parents choose to stay completely ignorant about game ratings and what they actually mean. They are all over moving ratings, but sometimes seem to completely ignore an “M” game rating. If they would simply read the game’s label, it would save us all a huge headache. Of course, no parent wants to admit they are doing a terrible job at raising their children.