Boys, 11 and 7, suspected in robbery and carjacking attempt

 @MC Yeah they have to. Right now they're basically saying, "Okay kids, until you're 15, you can do whatever the hell you want regardless of your parents and you don't have to be held accountable for their actions." And by the time they do finally get bsted, it's too late to really teach them right from wrong, and basically by the time they're adults, they're living the life of crime full time, therefore the circus will continue.

 @Zoso I guess they figure anyone under 15 won't commit any crime, well, now that it has happened, and it no doubt won't be the last time a kid under 15 commits a crime, it is time to open the juvenile detention centers to accomodate  those  7 yrs. old and up.

 @Freespeech   @IronWafflez Never played GTA before, but that sounds fun! Whack a few skulls for me, would you, please? :^D 

@MargeGunderson @IronWafflez I'm going to go home and play the GTA game tonight... I think I will use a baseball bat as the weapon of choice!....

 @TheTruncheon And they seem to run in packs, so the vulnerable are easy targets.

 @TheTruncheon  Boy, you are so right, we are hearing more and more of kids commiting violent crimes involving a weapon, they beat the hell out of old ladies and men at bus stops, or anyone who gets in their way, including each other for a baseball cap, jacket or pair of shoes, they swarm the malls, stealing at will, it is really getting bad, I don't know about anyone else, but I do not even go out after dark, not that I have anything of value, but they don't know that, and me being of the elderly class, and not real steady on my feet any more, it wouldn't be hard to knock me down, so I stay in when night falls....lol...I take lessons from the chickens, when the sun goes down I hit the roost...lol...

 @MC  You are absolutely correct.  These "games" are perfect examples of "operant conditioning" methods.

 @DT  Exactly so.  Evil and the depiction of evil actions has become not only acceptable but glorified now.... it's no wonder that there's so many younger people shambling around the streets who are so blase about committing violence toward others... their feelings of empathy are non-existant.

 @DT  You said it, decensitized to violence, and the violence in these games is getting worse and worse, because the simple shoot em up isn't stimulating enough, a lot of parents these days, for whatever reason leave children on their own, where the T.V. or video games are the babysitters, I have a 16 year old grandson and some of the violent games he plays with others on line on his computer make me cringe, but when I say anything to him he says, it's only a game, I don't approve, but his Dad does, so I have no say, the thing is, if you keep filling a glass with dirty water, there is no way it can come out clean, in the same token if kids continually fill their brains with violence from whatever source, we can't expect them to act any different in the real world, not every kid is the same, some may survive this violent video/game craze and turn out to be good people, but the weaker, more easily influenced ones may not, no one can watch 15 hours of violent videos and not be influenced in some way by what they are watching.

 @DT  @windtreeman  @IronWafflez Yup. You should read the work by Dave Grossman, Ret US Army "killologist." he wrote a book called "on killing," and he said video games and violence on TV are the ideal way to desensitize the young to violence and death. Interesting stuff.

 @DT  Great comment.

 @windtreeman Also, something selling doesn't mean it's OK or right. I would love to interview those two boys and ask where they learned to do what they did. Yes, it is the parents' fault. I know. But the prevalence, attraction, and availability of violent games does not help and is in fact a constant and difficult obstacle for parents. I know.

 @IronWafflez  @windtreeman  Yes, in fact their age group is when the brain develops the area of "empathy."  Too may stupid parents think that kids are just small adults, when in fact their brains are not done creating the wiring for the rest of their lives. And that age is when they need to be watching flicks about a dog that is in peril, and there is a bad guy, but good people save the dog.  It's the age their brains learn to care about others. The garbage that parents allow in at that point, is why we see so many young people with absolutely no compunction or concern about others.  

 @RN1  @windtreeman  @IronWafflez fabulous book. The guy is a rare blend of practical knowledge and insight. If anyone hasn't read Grossman's book, "On Killing" I highly reccommend it.

 @windtreeman It *should* be obvious, but there are a lot of oblivious parents out there. As for the effects of TV, it is much greater than many realize. Look at what happens to birth rates in areas that get TV for the first time, and young mothers start watching soaps where there are few kids on the shows. Average family size drops from ~6 kids to 2! http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/fertility-rate-plummets-in-brazil/2011/12/23/gIQAsOXWPP_story.html part of the reason for the fall of the Iron Curtain was that they Let "Dallas" be broadcast, thinking it would show the decadence and dysfunction of America, but the people said "*I* want to live like that!". TV is powerful, in part because we are a very visual animal.

 @RN1  I agree, for 99% of people, violent games and television are not going to be impactful enough to change any moral perspective but there are certainly those children that are at risk. I also think it should be obvious to parents, based on their children's previous behavior, if they're in that group. 

 @RN1  @Landshark That is why, every time I walk by the TV when my son is playing Call of Duty, I tell him "that dad is not going to be home for dinner tonight." I also told him that Santa was not going to come to our house this year because he is afraid he might get shot at.

 @IronWafflez  Just the fact that you care enough to be worried, and to intelligently consider whether or not it could cause problems puts you as a parent near the top in the quality department, and your kid(s) well ahead of most these days as to preparing to be a responsible, productive adult.

Kudos to you whether or not you end up agreeing with my views on video games!

 

Having said that, I still think video games are a blast, even as a middle-aged adult, and the funnest part for me even as a kid was the complete lack of permanent consequences. 

 

You can emphasize that lack of consequences to your kid(s) by playing with them and reminding them every time one of you mows somebody down in your digital car or punches them full of digital holes with your digital weapon. 

 

Maybe even while you're driving: "If this was a video game, it would be fun to rip right through that red light at twice the posted speed limit, but when you do that out here in the real world, you can kill or seriously injure innocent people and yourself."  as you coast to a safe, reasonable stop.

 

Then, when you get home, right to the video game to let out all that energy you held back while out in the world where it'd have real, permanent consequences. :^D :^D