As for what I think about this 17 year old...
The factual information depicts him as having severe sociopathic tendencies. By no means would I presume that he should be diagnosed as such, but there are a lot of similarities: manipulative, conning, lack of remorse/guilt, poor hehavioral controls, impulsive nature and so on...
Even if his parents did their best to teach him morals and boundaries (maybe they were good parents, I have no clue) they should have realized he was sick though. If you raise a child for 17 years, you should be able to tell when something isn't right.
And what a shame...a woman is dead, a 17 year old has no future, and a father will be left alone with no family and many regrets.
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Tangent About Blame Game (since they kinda picked on Halo):
I'm a huge games DONT cause violence supporter, this is an interesting story.
The kid was clearly someone who has a previous disposition to violence. The way to story has been written is to make the game sound like the reason he turned violent, which is something i cant stand in the media.
Have a look at this:
Having this poll there is clear proof that they are once again trying to blame the game... I'm sick of the media twisting peoples perception and turning something that is clearly the fault of a person or persons, into the fault of the game.
Just look at the polls results, more than 1/2 the people who voted are concerned with violence in games. Did they ever stop to consider violence in the media might have an influence? Of course not, the media would never think they are the bad guys.
I agree with you Portalman!
I find it ironic that the news feels justified in criticizing the violent themes in video games.
Every mainstream news source is subject to degrees of sensationalism. It's just a symptom of getting ratings on major networks/sites.
The stories about car bombings, kidnapping, and murder...they don't get aired because these things are 'new' (how many times have we seen it before?). And they don't show the 'startling' video just because it's vital information. It seems pretty evident that they show them because people, on a base level, enjoy experiencing violence vicariously.
(If anyone doesn't believe me, ask a Nascar fan why they watch people go in a circle 300 times. XD)
News Orgs: Don't be ashamed of yourself. It's kinda our fault for tuning in too. But please, don't pretend the violence you show is *that different* from video games. After all, in reporting about this very story, you colorfully described how the kid went about tricking his parents into closing their eyes so he could shoot them in the head as they sat unsuspecting in their bedroom. Was his trickery and their anticipation of a good surprise intrinsic to the news report? Or, was it included because those details paint a violent picture that captures people's imagination and attention?
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