State's Attorney Glasgow Warns Of Video Game Violence: Mom Talk

They say ignorance is bliss. Some things, I just don’t want to know about.

Then after a discussion with State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow about video games, a chill ran down my spine. I realized I better wise up and quick. 

Our family has a Wii. It stays in the cabinet most of the time. We mostly play bowling and baseball, although I keep threatening to get back to yoga and kickboxing.

That’s about the extent of it, though. Other than that, I know violent video games exist, but I couldn’t pick the boxes out of lineup.

Talking with Glasgow opened my eyes wide. First of all, he’s a fascinating speaker. Plus, he is also very passionate about protecting children ­— something I greatly admire.

He told me that popular video games that many, if not most kids play day in and day out are desensitizing them. He is seeing the results in the criminal justice system. He said that there is absolutely a direct correlation between this violent entertainment and the violent acts that are committed in real life.

That night, I sat with my husband at the table and we processed the enormity of that statement.

The Xbox 360 Kinect allows you to scan yourself into a video game, creating a realistic avatar (aka player) of yourself. To most of us June Cleavers, that sounds cool. Could be fun. I wouldn’t mind watching myself roundhouse the crap out of a bag.

According to Glasgow, the games are so vile, so vicious (his words, not mine), that a kid could actually go out to the trunk of your car, grab a crowbar, and watch himself physically thrust it through someone’s body and come out the back. He could watch a likeness of himself on a TV screen as he physically makes the motions in his own room.

“That kind of psychic conditioning can unravel a society, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

One game, Grand Theft Auto, is one such game that kills people indiscriminately for points. The Wii game Manhunt 2 can be purchased in the U.S. online for $12.56. It was banned in England due to its violence and graphics.

In another popular game, Mass Effect 2, the graphics are frightening.

“It sure as hell looks real,” he said.

The more lifelike the graphics are, the more desensitized we become. Kids who already have high risk factors are turning into murderers.

We saw it in Steven Kazmierczak who played Counter-Strike for hours on end, Glasgow said. The object of Counter-Strike is to shoot people indiscriminately in the head for points. That is exactly what Kazmierczak did at Northern Illinois University, killing six and injuring many more.

The boxes that these games come in tell us nothing about the games. Even doting grandmas buy this crap for their adolescent grandsons because the packaging seems innocent enough. The only warning to consumers is an “M” for mature.

Consumers are eating it up. Counter-Strike has sold over 25 million units, according to Gamespot.com. Glasgow said Grand Theft Auto 4 sold $400 million in sales during its first week. Family companies, like Sony and Microsoft (makers of Wii and Xbox) are funding these vile products, he said, in order to sell more units.

These games are about extinguishing lives. They are lifelike. And they are invading our homes. When our kids ask to play over at their friends, we have to ask more questions. We need to talk to other parents and ask them about video games. Do they own them? Will the kids be playing them? Which games and how often? Parents need to be detectives all the time.

TVs and computers need to be in common areas in the home — not in bedrooms. Video games need to be monitored and supervised.

Glasgow says he is not for censorship. He is not asking to ban these games. Instead, he believes that educated, thinking people can simply stop buying them. Then they would disappear economically.

One can only hope.