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Columbine shootings believed to be linked to computer denial

July 05, 2007 in News comments 14

Researcher Jerry Block has come up with a theory saying that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold the two shooters in the columbine shootings were driven to their state because they were kept away form their computers. This is likely to generate debate according to Cheryl Olson, co-director of the Center for Mental Health and Media at the Massachusetts General Hospital who beleives otherwise and feels that M-rated games do not induce violent tendencies citing that in most male depression cases, majority of the victims do not even play computer games.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a killing rage at Columbine High School in 1999 because they were abruptly denied access to their computers, an Oregon psychiatrist says in a published study.

The two young men relied on the virtual world of computer games to express their rage and to spend time, and cutting them off in 1998 sent them into crisis, said Jerald Block, a researcher and psychiatrist in Portland.

"Very soon thereafter - a couple of days - they started to plan the actual attack," Block said.

Block published his research in the current issue of the American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, a peer- reviewed journal.
black_wing79 via denverpost.com »
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  • 0
    Final Blade Jul 6, 07
    LOl haha why didn't they say this a few weeks earlier, than manhunt 2 wouldn't be banned. Stupid Researcher Jerry Block. But what about the Virginia tech was that the same thing, depression of socom and his GF dumping his butt
  • 0
    Seeker X Jul 6, 07
    Right, let's just ignore their distaste for everyone in the school and their developing hate that was showing when they joined gangs and what not. Let's eclipse their possibly turbulent past so we can blame the only thing that "makes sense", cuz video games are total brainwashers.
    • 0
      Final Blade Jul 6, 07
      i never said it was i was making a joke.
      • 0
        Seeker X Jul 6, 07
        It wasn't directed at you, I was just saying that this whole thing is totally pointless. They blame psychological "dysfunctions" because they didn't even have their VGs? Who the hell uses Video games to vent their frustrations? In my experience, VGs does the opposite and FRUSTRATES the living *bleep* out of you when in competitive gaming.
        • 0
          FRoGBuster Jul 7, 07
          actually, a lot of people turn to games to vent energies and angst they can't otherwise release. But for some, games are not enough, as we have seen.
  • 0
    Miss Razz Jul 6, 07
    I don't see why video-games (or, in this case, computers) are blamed for all these teen massacres. A teen would have to ALREADY be pretty messed up to be affected so badly by a video-game, that it would induce them to murder other humans. Normal humans don't kill other humans for any reasons, let alone because a video-game was too violent for them. >_>
    • 0
      Jesse1234567 Jul 6, 07
      Like I've said before, how can someone blame a video game for someone shooting someone else when it isn't like people will jump on each others' heads because Mario & Luigi do it.

      I bet if all these massacre people went on Dr. Phil, they would find the real reason and it wouldn't be video games .
    • 0
      Cruxis Mana Jul 6, 07
      I couldn't agree with you more. Computers and gaming are always associated with teen massacres, simply because adults can't think of anything to blame and can;t stand to blame their own parenting skills.
      I'm not saying that the parents of these children are bad parents, but they would have noticed something and should have dealt with it accordingly.
      Hopefully if we just ignore ties like this, then they'll go away ...
    • 0
      JJBDude Jul 6, 07
      I thought it was the case that these people that do commit murders are doing it because they have been driven by video games. If they never saw violence on TV or in video games then they would probably never turn into a murderer, but they contain the traits of someone that could become a killer, playing these video games may well make them what they are.

      Oh and of course I am not taking a side here, just saying that there are points to be taken in as to why video games can do this.
      • 0
        Final Blade Jul 6, 07
        Wrong next theory, they do this cause there mentally ill.
      • 0
        Infinite Jul 6, 07
        If people can't understand the difference between videogames and real life they shouldn't be playing videogames in the first place. Videogames aren't to blame for killings. It's the person playing them. You don't just play a videogame and get the urge to go kill someone. Like Gothic Girl said the person has already got to be messed up or have intentions of killing someone before playing videogames.
  • 0
    bbb7002004* Jul 6, 07
    Unfortunately, this will never go away. People always seek something to blame, and video games are easy targets. I do believe violent media found in movies, TV, and games really does desensitize people to violence, but not to the extent that it actually causes murders to occur, nor do I think this kind of violence would not occur if violent media was not available.
  • 0
    tidus04 Jul 6, 07
    This is something like already said that is always going to be a problem and to be honest I would agree that it has a linking to a minor section of people. It has to effect someone out of the millions that play games but then this from recent years of gaming incidents is only like 0.%5 of gamers, actually even less then that so I think this is all a load of shit based on that xD...

    Though having reports on this all the time that gaming is causing this, they should just except it in the very very minor percent of people and stop nagging us about it
  • 0
    Cloud Strife7 Jul 6, 07
    I guess it's always easier for adults to blame something they don't really understand. =/
    I mean if something like a game makes you want to kill something, then there must be something that was wrong with you before you played that game.

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