I find it necessary to respond to Phil Cyr’s letter (June 19) blaming of video games for mass shootings with some pretty basic facts:
• Just last week a 70-year-old man shot and killed three people at a church in Alabama.
• The 2017 congressional softball game attack on Republican representatives was committed by a 66-year-old man.
• The worst mass shooting in U.S. history was committed in 2017 by a 64-year-old man at a country music concert in Las Vegas.
I understand that video gaming is a hobby for all ages, but does anyone seriously believe these Social Security-age mass shooters learned to devalue human life from Grand Theft Auto or Halo? They were raised on Andy Williams and “The Waltons.”
It’s also very important to point out that gaming is a worldwide phenomenon. The violent games played by Americans are primarily designed in Asia, where for young people gaming is even more popular than it is in the U.S. In fact, young people from all corners of the world play violent games for hours on end every single day. School shootings in Asia are practically non-existent. As are school shootings in Europe, Australia and elsewhere.
Video games are easy targets. I feel blaming them is either just lazy thinking or calculated distraction purposefully thrown out there to avoid any serious introspection or inconveniences.
If this country is to address our mass shooting problem, we’re going to have to look a little deeper than bits and bytes on a screen.
Jeremy Smith
Old Orchard Beach
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