Well its tragic news that gripped the country. A teacher from my home town of Leeds, Mrs Ann Maguire was stabbed to death in front of her class this week. As a training teacher and childcare provider I am shocked to hear about this. Apparently it was also an unprovoked attack. First of all my thoughts go out to her family and friends, however it has occurred to me that the media are blaming video games for this random out burst.
First of all there are game out there which do have violence in them. I have played games such as Left for Dead, Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto and to be honest its never crossed my mind to randomly jump out at my Spanish teacher and stab her. An article by the Telegraph states the current known facts about the situation. (Click here to read).
Now, from reading through the article it seems that the boy (Who will remain nameless) often brought alcohol to school, disobeyed his parents and was described as a "loner" and an outcast. Now these are not very nice things to say about anyone. The one thing I want to know is why wasn't the school doing anything about this? The fact that an under-age teenager could have, drink or even buy alcohol is questionable to say the least. Why was he driven to such lengths and why did he change into this from what he used to be?
The media can be a massive influence and unfortunately video games have started to become more violent, mainly because the market has changed. When I was little playing Pokémon on GameBoy Colour (Yes I'm that old) was considered a normal and easy going game. However, I now hear children talk about first person shooters and violent games that I wouldn't dream of playing when I was that young. Seriously though, when a Five year old child starts asking his friend how many head shots he's got on COD, isn't that when you start to wonder why they are playing such a game?
The video game industry is constantly changing. However unfortunately 8 out of 10 parents will allow their twelve year old play a 18 rated game without giving a second thought. I am a very firm believer that the ratings are there for a reason. If a game has an 18 logo on, it shouldn't be played by, with or around anyone younger than that, especially younger children who have yet to learn from right and wrong.
This isn't the first time that murder has been blamed on the video game industry. If you're old enough or study childcare like I did, you are probably familiar with the James Bulger case. Two children kidnapped a three year old boy and repeated what they had seen on their games to him then left him on a railway track to die. I'm not going into any detail because what they did was seriously horrific.
However, once again Mrs Maguire's death has been blamed on one individuals obsession with violent gaming. I don't believe this is right. From what I've read then young man had several serious underlying issues that should have been spotted and addressed. Now I don't know if they were or not and were in the process of doing so, however I can only assume that they weren't recognised. Perhaps if they were noticed and he was receiving help then this tragedy could have been avoided.
As a childcare practitioner, I feel very sorry not just for Mrs Maguire, but also for the young man that resorted to such actions. I know what its like to feel alone at school and I know how it feels to have personal problems. I also understand that everyone has their own way of dealing with their issues, mine was to write it out and turn it into a story. I seriously hope he receives help to stabilise any insecurities the young man has, yes he's facing murder charges but it does make me wonder what caused him to do such and act and why it wasn't noticed earlier.
Overall this tragedy is horrible. A much loved teacher killed by her student mainly because he had no other way of acting, maybe he didn't know how or he just couldn't express himself. Also I believe that violent video games did have a participation in this but it is wrong for the media to solely blame it on that. I just hope that in the future more parents regulate what their children are playing and be a little stricter, maybe then we'll have a generation where violence in children isn't a problem.
To the family of Mrs Maguire, my deepest condolences and I hope she rests in peace.
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