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        <h1><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b><i><a href="../../index.html">loonygames</a><br>
          <font size="1">a <a href="http://www.bluesnews.com">blue's news</a> 
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<p>&nbsp;</p>Vol. 
                2, Issue 4<br>
                December 3, 1999<br>
                </b>
              <br>
              <br>
               
                <b><i>Down 
                  the Pipe</i></b></p>
                <b><i> 

                  Get it?</i></b></p>
                by 
                  Russell &quot;RadPipe&quot; 
                  Lauzon</p>
              
              <p> 
                

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              <p>
              I&nbsp; 
                received lots of great comments from my last column. Most of them 
                were from parents or older brothers and sisters, each with a warm 
                story to tell about a young &acute;un just getting into gaming. 
                There were a couple that were along the lines of, &#147;You monster! 
                How could you use your computer for a babysitter!&#148; and &#147;You&#146;ll 
                turn your little boy into a homicidal teenager if you keep that 
                up, ignorant bastard.&#148; I replied to one of them in this week&#146;s 
                mailbag, but it just didn&#146;t feel like I&#146;d said enough 
                on the subject. And then I read a few articles that suddenly came 
                up last week on violence in video games, so I just had to throw 
                a tirade together and unleash it on the world.</p>
              </p>
              As I said 
                in my response in 
                the mailbag, show me a homicidal kid who blames computer games 
                for who he is, and I'll show you a kid who had problems long before 
                he started playing the games. I don&#146;t believe video games 
                can be held responsible for the moral or ethical attitudes that 
                people develop. Same goes for TV. I think these people either 
                don&#146;t have the inherent ability to distinguish the real world 
                from the fantasy one, or they simply don&#146;t care. </p>
              </p>
              To a lot 
                of people, the fantasy world is an escape. Be it video games, 
                or TV, or a really good book, this fantasy world is a place where 
                they can go and withdraw from the problems of real life. As problems 
                become worse, the fantasy world has a greater draw. You escape 
                more often. You get more into it. It&#146;s almost like a drug. 
                At some point you start questioning what is the dream, and what 
                is the waking world. It&#146;s this point where most people will 
                draw themselves back. If they can&#146;t, then they get lost. 
                The fantasy world takes on its own life. But make no mistake. 
                The fantasy world does not conquer the individual, the individual 
                surrenders to the fantasy.</p>
              </p>
              The general 
                response to this by government and concerned parents alike, is 
                to force a rating system on our games so that we know which games 
                may or may not be appropriate for our children. I dislike broad 
                sweeping rules like that, but it&#146;s probably the way to go. 
                We can&#146;t watch every child to see how his or her moral and 
                ethical behaviors are developing, and we can&#146;t trust parents 
                to do it. The best we can do is limit their access.</p>
              </p>
              One thing 
                I will agree with, is that parents are ultimately responsible 
                for their child&#146;s upbringing. Contrary to what some readers 
                think, I don&#146;t let my kids play just any game. But I pay 
                no attention to warnings on boxes. I look at each game in turn 
                and make my own judgement. Now that&#146;s easy for me because 
                I&#146;m really into gaming and I know what&#146;s what. For the 
                average parent, who perhaps knows nothing about games, it&#146;s 
                probably a lot tougher. Thus the advisory warnings on boxes are 
                a necessity. </p>
              </p>
              But there&#146;s 
                something that I feel is more important for parents to do. Watch 
                your kids. When little Tommy chases after the cat with a knife, 
                it&#146;s not a sign that&#146;s he playing too many violent computer 
                games, or that he saw one too many episodes of Bugs Bunny, it 
                means that he&#146;s got far more problems than you or I understand. 
                There&#146;s a deeper issue of ethics and morals and your kid 
                isn&#146;t developing them properly. That&#146;s when you need 
                to start worrying. If you never see them showing compassion or 
                caring or loving for something, anything, then there&#146;s a 
                problem. Take them to a quack and be sure.</p>
              </p>
              As for 
                me, I don&#146;t worry about Zachary. He can be playing a violent 
                game on the computer and enjoying it for all it&#146;s worth, 
                then the next be very concerned over a small cut I have on my 
                knee. &#147;Hurt, Daddy? Hurt? Kiss better?&#148; At 3 years old, 
                he knows the difference between this computer world and his own. 
                There are very clear lines drawn. When he gets mad, he lashes 
                out. But he always comes back, apologetic and truly remorseful. 
                </p>
              </p>
              Do I use 
                the computer for a babysitter? Hell yeah. Well, sometimes I do. 
                But anyone who has 3 or more kids will tell you: children can 
                be a real handful and they&#146;ll drive you mad if you let them. 
                We do as much with our kids as we can, but every now and then 
                you need quiet time to recoup. Stick them on the computer or in 
                front of the TV, because their sanity starts with yours. Get it?</p>
              <i>- 
                Russell &quot;RadPipe&quot; Lauzon is currently exhausting all 
                his free time researching Beer Goggles.</i> 
                </p>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Print CGI is 
  &copy; 2000 <a href="http://www.square8.com">Square Eight</a>. Used with permission. 
  Article is &copy; 2000 its original author. All other content is &copy; 2000 
  loonyboi productions. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. You got that??</font></i></p>
 