*Scapegoating video games and other violent media is nonsense*

[jeff47]

39. If your theory was correct, non-mass killings would also be up.

You are claiming violent media leads to real-world violence, spectacular or not. But real world violence is actually down while exposure to violent media is up. Since the stats are moving in the opposite direction, it would not appear there is a correlation.

Further, you get much more media violence in Japan - they have video games so horrible no one will distribute them to the rest of the world. Yet Japan is one of the least crime-ridden countries on the planet. If your correlation existed, how could Japan completely avoid it? Even if there were other societal pressures to act as a brake, you'd still get people causing real-world violence if there was a significant correlation.

My objection is not some misplaced love of violent games - I'm old enough to have enjoyed plenty of games before first-person shooters were invented and feel that they've squelched too much of gaming's variety.

But you're asserting a correlation when the data shows the stats moving in the opposite direction.