12 year old “chooses not to play” in wake of Newtown tragedy

Following the events of the tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday, one 12-year-old boy, Max Goldstein, has chosen to give up playing videogames that he has deemed violent.

When outbreaks of homicidal violence occur, the biggest question on people’s minds is why the killer did what they did. Unfortunately, this can often lead to scapegoating, and more often than not, that scapegoat can be something as small as a videogame the killer played.

In fact, when the suspect in Newtown had at first, falsely, been identified as Ryan Lanza, the true killer’s brother, some took to his Facebook page to voice their outrage. Some noticed that Ryan had “liked” Mass Effect on Facebook and subsequently voiced that same outrage to BioWare by posting messages on the Mass Effect Facebook page.

For Max, whether or not violence in videogames contributes to violent behavior isn’t his concern. He simply never wants to kill someone, even virtually.

Because of this, Max has decided to start a movement called “Played Out” with the slogan “Choose not to play.”

Max’s stepfather, Craig Mittleton, is helping Max by attaining a bin from a refuse company for Max, and those he hopes will follow in his footsteps, to dispose of all of his games that Max has deemed violent. The bin “will be placed outside the Newtown Youth Academy sports center within the next several days,” says Hartford Courant.

Source Hartford Courant