Violence in the Media
2
Media: Violence In The Media Lesson 2 – Media: Violence In The Media Date: 2009-4-1 THE teenage gunman who went on a shooting rampage at his old school in Germany last week spent the night before the killings playing a violent video game in which a heavily armed mercenary tracks down and kills an arms dealer, local police revealed at the weekend. Tim Kretschmer spent from 7.30pm to 9.40pm playing Far Cry2, a game in which the player takes on the role of the killer. Remarkable parallels emerged between the video game and the 17-year-old's actions, when he killed 15 people and then himself. In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer did the same, holding a pistol to the terrified driver's head and asking: "Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?" Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9million copies worldwide, wear black camouflage uniforms, the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday. Most sinister of all, Far Cry2's killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun - the same weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer. The game includes sequences in which the aiming, firing and reloading of a Beretta are portrayed in vivid detail. It rewards players who shoot their victims in the head, the style of killing chosen by Kretschmer. He also played Counter-Strike, another game featuring gunplay, and TacticalOps, a special forces action game. Some US experts are convinced of a link between school shootings and violent games. A West Point psychology professor, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, said: "You can see the games' influence in the way these school shooters aim and shoot accurately and move from one target to the next, moving through people dispassionately." But Walter Hollstein, a sociologist, working with the Council of Europe, disagrees. "It's nonsense to assume the games turn adolescents into school shooters," he said. "A variety of factors, such as helplessness, anger and loss of control, must come together for them to become the trigger, but the games don't make anyone a killer." 1 / 2
-
Upload
marco-damm -
Category
Education
-
view
551 -
download
1
Transcript of Violence in the Media
Media: Violence In The Media
Lesson 2 – Media: Violence In The MediaDate: 2009-4-1
THE teenage gunman who went on a shooting rampage at his old school in Germany last week spent the night before the killings playing a violent video game in which a heavily armed mercenary tracks down and kills an arms dealer, local police revealed at the weekend.
Tim Kretschmer spent from 7.30pm to 9.40pm playing Far Cry2, a game in which the player takes on the role of the killer.
Remarkable parallels emerged between the video game and the 17-year-old's actions, when he killed 15 people and then himself.
In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer did the same, holding a pistol to the terrified driver's head and asking: "Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?" Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9million copies worldwide, wear black camouflage uniforms, the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday.
Most sinister of all, Far Cry2's killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun - the same weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer.
The game includes sequences in which the aiming, firing and reloading of a Beretta are portrayed in vivid detail. It rewards players who shoot their victims in the head, the style of killing chosen by
Kretschmer.
He also played Counter-Strike, another game featuring gunplay, and TacticalOps, a special forces action game.
Some US experts are convinced of a link between school shootings and violent games.
A West Point psychology professor, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, said: "You can see the games' influence in the way these school shooters aim and shoot accurately and move from one target to the next, moving through people dispassionately."
But Walter Hollstein, a sociologist, working with the Council of Europe, disagrees. "It's nonsense to assume the games turn adolescents into school shooters," he said. "A variety of factors, such as helplessness, anger and loss of control, must come together for them to become the trigger, but the games don't make anyone a killer."
1 / 2
Media: Violence In The Media
German police investigating the shooting at Winnenden school believe one motive might have been a rebuff from a teenage girl who attended a New Year's Eve party at Kretschmer's home. The girl was one of his first victims, reports said yesterday.
According to reports, Kretschmer had a "casual friendship" with the girl, who lived nearby. But she rejected his advances at the party and later ended their relationship.
The name of the girl has not been released, but it emerged that three of his female victims, Chantal Schill and Jana Schober, both 16, and Stefanie Kleisch, 14, all lived nearby.
Chantal was the first to die, in her seat near the door of classroom 305 at Kretschmer's old school. Police said the shooting resembled an execution.
Kretschmer then shot Jana and Kristina Strobel, 16, and left the classroom, going on to kill Stefanie and four other girls, a boy and three teachers. Three other people were killed later.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday called for tighter gun control in her country after the rampage.
The Sunday Times, AFP
(http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25190537-2703,00.html)
2 / 2
