By: Karim Abo Faraj
One of the most acknowledged
problems with today’s youth is the development of extremely aggressive
behavior, enhancement of vulgar vocabulary, lack of respect towards adults, as
well as other disciplinary problems associated with the growing trend of
interactive entertainment that is online gaming.
While this can be said about any videogame, the largest contributor to today’s
generation of troubled and edgy teens is Activision’s blockbuster series of
military shooting games, Call of Duty.
The biggest problem with playing Call of Duty is the kind of
incredibly harmful acts it can lead to. The most controversial of which is a
type of prank dubbed “swatting.” This scary, reckless, costly “joke”
involves a person calling the SWAT team under false accusations to the real
life home of one of his opponents in an online match. The latest example of
this heinous act, according to gaming news website, Kotaku, involves Max and
Victoria Zeisberg, a Tennessee couple who share a mutual interest in games and
often spend their Friday nights playing together.
After watching many gamers on
Youtube streaming themselves playing games, Max and Victoria got inspired to do
the same, seeing as the latter said "People enjoyed watching other people
and interacting with one another. A lot of times people would say 'I'm playing
this game and watching you guys at the same time!'" Due to the ease of
being able to stream games nowadays with the simple press of a button on
Playstation 4 and Xbox One, the Zeisbergs saw this as the ideal opportunity to
get into this trend. The problems started after Max received nasty comments
calling him a Nazi. The night took a turn for the worse once Victoria started
receiving threatening messages on her phone, causing her to insist that they
end their live stream. It was already too late to do anything though, as the
eldest daughter had spotted police cars outside their home. While the Zeisbergs
thought that their girl was merely overreacting, a SWAT unit suddenly broke
into their home claiming they received a report stating that, Max was a
“heroin” user who took the drug that day and used an AR-15 rifle to kill his
wife. Soon, the entire family was forced to hold their hands up outside their
home with a large number of guns pointed at them. After the situation was
cleared, Max and Victoria were relieved that their family emerged from the
situation unscathed, yet they were also angry at the fact that it had a
tremendous psychological effect on the children. Even though it may be blatant
that there is no crime taking place whatsoever, it is the police force’s duty
to investigate any alleged crime scene no matter how ridiculous or fictitious
it may seem.
However, arguably the most disturbing act that Call of Duty has
brought about is something so wrong and vile, merely thinking about it is too
much of a strain on the brain. According to the Daily Mirror, Noah Crooks a
13-year-old boy in the United States was charged with first-degree murder and
attempted sexual abuse after he killed his own mother with a .22 caliber rifle,
which he did once he failed to rape her. The reason this pathological child committed
a crime of such high degree stems from the simple fact that Noah’s mother,
Gretchen Crooks, took away his Call of Duty game after she
discovered that he was getting bad grades in school. On the night of the
murder, Noah called 911 and told the operator, “I feel crazy and I know I'm
not. I tried to rape her but I couldn't do it. Who tries to rape their own mom?
My life is down the drain now.”
Once the police arrived they found
Gretchen’s bullet-ridden, partly nude body lying on a couch. Noah’s lawyer stated
that a child psychiatrist will testify whether or not the boy
has Intermittent Explosive Disorder, which is a mental illness marked by
repeated episodes of impulsive, aggressive or violent behavior. Regardless of
the reason, this kind of sheer anarchy and chaos cannot go unpunished, and the
fact that this homicidal teen did this unspeakable act to his own mother shows
the kind of mental deterioration that ensues after children become to addicted
to their obscene levels of exposure to the violent images of killing virtual
avatars of other player in Call of Duty.
With all that said, parents need to stop turning a blind eye to the potential
of their own kin suffering from unfathomable obesity, lack of empathy towards
others as well as downright psychosis. It may seem tempting for some parents to
keep a friendly relationship with their children, but sometimes tough love is
not only the best gift a father and mother can give to their kids, it can also
be a lifesaver.
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