B.C. teachers seek ban on video game with bullying theme
Last Updated: Tuesday, March 4, 2008 | 8:15 PM PT
CBC News
A video game with a central theme of bullying is not just violent but also dangerous for children, teachers in British Columbia say.
Rockstar Games, the developer of Bully: Scholarship Edition, is based in Vancouver.
(CBC)
The main character in Bully: Scholarship Edition is a 15-year-old boy attending a fictional New England boarding school named Bullworth Academy. He reacts to the highs and lows of being in his new environment by harassing other students and even teachers.
The game, developed by Vancouver-based Rockstar Games and released Tuesday, is rated for those 13 and older.
Eight teacher unions from around the world, including Vancouver, have formed a coalition that seeks to have the game banned.
Irene Lanzinger, president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation, says the game could give children the idea that bullying 'should be aspired to.'
(CBC)
"These kinds of games tell them [children] that this behaviour is OK," said Irene Lanzinger, president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation. "In fact, these kinds of games tell them that behaviour is good, that it should be aspired to."
However, Michael Hoechsmann, a professor with McGill University in Montreal, said his video game research indicates that while certain children are attracted to the violent impulses of such games, they don't necessarily act on them in real life.
"The idea that this game will cause young people to act out violence is not a very solid one," he said. "The reality is that the predictors of violence are more like in the social, economic and psychological elements of a young person's life."
McGill University Prof. Michael Hoechsmann says children attracted to the violent fantasies of video games don't necessarily act them out in real life.
(CBC)
"Too often we point to the media in a moment like this, seeking desperately for a solution where we cannot find one," he said.
Hoechsmann said he doesn't approve of the level of violence inBully: Scholarship Edition but he doesn't see a ban in the game as feasible because it is already on the market.
Lanzinger said the "release of the new game gives us an opportunity to remind people about what teachers' concerns are regarding these kinds of video games."
Bully: Scholarship Edition is a new version of the originalBully game published in October 2006.
Rockstar Games also created Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt, two series whose violent content have raised concerns in the past. Manhunt 2 was banned in Britain.
Rockstar Games refused to be interviewed by CBC News on Tuesday.
