New Jersey Governor: I Don't Allow Call of Duty in My Home

[Eternal_Lament]

What about the parent who knew he was going crazy and didn't get him the help he needed? To be clear i have ZERO sympathy for someone who goes on a rampage, but you don't get that far gone without the apathy of others helping you along.

I'm not sure if there's been any new developments, but if I remember correctly the mom was actually looking into placing him into a facility where he could get treatment, at which point once he knew that was gonna happen he then killed her.

Anyways, I'm not sure why people are calling him out on this; he's a parent who has decided that games such as Call of Duty have no place in his home being played by his kids. You know, exercising his right as a parent. If he allowed them access to other things such as R-rated movies and not games that would be one thing, but again him choosing bot to get those games for his kids does not make him inherently bad. And it's not like he's even calling out games specifically, he even cites all the other possible reasons that news-media has thrown out there. To me, it sounds more like a man who was so shocked that he's just scrambling for answers rather than someone who has an agenda to uphold.

 

[Bob_F_It]

If the kids are pretty young, then I give the guy credit to heeding to age ratings.

 

[Cyrus Hanley]

But I bet he still let's his kids watch the Jersey Shore.

Actually, he hates that show. [http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0710/Christie_hates_Jersey_Shore__just_a_bunch_of_NYers.html]

Sometimes I think this guy is a bit too grounded in reality to be a Republican.

Yeah I had that thought when he hugged Obama after Hurricane Sandy.

 

[UltraXan]

But I bet he still let's his kids watch the Jersey Shore.

Yeah, there is no "one" issue that is to blame for all the shootings. But here's the thing: Prevention is hard, and pretty much impossible. If someone wants to get a gun bad enough and wants to shoot up some area bad enough, he WILL do it. And no one will know about it until he pulls the damn trigger, and by that point, someone's already dead. Response definitely needs the attention. But if I had to blame SOMETHING, you know what I would blame? I wouldn't blame gun control, I wouldn't blame the media, I wouldn't blame video games... I'd blame the guy with the gun who decided to shoot whatever up, but hey, that's just me.

What about the parent who knew he was going crazy and didn't get him the help he needed? To be clear i have ZERO sympathy for someone who goes on a rampage, but you don't get that far gone without the apathy of others helping you along.

I'm not completely familiar with the most recent shooting, but in that case, yeah, a certain amount of blame is to be put on the parent. If someone knows there's a problem and nothing is done about it, then slap some of the blame baloney on them. But if no one knows about it, if they're a sociopath or what have you and have VERY few connections with people and no one knows about their mental condition, then I'm sticking by my previous statement. I was also trying to speak generally, and not just about that one specific incident.

 

[jurnag12]

Translation : Another politician jumping on the bandwagon to garner more positive press instead of tackling the issue at hand.

Politicians wouldnt attack the reporting media streams, they want publicity (positive at least) and they dont want to be ignored so standing up and saying, hey stop glamorizing the killers and focus on the real issue.

CoD didnt kill anyone, some nutter with a gun went on a shooting spree... the gun itself didnt do the killing either, it was the nutter.
How did the nutter get hold of the weapons ? Ask that question instead.

... I have been playing games since pong and I can tell you I dont own a single weapon, I rated terribly on the shooting range during my military service (1yr in South Africa - compulsory service) and despite my size and looks... I dislike fighting.
If violent media and games in particular caused violent tendencies I should be by definition a gun loving psycho that cant go a night without a fight.

...but he actually said that games were only one of many things that could have contributed, and that parents should do something about their own kids playing them, not some kind of ban.

I'd actually say that compared to most politicians, on gaming this guy seems pretty decent from this article alone, and he sounds, at the very least, way better than all the other "OMG GAMING MAKES YOU KILL PEOPLE" chuckleheads who run for office.

 

[JarinArenos]

Sometimes I think this guy is a bit too grounded in reality to be a Republican.

And then you look at the history of questionable dealings regarding public contracts and kickbacks and you realize he's just another politician. Admittedly, he's probably still better than a lot of them, but he's no shining champion of virtue either.

 

[StewShearerOld]

You know, if the Republicans have the brains to put Christie up as their 2016 candidate I would totally vote Republican for the first time. Christie is one of the few politicians that I honestly believe is in it to make things better rather than for his own gain, here's hoping he keeps making my home state proud.

I've voted for Obama twice but agree with you on this. I'd need to learn a bit more about his stance on certain issues (social issues tend to keep me away from Republican candidate) but he's made an impression on me.

 

[Ashley Blalock]

I'm just glad that someone is saying perhaps parents need to be parents. It's a crazy concept to think that we can have a society where everything is appropriate for all ages. So that means parents kind of need to say no if they don't think something is appropriate for their child. My dad sure said no enough times when I was a child but I don't feel like I missed out on too much.

 

[UltraXan]

His parents were divorced, the amount of alimony ment he never had to find a job, he had Aspergers (not sure if medicated), and spent his days in the cellar playing on Xbox Live, never socialized with people in real life and the only times he seemed to have left the house is when his mother took him to the shooting range.

Huh... That certainly makes me raise an eyebrow... really fucking high... But that might be because I know that he went on a shooting spree. She may not have seen that coming, since no one really expects their child to be a potential school shooter. She probably thought that while he didn't lead the best life-style, he wasn't THAT mentally unstable. Parents, especially those who really love their kids, tend to turn quite a few blind eyes and make quite a few exceptions for their kids. They hope for the best but don't expect the worst, crap like that.

 

[Ldude893]

But I bet he still let's his kids watch the Jersey Shore.

Actually, he hates that show. [http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0710/Christie_hates_Jersey_Shore__just_a_bunch_of_NYers.html]

Sometimes I think this guy is a bit too grounded in reality to be a Republican.

It's been awhile since I've seen such a prominent Republican who's not on the deep end; both on the political spectrum and mentally. I don't agree with his opinions on homosexuality and abortion, and remember people this guy broke his promise to not cut public employee pensions when he was governor of NJ. Plus, there's that thing with him diverting money from trust funds.

Still, it's surprising to see a Republican who actively defends Muslim-Americans and promotes stricter gun control, as well as actually argue about how broken the American congress is. He's very liberal for someone from the GOP.

 

[Rorschach II]

"I have four kids at home. I don't allow Call of Duty and these other games in. We've got to start talking about that, as parents."

Parenting is an important issue when buying games for children that have an age rating of 18? Not the game itself?

Seems like this guy actually knows what he is talking about. Faith in humanity +1!

 

[TheEvilCheese]

All I got from this is that he's a smart politician and a seemingly responsible parent. Fair enough.

I may not agree with most of his political and social ideologies, but I can certainly respect his personality and hatred of Jersey Shore.

 

[ASnogarD]

Translation : Another politician jumping on the bandwagon to garner more positive press instead of tackling the issue at hand.

Politicians wouldnt attack the reporting media streams, they want publicity (positive at least) and they dont want to be ignored so standing up and saying, hey stop glamorizing the killers and focus on the real issue.

CoD didnt kill anyone, some nutter with a gun went on a shooting spree... the gun itself didnt do the killing either, it was the nutter.
How did the nutter get hold of the weapons ? Ask that question instead.

... I have been playing games since pong and I can tell you I dont own a single weapon, I rated terribly on the shooting range during my military service (1yr in South Africa - compulsory service) and despite my size and looks... I dislike fighting.
If violent media and games in particular caused violent tendencies I should be by definition a gun loving psycho that cant go a night without a fight.

...but he actually said that games were only one of many things that could have contributed, and that parents should do something about their own kids playing them, not some kind of ban.

I'd actually say that compared to most politicians, on gaming this guy seems pretty decent from this article alone, and he sounds, at the very least, way better than all the other "OMG GAMING MAKES YOU KILL PEOPLE" chuckleheads who run for office.

He still considers them a part of the problem, and that parents should start talking about violence in videogames... not that parents should start checking the age rating of the game, and the warnings about the games content, about violence in videogaming as a whole.

He strikes me as someone not willing to go all in on any of the hot subjects, but sort of dip in a little of each so as not to be caught in the wrong group if it blows up.

I remember reading about a study that revealed that players had more aggression when playing a game of football (not the US football), and that even watching a game of football brought out heighten sense of aggression in most of the test subjects ... even more than the players in a game of CoD.
(Personally I think CoD just brings up more frustration in the gameplay than desires to the do violent acts)

Captcha phrase : jerk store (o,O)

 

[thesilentman]

The Governor: "Yo parents, you guys are shit at parenting. Reconsider your ways."

I like this guy. If only a good number of us Americans understood...

 

[wrightguy0]

I agree, call of duty has no place in the hands of children, yes it's a videogame, but like an R rated movie it's not suitable for younger audiences, props to gov. christie for acting like an informed parent and buying (hopefully they still let their kids play games) age appropriate entertainment.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

*slow clap* Now there's a novel idea, not allowing media you find distasteful into your home, and by extension, not allowing your kids to view it. Brilliant! Now why didn't I think of that. ...oh wait, I did! You see, we don't need broad sweeping legislation regarding violent games, we just need responsible parents.