Video games are not the problem

Re. “Video games are fuelling violence,” Letters, July 27

Video games are just a narrative medium — the only “X-factor” is their ergodic interactivity, which has more to tell us about the relationship between agency and catharsis than it does any supposed link to violent behaviour.

Socrates said writing would destroy philosophy. Once the Gutenberg press became widespread, people claimed books would be the downfall of intelligent discourse. Then it was that “evil long-hair” music of Beethoven. Scandalous. And music remained the villain until the telephone arrived. And then moving pictures.

The real issue at play is lack of parenting. Lack of parental understanding of their children’s activities. Lack of parental guidance through moral quandary. Jhonnen Vasquez, artist of the Invader Zim and JTHM comics says “sometimes you have to let the monster out and feed it,” meaning that in order to confidently deal with strife and conflict, we have to examine the range of our own reactions to it.

The issue of video games and mental illness is also being misconstrued thanks to the ill-timed classification of compulsive gaming as a disorder, without looking at the fact that compulsive behaviour disorders across the spectrum are the same: the abused substance isn’t the issue. It’s the environmental factors that lead to addiction. Jared Pachan, Edmonton