Media Wrongly Targets Games as Reason for 13-Year Old Getting Throat Slashed and a Boy Killing His Mother

[Shawn Zipay]

It's a double dose of "the media are a bunch of morons" for you today. First up, a boy in Iowa shot and killed his mother after she took away Call of Duty from him after he received bad grades in school.

14-year old Noah Crooks called 911 on March 24, 2012 saying that he shot his mother 20 times. The recorded call was played this week as his trial began. His mother, Gretchen Crooks, confiscated the game roughly three hours before Noah shot her to death.

“I’m not joking at all. She’s dead. I’m scared. I killed my mom with my .22. I don’t know why I did it,” he told dispatcher Barb Michael with the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department.

“I feel crazy and I know I’m not. I think I have some form of ADD,” Crooks said during the call.

“I tried to rape her. I tried to rape her but I couldn’t do it.”

He rambled on for several minutes as the dispatcher contacted deputies and dispatched an ambulance.

“Tell them my weapon is empty. I just wish it was a dream so I could wake up and I could kiss her and hug her.”

He said his mother made homemade doughnuts for him that night and he couldn’t believe he killed her after she did that for him.

Testimony is expected from Noah's friends, one of which played Call of Duty with him online. The defense is attempting to find a connection to Noah's change in behavior with Call of Duty.

Noah was given the .22 rifle he murdered his mother with as a birthday gift when he turned 11.

In Scotland, a 14-year old admitted to slashing the throat of a 13-year old boy. The cause, at least according to The Daily Mail, says that Gears of War 3's violence is a contributing factor for the behavior.

The two met online around Christmas time in 2011. They played games online together including Gears of War 3, but the friendship quickly soured and turned to name-calling.

Prosecutor Andrew Brown, QC, told the court: ‘The reporting officer was of the opinion that the violent video games played online by the accused may have been a factor in his conduct.’(...)

On April 14 last year, the day of the attack, the victim met some friends and the group later encountered the accused at a local shop. Later that night, the victim and another boy were going to a house when they saw the accused.

The accused grabbed the 14-year-old then struck him across the throat with a knife. The victim told paramedics a boy had ‘slit his throat in an argument about Xbox games’. He suffered a wound so deep it exposed his windpipe and required 20 staples following surgery.(...)

Then, in a scene reminiscent of violent video games – the accused sneered at his victim: ‘Don’t die,’ before calmly walking off. The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted assault.

The older boy is also already a father. Yes, the 14-year old kid (now 16) is already a father.

Let's see here. In the first case, Noah was given a gun at the age of 11. Not only that, but they apparently were unaware of the games their son was playing, especially given how Call of Duty titles are rated M by the ESRB. M ratings say that nobody under the age of 17 should be playing these titles nor purchasing them.

Even if you ignore all of that, there's still the fact that Noah reportedly suffers from intermittent explosive disorder, which is characterized by repeated episodes of impulsive, aggressive, or violent behavior.

He was already psychologically messed up, why was he even permitted to be in a situation where he'd be playing violent games in the first place?

The second case with Gears of War is similar to the first. It's a game that carries an M rating. So why then are 14 and 13-year old kids playing these games? Oh right, because of poor parenting.

Naturally the media is quick to blame Call of Duty and Gears of War for these horrific events, despite there being plenty of other areas of fault at play. If games led to violence, why don't they lead to other outcomes? You don't exactly see a bunch of football playing all-stars landing on the moon in their custom rockets that they built from turtles shells that were left over after winning a hand of poker against a talking dog.

Getting real sick of your shit, mainstream media. Real sick of it.

(via Globe Gazette, Daily Mail)

[cikame]

I remember shooting a mother figure 20 times then attempting to rape them in call of duty, oh wait, no i don't.

To be fair it's not necessarily the content of the games these people are on about, it's the idea that a violent game will make you violent. So like you said, why are psychologically disturbed children playing with adult media.

[rock3h]

who gives an 11yr old a rifle for christmas?

dear god.

[stilla-killa]

I had a BB gun when I was younger and the only thing I wanted to shoot were brids and squirrels. Murder has been around since the beginning of time. There are many reasons why people kill others. Video games could be a trigger for some but there are other factors that lead to the killing that the media fails to mention or leave out on purpose.

[jimykx]

The only thing my mother would buy me that resembled weapons where water pistols. I did make my own slingshot but the only thing I would shoot at were cans. For some reason games and weapons are not for kids. They haven't yet learned to distinguish what is wrong from right, they do not have developed a personality because they hardly have the ability to comprehend subjective matters. God, the retardedness of the parents clearly reflects on their children.

[stilla-killa]

jimy: These kids should know that murder is wrong even at that age.

[CptainCrunch]

It's not that they don't know that murder is wrong, its that they don't think about the consequences to their actions. I have read a lot of studies where kids have been tested with different situations and VERY seldom could the tell what the outcome was going to be though an adult could easily figure it out.

It's similar to the idea that you will live forever and that something bad isn't going to happen to you. Look at all the people texting and driving. I'm not sure, but I think it is now the #1 or #2 killer on the road, surpassing drunk driving.

Anyway, BoT, the first kid is throwing out excuses that he has heard and seen on TV. I want to know if he was on any medication. After all the gun banning stuff going on several people posted up the last 20 years worth of mass shootings and showed how all the shooters where on some form of medication that can actually cause depression, rage, suicidal tendencies, and other violence. As many kids are medicated now I wouldn't be surprised if they were both on some meds that disconnect them from their feelings.

And don't think I am giving them an excuse either, but the media loves to leave things out to make it seem so cut and dry when its not at all.

As for the kid having a .22, that's not uncommon. I know a lot of parents who have different rifles and such for their kids. One thing though is though they belong to the kids, the parents keep them put up and away. Locked up. You dont leave your keys in the car just because its in the closed garage, so why would you leave your guns laying around loaded? Lock em up in the day, put em by your bed at night. Its not that challenging.

[K-16]

Don't forget to use a durable safe. Not the ones that can be pried open.

Edit: Looks like Mike Krahulik came up with a great idea on what "step 2" should be like, by setting up a PTA meeting in order to properly inform parents and children how games should be moderated. I hope he will talk $#!+ about Yee Leland with factual slides so parents will know why he deserves no credibility, and a PTA meeting is probably the best way for gamers to be vocal without sounding threatening.

Ben Kuchera also contributed to "step 2" with parenting stories, though I find it's too focused on his family and too hidden from the internet (article never got republished elsewhere) to be effective for other families to consider. For instance, I think Mr. Kuchera's parenting is too strict to allow his children to learn and understand WHY he's being strict as they see their peers having more fun (and Mr. Kuchera's fear of his inevitable loss of control on his children is contributing to it), and yet his way of communicating with his children is too risky to recommend for others to try.

However, it's crucial to note that what Mr. Kuchera is doing is working for his family just fine and when his children grow up, Mr. Kuchera will be relieved to see his children keeping the foundational lessons given to them, and will be proud knowing he let his children go to a society full of mature themes, where they will be DAMN ready for them and will teach others what their father has taught them.

The point is that I don't agree with some of his methods, but he is doing what parents should've done regarding our defensive stance on parenting versus governing on mature-themed media. The overall "step 2" should be a combination of focused parenting and open education from gamers to help society realize why we are disagreeing with how violent media should be controlled. We're not addicted to them, we're just capable of adapting them into our lives like anything else that gets expressed freely, such as the mainstream news showing graphic imagery broadcasted well before anyone goes to bed.

Meanwhile we really need to do something about manipulative children who know how to game the legal system. It's disturbing how society isn't capable of understanding a legal loophole where pleading insanity from video games reduces your sentence and helps you gain sympathy as a victim. All it takes is a child acting with puppy tears, a convincing speech from an unethical defense attorney, and we are ever so screwed. To the prosecutors, I'm sorry you keep fighting losing battles because of bull$#!+ like this.