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SouthingtonSOS rewarding gamers for return of violent videogames

Posted January 3rd, 2013 at 06:22 EDT by Steven Williamson
9 Comments

A group calling themselves SouthingtonSOS have set up a Violent Video Games Return Program offering gamers a 25 dollar gift certificate if they hand over their violent games.

The initiative has been sparked by the Newtown killings in which Adam Lanza went on a shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School killing six adults and 20 children. Lanza was said to have been a keen player of violent videgoames, including Call Of Duty.

The program has been backed by the Chamber of Commerce, local churches and officials and Southington’s education board.

Southington School superintendent, Joe Erardi, spoke about the initiative with Polygon: “What happened in our community, very similar to communities across the world, is everyone wanted to do something for Newtown. The SOS convened and we looked at how do we continue to pray and support Newtown and how do we do something perhaps meaningful for Newtown and our own community.”

Referring to this particular program, in which gamers can hand-in their violent video games at the Southington Drive-in from January 12, 2013, Erardi said: “There are youngsters who appear to be consumed with violent video games. I’m not certain if that’s a good thing. If this encourages one courageous conversation with a parent and their child, then it’s a success.”

YMCA Executive Director John Myers added: “We’re concerned about our kids getting desensitized to violence and desensitized to other risky behavior.”

There’s currently a bill waiting to be passed in the senate that seeks to examine the impact of violent in videogames. When the Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association was asked about his opinion on the impact that games may have had on the Connecticut shootings he said that video games played a bigger role in the massacre than guns.

It's a sentiment that seems a little harsh considering Lanza may have had all kinds of mental health issues, not to mention a mother who was a keen gun enthusiast.

Do you think the violent videogame amnesty is a good idea? Is it something that other towns and cities should roll-out? Let us know in the community forums.

Source: Bristol Press

Comments

princevegeta1980
- 6:36am EST - January 3rd, 2013
- 1
Its good for does that have old "violent video games" that aren't worth 25 bucks any more, apart that this hole thing is a BIG joke. So what should we do people that keep gun's? and worst to does that let wackos have access to guns? Maybe they should be giving 100 bucks for every fire arm returned. Guns killed does kids, not video games!
plymyphil
- 8:01am EST - January 3rd, 2013
- 2
So the solution proposed is:

- Keep all your hand guns

- Continue to put no responsibility on lack of parenting or poor parenting (for example, being a mother with a fascination for guns)

- Continue to allow unlimited access to violence over the Internet

- Give 25 dollars for each violent video game that you have already completed allowing you to purchase more with the money

This really is such a mad solution it defies belief. The NRA must be laughing at the way the general populace is turning the focus in video games as opposed to gun ownership.
Yuuichi
- 9:25am EST - January 3rd, 2013
- 3
Sure lets not blame the parents of never teaching thier kid better when he was growing up, or the lack of being able to recive good mental health care people need. Nope it is all violent video games. Wonder why I have not done or even thought about anything like this before then seeing as I play violent video games all the time.
NYFAN75
- 11:01am EST - January 3rd, 2013
- 4
@Prince 1) It is THOSE not DOES...Does are female deer or doing an action. Ie: Your english does not make sense.

2) The guns did not kill those kids. The sick b as tard holding them did. Now I am not going to get in a gun debate here. But we as a nation need to look at the mental health system or lack there of before we start pointing fingers at games or guns.
Peter Ormesher
- 2:47pm EST - January 3rd, 2013
- 5
Killing terrorists in my video game made me kill children with my mums guns.

It's to easy to blame violent games, if someone is messed up in the head then watching the tweenies could make them go on a killing spree.

Before games they blamed the mum and dad, only a mentally unstable person would play a game based on killing terrorists and then suddenly decide to go to a school and kill children.
jamesobachand | snake2112
- 12:01am EST - January 4th, 2013
- 6
I think Congress causes violence and Reality Tv and News and Slow Drivers and Lawyers and Cops and Rapists and Murders and Stupid People and Phone Companies and High Bills and Bill Collectors and Old People and Kids and Rules of Society and Bad Parenting and Money and Banks and Taxes and Bad Luck and Mean People and Bad Jobs and No Jobs and Sometimes Bosses and Other Employees and Headaches and Drugs and Body Pains and Lack of Empathy and Too Much Empathy and Crybabies and I could go on and on and on! Society offers a lot to get angry about and we can all point fingers but the truth is some people just can't handle any of it.
PS3-The Ultimate Machine
- 12:50am EST - January 4th, 2013
- 7
To the NRA : http://www.osborneink.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/never_go_full_retard1.jpg
Shadow77
- 5:58am EST - January 4th, 2013
- 8
I play violent vidoe games like a lot of people. I'm also old enough. Growing up my parents played a big part in what I listened to, watched, and played. Didn't work so much, as now I get all of that stuff anyway. Point being, my parents were there to keep the stuff away as long as possible to give me a chance to grow up and get my head wrapped around such things so I would have a better understanding of what I was getting into as I got older. Today a lot of parents use the games and movies, and music as a way to baby sit their children. The internet and news are also great sources for violence for our younger generation. It all starts with parenting. The games and movies all have ratings that tell you exactly what is in them. Parents have all they need. They just tend to be lazy and would rather governments and such pass bill to stop games of the sort from being made instead of just taking a small amount of time to read a little bit of wording on the back of a box.
Petra_Kalbrain1
- 10:11pm EST - January 4th, 2013
- 9
Plymyphil

So the solution proposed is:

- Keep all your hand guns

- Continue to put no responsibility on lack of parenting or poor parenting (for example, being a mother with a fascination for guns)

- Continue to allow unlimited access to violence over the Internet

- Give 25 dollars for each violent video game that you have already completed allowing you to purchase more with the money

I KNOW RIGHT?!?!?! This whole thing is getting so far off track that I'm starting to think that everyone who has an empassioned opinion after that shooting has lost their sanity almost as much as the one who did the shooting itself. With this article in particular, I can't fathom the idiocy involved with offering people that kind of money for violent video games when they will just be better equipped to get more violent video games. Thanks to this "initiative" there will be more violent games out there in people's hands. Ultimately that is beside the point though since there are 9,999,999 other "issues" to focus on to solve the problem before we need to get rid of video games.