EXPERTS said over the weekend that banning violent video games would not deter school violence, saying that it takes more than exposure to such games to influence someone to commit a heinous crime.
They also said that multiple factors could have influence on children toward violent behavior, including bullying and the environment in which they live.
Their comments come after police said that one of the shooters in the Tacloban school rampage was an addict of the video game Gorebox.
Its developer, F2Games, has declined to appear before a planned Senate investigation into the shooting on July 1 but emphasized that the game is not recommended for minors aged 18 and below.
Several lawmakers and even the Department of Interior and Local Government have proposed banning violent video games.
But in an interview with The Manila Times, Dr. Therese Bustos, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Education and a standing committee member of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2), said that kids playing video games or watching animated shows with fantasy violence do not lead them to be violent.
Banning the games would not work, she added, because the underage could simply lie about being 18.
She added that games are just only one part of the problem, saying that children would be “detached” if they dwell on fantasy all the time without meaningful engagement with adults and their peers.
“It is also important that they have responsible adults to guide them throughout that process. Otherwise, they will follow what they see or whatever is available to them,” Bustos said.
Prof. Yeng Gatchalian, chief psychologist of the Mind Care Center of Perpetual Help Medical Center-Las Piñas, said that studies have already proved that there is no evidence that video games can induce violence among children.
She added some parents tend to blame their children for being too focused on playing on their gadgets.
“What I’m asking is whether there is someone at home your child can talk to and who that person is. What other activities can you offer your child? Because if we blame gadgets, isn’t it possible that gadgets have become the child’s way of coping with those losses?” Gatchalian said.
“For example, if they have no one to talk to at home and no one to share their problems with, that’s when they turn to violent games, other games, movies, or whatever activities they engage in,” Gatchalian said.
Gatchalian suggested parents “enter the world” of children by listening to them and to see how they play the game and understand their character.
“Just speak with your child casually so that they can share it. By the time you give advice, for example, that character does not tell you good things, he will listen to you that it won’t look like you are against him,” Gatchalian said.
Bustos said that teaching habits, including the language teachers use, could also have an effect on why students tend to become bullies.
“There are teachers who can teach properly, but there are also who curse and insult… so it all boils down to making sure that everybody is comfortable to begin with,” Bustos said.
She also said that class sizes also have an effect on the behavior of students, citing a study by De La Salle University commissioned by Edcom 2 noting that bullying is prevalent in large class sizes.
“There should also be a visible presence of adults, with enough of them relative to the number of students. Again, one way to achieve that is by reducing class sizes so that more teachers can be assigned,” Bustos said.
Both Gatchalian and Bustos also acknowledged the fact that the country needs more guidance counselors and school psychiatrists, which was also noted by Edcom 2.
Gatchalian said that guidance counseling could have helped prevent the incident in Tacloban City.
“Our guidance counselors are a tremendous help in guiding our students and ensuring that they have a positive school life. I hope we can have more guidance counselors and school psychologists. We really need licensed guidance counselors who are trained for this work and know how to handle cases like these,” Gatchalian said.
