What lesson are we supposed to learn from the story of a Thai teenager who robbed and murdered a taxi driver while trying to live out the fantasy world of Grand Theft Auto IV?
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai video game distributor halted sales of “Grand Theft Auto” on Monday after a teenager confessed to robbing and murdering a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the controversial game.
“We are sending out requests today to outlets and shops to pull the games off their shelves and we will replace them with other games,” Sakchai Chotikachinda, sales and marketing director of New Era Interactive Media, told Reuters.
“We are also urging video game arcades to pull the games from service,” Sakchai said. An 18-year-old high school student, now in custody pending further investigations and a trial, faces death by lethal injection if found guilty of robbing and killing a 54-year-old taxi driver with a knife at the weekend.
There are several lessons to be learned.
- Governments are reactionary – when something bad happens, government’s solution is generally to limit individual choices, which is not a solution to the problem.
- Individuals make choices, video games do not. Video games will get blamed anyway.
- Parents have no responsibility for their children. They are not even mentioned in the article. It is the state’s job to raise the young, discipline them and inculcate moral values into their young impressionable minds.
Grand Theft Auto is a morally bankrupt game. That much is true. But the inability to distinguish between a software product developed to entertain adults and reality has little to do with Grand Theft Auto. People play Grand Theft Auto precisely because they can do things in the game without the same consequences that take place in real life. Pulling the game from store shelves will only create more buzz and a black market for the game. No product in the history of humanity has ever been successfully banned by authorities. Grand Theft Auto isn’t going to be any different. Teens who want to play the game will still find a way.
One thing is certain – more teens are going to want to play Grand Theft Auto IV now that the game has been banned in Thailand. If you’re a parent, take the time to pay attention to what your kid is using as a moral compass. If you aren’t giving him or her a complete education, chances are good that he or she is lost and wandering, and absorbing values you might not think are healthy.