Lt. Col. Dave Grossman

Col. Dave is an Airborne Ranger Infantry officer and prior-service sergeant and paratrooper, with more than 23 years experience in leading US soldiers worldwide. He retired from the Army in February 1998 to become a full-time writer, consultant, and speaker.

-- From his web site is http://www.killology.org

He is also a writer of a few books, them being ON KILLING: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society and Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence.

Well, he is the guy who says that video games and computer games train children to be homicidal maniacs because school shootings happen with killers who play said games. Ever since early on in the school shooting in Jonesboro, he cashed in on the idea that television and video games can drive children to go nuts. He ignores the idea of school as a Hellmouth, bad parenting, and so on. After what happened in Columbine High School in April, 20, 1999, Mr. Grossman has the chance to point at the TV and say "See, see! I told you so! Those kids are homicidal maniacs are into video games! The government should control games and stuff!"

If you're interested, the Stomped web site has two interviews for this fella. The interviews are in http://www.stomped.com/articles/killologyfinal.html and http://www.stomped.com/articles/killologyresponse.html as well.

And remember, Correlation != Causality. He'll never let you know that he trips on that issue.

I strongly recommend checking out the above-referenced articles at Stomped. These are actually not interviews with Grossman, but e-mail reactions to his interview and his responses. As with many activists, he sounds more reasonable in an actual conversation than when behind a microphone.

One significant excerpt:

It bothers me that someone who saw that TV show might conclude that I believe all video games are evil, while actually I think Sid Meyer's[sic] Civilization is one of the greatest works of true literature in recent history, and I would happily submit it for the Pulitzer Prize. That is what is really great about this forum in Stomped, it gives a chance to lay the whole situation out on the table. I will fight with all my heart and will and ability to keep violent games away from kids, but with that said I will happily appear anywhere to defend an adult's right to Quake, or to tell some parent what a great product Civilization is for their kids.

I think we MUST trust adults in a democracy (otherwise give up on the very idea of democracy) while still recognizing our responsibility to protect kids. Kids truly are a protected class.

This is, admittedly, a defensible position. My fear whenever "regulating something for The Children" comes up is that the practical steps taken will necessarily impact my ability as an adult to read, participate in, or play something to which I have every right. Comic book shops have been closed down over offering sexually explicit material even when they were keeping them out of the hands of children! I doubt Lt. Col. Grossman has a great deal of concern over this kind of collateral damage.