Opinion

New Hollywood'S Bum Rap

By SCOTT T. HARDS

Japan and the United States have been shocked recently by a rise in violent youth crimes. It's not unusual these days to hear news about teenagers killing people, often for reasons that are impossible to comprehend.

In early May, a 17-year old Japanese youth hijacked a bus and killed one person before police subdued him. After that shocker, Japan's top politicians quickly began mouthing promises to launch studies to figure out why the nation's youth are so frequently committing crimes that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago.

Among all the hand-wringing, so-called experts frequently point their fingers at video games, claiming that such crimes never occurred before the rise of this form of entertainment. They also are quick to point out the connection whenever one of these young criminals is shown to be a fan of sometimes-violent games.

Video game players are hard ly a rare breed these days. Recently released data from the United States shows that a whopping 60 percent of the population enjoys games either on personal com puters or on a game console from time to time.

In fact, Americans are expected to spend more money on video games this year than on motion pictures! That means that firms like Square, Capcom, Enix, Konami and others are the moguls of a "new Hollywood" of creative talent that is centered here in Japan.

And let me confess: I, too, thoroughly enjoy video games, particularly "role-playing" games, and spend at least 10 hours a week plugged into my PlayStation.

So with so many perfectly well-adjusted people playing games, I find it difficult to accept charges that these are one of the direct causes of the moral decline of today's young people.

However, I don't think the two are entirely unrelated either. Let me explain. Most incidents of vio lent youth crime involve "loners." These are people with few friends who are seldom seen outside. They often spend entire days alone in their rooms. These days, with cable and satellite TV, the Internet, video games and many other new forms of entertain ment, people have plenty of things with which to keep themselves entertained. In the past, that wasn't the case, and kids had to play with their friends if they wanted to have any fun.

The problem is not these new forms of solo play, however, but the parents of these children, who are often too willing to let them become engrossed in such activities to the exclusion of normal social interaction.

If these parents shut off the TV, or take the game away, their kids whine and cry. Why deal with that? If you let them play, they are quiet, stay in their room and are easy to handle. In other words, too many parents are letting video games or the TV raise their kids, instead of doing it themselves.

I think video games can be a great developmental tool for kids, expanding imagination, building problem-solving skills and more. But nothing is a substitute for playing with others, and it's no surprise that kids who don't are increasingly amoral.

The question is, how do we wake up their parents?

Shukan ST: June 2, 2000

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