Bully
Soo-Min Cho

In May 2005, Rockstar Games, a creator of the video-game, invented a game called Bully. There is a debate on whether the game should be banned or not. It is rated for a person who is thirteen years or older, and it is about a schoolboy Jimmy Hopkins who faces the reform school’s problems. CNN’s Lou Dobbs sees this game as another precursor of decline in our culture. A psychologist Dave Walsh also criticizes the game that it would cause the teenager’s antisocial behaviors at school. However, there is no violent material such as guns, blood, or gore that is included in the game.

Clive Thompson who works at Wired.Com asserts that the game should not be banned. Thompson says that this game is far from being violent. On October 13, Judge Ronald Friedman concluded that the game would not be banned because it is not violent enough. Many critics say that video games will be harmful for the teenagers; however, there is no certain statistical evidence to support their claim. Indeed, statistics show the opposite evidence that video game is not related to the crime rates or any violence of that kind. It is understandable that the parents are worried about their children being too obsessed with video games. Nevertheless, banning the game because of their worries is unwise and unconstitutional.

The cover of Bully, courtesy of http://www.abovethelaw.com