While in the past I have taken issue with some of Bill Cosby’s off the cuff statements I have to say that he has a more than valid point here. I have played all of the GTA video games and the game set in San Andreas hit home for me. The backdrop started in a local neighborhood in California and the main character comes up in the ranks of a gang, he’s involved in heavy crime and this is his family’s way of life. Many young children growing up in rough neighborhoods can relate to this path, some victimize themselves by feeling that this scenario is all that can exist for them.
The issue is deeper than video games, it’s deeper than art imitating life, or life imitating art. And as much as people want to blame parents we have to understand that children are growing up in an age where they are bombarded with different images and ways of life from every angle. Video games, television, music videos, movies, class mates; these different sources of information can largely affect a child’s perception on life even if they have the best parents in the world.
Often we are reminded of the “old school” but this parallel is flawed because the “old school” did not have this level of outside information impregnating the minds of their children. Like Cosby I do not have the solution, I am sure that it does not lie in blaming parents or hip-hop artists, or video games for that matter; instead our solution will be found in some form of collective responsibility in the raising of our future generations and creating outlets that allow children to focus on their God given talents rather than keeping them busy with recreational activities that if unsupervised can lead to a distorted perception of what is right and wrong. (more)
