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From: mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: D & D : 60 Minutes 9/15
Message-ID: <6883@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 19-Sep-85 19:13:16 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.6883
Posted: Thu Sep 19 19:13:16 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 23-Sep-85 00:43:28 EDT
References: <271@pedsgd.UUCP>
Reply-To: mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP (Eric McColm)
Distribution: net
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 61
Summary:
After seeing the 60-minutes report, I noticed a few details. First, there
seem to be a lot of depressed kids whose parents have guns. Not to kick the
American Way or anything, but do these parents leave their guns out for the
kids to use, or what?
Also, the situation in which the teenager plays D&D, threatens his sister into
not mentioning the game to the parents, and is so careful never to let the
parents find out, and all the while the parents have never HEARD of the game
is to me highly implausible. Teenagers aren't nearly this hyperbolic. They
only hide what they know the parents think is wrong. Clearly, either the
parents knew of and disapproved of the game, or they disapproved of the son's
fellow players, or they disapproved of all his hobbies in general, or they
were trying to instill *certain* activities to the exclusion of all others,
or there was ABSOLUTELY NO rapport or trust between the parents and son to
begin with. Or, quite possibly, the players did *something else* at the game
(like drugs) that they knew parents wouldn't like.
E. Gary Gygax was up to his usual form. On camera, he looked disoriented,
and he sounded like he was trying desperately to come up with a convincing
lie. If we don't want the game banned, we'll have to keep this guy off
camera. He reeks of dishonesty. Also, while what he said was likely true,
he said it in a manner so clearly offensive that he could not help but to
galvanize popular opinion against him. This guy could recite the Lord's
Prayer and be offensive.
Lastly, let us suppose that D&D and teenage suicide are *entirely*
independent. Question: knowing how many D&D players there are, and how
many of these have committed suicide, how many teenagers will have committed
suicide (players or not) in the same period?
Assumptions:
The US has about 50 million teenagers
There are 4 million FRPers in the US, 3/4 of whom are teenagers
There were 30 D&D-related suicides in the last ten years
Answer: 50 teenage suicides a year. Clearly ridiculous. Even if only 1 in
1000 suicides among D&D players is connected to the game, (a huge fudge
factor including limited information, disbelieving police, limited publicity,
and all sorts of other factors to prevent the association) the result is
only 50,000. So there seems little grounds to the claim that D&D increases
the suicide rate.
Keep in mind that the average teenage D&D player is (in my experience) male,
bright, imaginative, quick-witted, disillusioned with parents and school, and
misanthropic to some degree or other. These people are a high-risk group for
suicide. Yet if among this group, the rate is *below* the national average,
this leads directly to one conclusion: Fantasy role-playing reduces the
suicide rate among teenagers.
This is a significant statement, if borne out by evidence.
--fini--
Eric McColm
UCLA (oo' - kluh) Funny Farm for the Criminally Harmless
UUCP: ...!{ihnp4,trwspp,cepu,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!mccolm
ARPA: mccolm@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
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"To be, or not to be..." -Hamlet (Wm. Shakespeare)
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