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From: bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: D&D
Message-ID: <327@pedsgd.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 25-Oct-85 11:49:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: pedsgd.327
Posted: Fri Oct 25 11:49:25 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 26-Oct-85 05:43:39 EDT
References: <123@mit-hector.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Perkin-Elmer, Tinton Falls, NJ
Lines: 65
Keywords: D&D

In article <123@mit-hector.UUCP> melissa@mit-hector.UUCP (Melissa Silvestre) writes:
>A few weeks ago, 60 Minutes did a show on D&D. Their claim was that there
>are a large number of homocides/suicides which are linked to D&D recently.
>They showed interviews with parents and police in a number of cases, with
>both groups saying "Johnny was obssessed with the game but I didn't realize
>how badly until he stabbed his brother and himself ..." or such stuff.
>Gary Gygax (creator of D&D) was interviewed and he denyed that there was
>any link. He sounded pretty feeble about it.
>
>Well folks, it seems to me that if you are a parent concerned about your
>child, you have two choices. 1) Forbid him to play, or 2) Learn enough
>about the game to be able to talk to him intelligently and discuss the
>fantasy vs reality aspects with him.  I'm sure all of the readers of
>net.kids can tell you how well the first way works, which is to say
>worse than not at all. 

If possible, please check the spate of articles posted to net.games.frp
WRT: the 60 Minutes story.  Several misconceptions were presented
by CBS in the course of the item.  More specifically, the case of the
two brothers in Colorado whose murder/suicide was referred to had
no connection to D&D; the mother of the boys, in Denver's Rocky
Mountain News of the week following the broadcast, stated that the
elder son had recently been convicted of car theft after involvement
in a joyride, and committed suicide rather than face jail.  Filial
loyalty apparently prompted his brother to join him.  There was
no mention of D&D in the note left, and it was apparently the
investigating officer who implicated D&D after learning that the
boys had, on occasion, played.  In the newpaper interview, the
mother was quoted as saying that her sons' involvement with the
game was a casual one.

In a similar vein, the 'Today' program about two weeks later
had an item on D&D, with the same psychologist who appeared 
on 60 Minutes, and a representative of a gifted childrens'
group in California.  While the psychologist repeated his
misgivings about the game, the mother simply asked what
kind of home life these children had had, that they would
use a game to escape from reality to the point of self-
destruction.  When the psychologist proposed Federal hearings,
the mother heartily agreed, saying it would likely bring out
problems in the home environment of those children involved,
or false implications like the Colorado case above.  She
went on to say that any problem with an obsession about
D&D was a problem with AN OBSESSION, and mentioned a case
of a young 'hacker-nerd' type who was spending hours upon
hours closed up in his room playing with a terminal.  She
said the group's recommendation had been to bring the child's
machine out into a family area, to encourage more people 
contact.

As a player myself for some five years, and the parent of
a young child, I have no problem with the game as such.
D&D encourages imagination, but as many have already said,
no more so than, say, amateur theatrics.  If some unstable
youngsters unfortunately carry their game into reality,
with tragic results, is the game at fault, or the children?

						Bob Halloran
						Sr MTS, Perkin-Elmer DSG
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