The New Castle Phoenix has recently been made aware of the accumulating dangers of video games. Hundreds of cautionary tales swirling around the country, each presenting an incredulous danger. Parents have become insatiable, demanding justice for their children who have suffered. Many firsthand accounts have been collected and recounted, including these stories.
On a humble Thursday afternoon, somewhere irrelevant in Oklahoma, a young single mother was making dinner for her 4 year old son. (She ordered McDonalds) Unbeknownst to her, just in the other room, her son was playing the very popular game, Call of Duty. The child, having access to online servers, happened to be playing with very animated individuals who, at the slightest virtual inconvenience, screamed the most profane slurs known to mankind. Legend tells off unknown slurs created in the recesses of Call of Duty lobbies. The child, being the oblivious fool he is, decided to repeat these vivacious words in order to “fit in” with his fellow gamers. To her shock, the mother quickly ran into the room and tore her son from the console. The mother, realizing her mistake, swiftly punished the child with the politically heated “spankings”. Afterwards, the son and mother came together over the scents of a Happy Meal and a Double Quarter-Pounder with Cheese. (No veggies of course) For his toy the son got a plastic Elsa, which further aggravated him because he wanted an Olaf. As the conflict died down, the mother made her son promise to no longer repeat such heinous language in her presence. The son, being 4 years old, made certain to only say slurs when out of earshot. Luckily it was not that hard as she was deaf in her left ear. The mother let her son keep the console and the game, leading the son to become a racist homophobe with violent anger management complications. He is currently being held at a local prison in California after assaulting an officer while under the influence. The mother died due to heart failure. At that point in her life, her blood was 87% processed beef.
Another recent story comes from the warm climate of California. Nowe Kneigm, a loving christian mother, had recently bought her teenage daughter a Meta Quest 2. The daughter, seeing many popular VR videos on the internet, had fantasized about the curious console for the past year. Now, for context, the daughter had been moderately athletic prior to the purchase. According to her coach, she had the potential to become the next shuffleboard champion! Sadly, the headset changed her. Within a week, she refused to eat anything other than fast food and over-caffeinated energy beverages. Within a month, she had lost all interest in academics and athletics, her only interests residing within the VR.
Kneigm states, “I tried entering her room to take her laundry as it had been over a week since I had washed her clothes, but the moment I opened the door my senses were violated by the horrible stench that came from within her room.” Her statement came from within a local hospital in California. The “horrible stench” had almost put her into a life threatening coma. A year later, the mother tried to take away the headset, feeling that it had done only harm. After suiting up in nuclear-grade biochemical protective equipment, she entered her daughter’s room. Kneigm has refused to give any comment on the state of the room. She said that simply witnessing the room’s state almost made her atheist. As the events unfolded, Ellanor attempted to reason with her daughter, but failed. As a last ditch effort, she tried to rip the VR headset off her daughter’s head. In a shocking turn of events, her skin had melted with the headset. The daughter is now being held at a local college science institution as an experiment. The college wishes to remain anonymous.
These stories are incredibly saddening. One could almost say unbelievable. They paint an almost hyperbolic scenario that may or may not relate to a real danger in the world. Nevertheless, each account speaks of a real threat that unaccounted gaming can cause.
