Is this a simple case of someone misunderstanding what they heard and quoting it wrong, or are we looking at someone who purposely took something and warped it to his will and goal? Ah, you have to love politicians. One politician would have you believe videogames have made killers from kids by the time they are nine. However, turns out genetics and parents are the real reason.

From the article:

Are violent video games causing children to become psycopathic killers by age nine?

Louisiana State Rep. Roy Burrell (D) would have you believe so. Burrell, who sponsored Louisiana’s Jack Thompson-authored video game bill in 2006, wrote that in an op-ed for yesterday’s Shreveport Times, citing a leading criminal profiler:

One expert, Pat Brown, a national top criminal profiler and parent, said that these video games are causing our children to become psychopathic killers by 9 years old.

After GamePolitics reported on Burrell’s piece, sharp-eyed GP readers noticed that comments to the op-ed on the newspaper’s website included this one, apparently from Pat Brown herself:

Dear Rep. Burrell,

While I agree with your concerns and approve heartily of working to legislate control over violent video games, I need to correct the quote you attributed to me that these video games create psychopaths by age nine. Violent video games alone cannot create a psychopath.

What I have stated often in television interviews is that a psychopath is already a psychopath by age nine. It is a combination of personality and childrearing (by the family and community) that help create that psychopath.

VIOLENT video games can be a part of this picture as they lend to the loss of empathy that is a hallmark of psychopathy and young children viewing repetitive violence and participating in “killing” via video games are living in an unhealthy psychological environment. Furthermore, teenagers who are already psychopathic and then spend a great deal of time with violent video games are being inspired to act out their psychopathy in a similarly violent manner.

Violent video games do not make well-adjusted older teens or adults into mass murderers (although there still could be more positive pasttimes and inputs for these game playng individuals)…

Read the full article over at gamepolitics.com