CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Jack Thompson, the attorney who represented the parents of three teenagers killed in the Paducah, Ky., school shooting in 1997, is continuing his efforts against violent video games because of their influence on unstable youth.
One of his main concerns now is the October release of “Bully,” a video game that teaches teens how to “navigate through the tricky and sometimes brutal social pitfalls of high school,” according to iTnews.com, an Australian business news site. Thompson calls the game a “Columbine simulator,” referring to the massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.
“Bully puts the player in the position of a new kid who has to confront bullies, deal with teachers, get the girl and avoid detention at a corrupt boarding school,” iTnews.com reported, adding that the main character wields a baseball bat during his journey.
Thompson said his life was changed when he spent time with victims’ families in Paducah, where investigators believe the shooter, 14-year-old Michael Carneal, had spent hours playing video games that simulate violence. He has lobbied legislators to pass laws banning video games that train youth to seek revenge over classmates by using violence.
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