Bullying... the video game

It turns out there is a video game called Bully, in which you play a student at a reform school and fight your way to the top of the pecking order. It isn't out yet, but is scheduled for release in the next few months. The early advertising claims:

As a troublesome schoolboy, you'll laugh and cringe as you stand up to bullies, get picked on by teachers, play pranks on malicious kids, win or lose the girl, and ultimately learn to navigate the obstacles of the fictitious reform school Bullworth Academy.

I really can't reconcile that with this screen shot:




From the Mirror (UK):

Horrified child welfare campaigners and teachers' groups are calling on the [UK] government to ban the Bully game.

Liz Carnell of campaign group Bullying Online says: "This game should be banned. I'm extremely worried that kids will play it and then act out what they've seen in the classroom.

"Bullying is not a game by any stretch of the imagination. We have around four suicidal children contacting us every day."

Two million children in the UK are bullied at school, with 40 per cent enduring abuse twice a week or more.

And the effects can last a lifetime. One in 12 youngsters is so traumatised that their education, relationships and even their job prospects are affected.

Between 10 and 15 children each year commit suicide after being picked on.

And in the United States:

MIAMI -- The Miami-Dade County School Board is taking what could be described as a pre-emptive strike against what some critics fear could be the latest in a line of video games they say promote violence.

South Florida attorney Jack Thompson, along with the support of the Miami-Dade County School Board, is leading an attempt to prevent a soon-to-be-released video game called "Bully" from making its way into the hands of children.

"The killers at Columbine were victims of bullying, and they became the ultimate bullies, killing people to settle scores with those who gave them a hard time, and that's the theme of this game," Thompson said.

The school board resolution requested parents not to buy the game, and requested that local retailers not stock it. The attorney mentioned above has also filed a lawsuit to ban the game from sale in Florida, claiming it constitutes a public nuisance.

If bullying weren't widespread to begin with, this game would never have been developed. Clearly the marketing idea is that victims can seek some sort of revenge, however artificial, within the game. And there are, of course, plenty of victims.