Depressed Chinese student goes on slashing spree, media blames games

Game-related violence is a hot topic in China, and unfortunately in a country so big, there’s no shortage of stories. Often, these stories really seem like they do have some level of connection to gaming, even if I’d stop short of saying the games caused the violence.

But sometimes, games are simply thrust into the story for the sake of finding a scapegoat, or for the sake of a better headline. Take this article from popular Chinese portal Phoenix News last week, for example. The online version of the article has since been edited, but I’ve got a screenshot of the original from my phone. See if you can spot the issue:

Click to enlarge

College student addicted to violent games slashes five

Addicted to violent games and having left home after a fight with his family, a Guangzhou third-year college student became clinically depressed and pessimistic, and in the middle of the night he put on a mask and slashed five people on a Dongguan street. He was later found not fully [mentally] fit to be responsible for his crimes. Recently, the third People’s Court of Dongguan found the suspect, a Mr. Huang, guilty of intentionally harming others and sentenced him to two years’ detention. According to Mr. Huang’s own account, he slashed the people because he was suicidal and was hoping the police would kill him.

Although the version of the article that’s online now has been updated to mention depression in the title, it still mentions violent video games first, despite the fact that the body of the story doesn’t seem to suggest games had anything to do with it. In fact, the full article paints a picture of a student with serious psychological problems—his father says that he talked frequently about wanting to die, that he often woke up with severe headaches, and that whenever he returned home he would tell his parents that he felt an immense amount of pressure.

Games are mentioned only briefly, and there’s no indication aside from the headline that he was addicted or had any serious problems with gaming. Both his parents and his teacher were interviewed for the piece, and apparently neither mentioned his gaming habits as a problem. He simply enjoyed video games.

Obviously, the Western media is not innocent of this kind of reporting either, but it’s definitely common enough in Asia. In some cases, it may make sense for games to shoulder some of the blame. But in a case like this, where the perpetrator was clearly suicidally depressed, why would anyone assume violent games had anything to do with his death-by-cops suicide attempt?

And why would video games be given a primary spot in the title when there’s no evidence they had anything to do with his crime? Just because he liked violent games doesn’t mean they made him violent, and even the court found that he wasn’t mentally fit enough to be fully held responsible for his actions.

Of course, we all know the reason why video games ended up in the title of that article. But it’s unfortunate, because articles like this help to perpetuate and widen the generation gap between the non-gaming elders who read these articles and take them at face value, and the gaming younger generations who know better.

Blaming games here also helps to paper over more serious issues. Mr. Huang reportedly repeatedly talked about suicide, and said he was feeling serious pressure at school. Going by what’s in the article, it doesn’t seem like he was given the help or the access to treatment he desperately needed. Thankfully no one died as a result of his spree, but this story could have been a good chance to begin a public dialogue about mental health facilities (and attitudes towards mental health treatment) in China, or about the pressure-cooker nature of the Chinese school system.

Instead, violent games are once again trotted out to play the whipping boy, and the real issues are swept under the rug.