‘Game teaching kids to kill’, says Lula about attack – 04/19/2023 – Education

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) criticized this Tuesday (18) the exaggerated contact of children with digital games by relating this practice to the attacks and threats that have occurred in schools in the country. Lula highlighted the role of digital networks in the dissemination of hate speech and the importance of the family in the relationship with children.

“We have to think about what I teach my son at home. When my son is 4 years old he cries, what do I do for him? meeting with representatives of the Three Powers to address the issue at the Planalto Palace.

“There’s no game, there’s no game talking about love, there’s no game talking about education. It’s a game teaching kids how to kill. And each time there’s a lot more death than in World War II. Just get the game for these kids”.

The President mentioned the fact that children from 8 to 12 years old are used to spending a great deal of their time “playing this crap”.

An alleged relationship between violent games and cases of attacks in schools has been discussed for decades, but research has always concluded that there is no causality, as explained by educator Alexandre Le Voci Sayad, co-president of the UNESCO Global Alliance for Media Education.

“Several surveys, such as one carried out in Oxford, do not see direct causality of violent games in these episodes. Real life for young people is two things, it is digital and physical”, he says. “Digital technology is a language and a way for young people to see the world and express themselves”.

Sayad points out that, contrary to what Lula said, there are many educational games and they have had a much more positive role in education than causing violence.

“What could make sense of this statement would be the immersion of young people in the digital environment in excess of time and intensity, by giving up socialization and discovering important youth issues in physical life and spending more time in the game. And that could generate non-standard behavior or stir up something”, completes

For Sayad, Lula’s speech amplifies a tendency to try to find a culprit, a scapegoat, for a complex problem. “One thing that should be said is the youth’s lack of connection to school.”

In 2019, former US President Donald Trump also linked games to school massacres at the time. Oxford University research released earlier that year showed that there is no such relationship.

“In this study, we investigated the extent to which adolescents who spend time playing violent video games exhibit higher levels of aggressive behavior […] The hypothesis that violent gambling is related to aggressive behavior was tested. The results do not confirm this idea.”

A survey by the Institute of Psychology at USP (University of São Paulo), completed last year, indicated that the problematic use of video games affects 28% of adolescents, with prejudice to activities such as studying and eating.

Lula’s speech about games caused a series of reactions on social networks, from criticism to the blaming of video games in the scenario of increasing attacks on schools in Brazil. One of Lula’s sons, Luis Cláudio, posted a message on social networks in which he defends games as entertainment.

“My father saw his children and grandchildren grow up playing video games, he knows that this did not make us violent, he made a statement about a controversial subject live and ended up generalizing. Video games are much more than violence, they are art, they are leisure, it’s entertainment,” he posted on Twitter.

In August 2022, before the last elections, Lula published on social media a fondness for the games sector, in a speech different from the one given this Tuesday.

“Videogames are not just entertainment, they are also culture, employment and technological development. Yesterday gamers presented proposals for our Government Program, asking for public policies that strengthen the electronic games sector in Brazil”, he wrote on Twitter.

At the event at the Planalto Palace, Lula said that there is a need to discuss the issue with the families, “because the family has to be involved in this process” and needs to be responsible.

“When a child thinks a gun is the solution, why does he think that? Did he see it in the Bible? No. In the school book? No. He heard it from his father at home, or from his mother. And that’s why he has to have taking into account that without the participation of parents, the educational process in schools cannot be recovered”, said Lula.

According to the president, it makes no sense just to increase security measures in schools without attacking motivations.

“We are not going to turn our schools into a maximum security prison,” he said.

He also reinforced the need for regulation of digital networks, a topic raised by several of the authorities present, such as the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, and the president of the Superior Electoral Court, Alexandre de Moraes.

“We have to have the courage to discuss the difference between free speech and assholes, or we won’t get very far.”

Earlier this month, a man entered a private school in Blumenau (SC) and killed four children. The case occurred nine days after the attack on the Thomazia Montoro state school, in São Paulo, when a 13-year-old student stabbed a teacher to death and injured five other people, including three teachers.

Supposed threats of attacks have changed the routine of schools across the country. Although most of the messages are false, parents, students and teachers report fear, and experts recommend reporting cases to the authorities.

The government announced a package of actions to improve school safety, which includes the release of R$ 3 billion in MEC (Ministry of Education) resources. Most of these are resources already foreseen in the budget.