Stop blaming video games for the Tacloban school shooting
I received my first PlayStation at the age of seven as a birthday gift from my dad along with a wide selection of video games to play. While the selection included kid-friendly titles suitable for my age at that time, I also played games that were more for adults because of their violent nature.
I’m 33 now, and I’ve owned three more PlayStation consoles since my seventh birthday.
I’ve played violent video games all my life. But no, I haven’t shot, stabbed, or killed in any other way any actual living person. Neither have I threatened nor thought of doing any or all of the above to people who have done something bad to me.
At many points in my life, my mom would comment something along the lines of “Good thing you didn’t end up violent since you play so many video games.” It always puzzled me whenever I heard it.
Because, for me, it doesn’t work that way.
The school shooting that rattled the nation
Every time I caught wind of a school shooting, it always broke my heart, but I couldn’t exactly empathize completely. The school shooting last June 24, however, proved me wrong, and all I had were questions.
The Tacloban school shooting and “Gorebox”
Naturally, people wanted—and demanded—answers. How could young boys just kill other people? Is it for revenge? Were they bullied? Did they grow up in homes that encouraged violent behavior?
But instead of providing answers to these questions, it didn’t take long for authorities to point their fingers at a certain video game called “Gorebox.”
Released in 2023, “GoreBox” describes itself as “a chaotic physics-driven sandbox where creativity meets destruction.” Its Steam listing comes with appropriate tags for the game, including “shooter,” “violent,” and “gore” and notes that the game has elements of realistic blood pooling and dismemberment.
The game’s developer, Felix Filip, even emphasized in an email to the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality that “for the committee’s record, GoreBox is classified 18+ and is not intended for, or directed at, minors.”
“Gorebox” has now been temporarily blocked in the country after authorities discovered one of the suspects is an avid player of the game. It has been insinuated that—some way, somehow—it played a role in the loss of three lives. Then, things escalated very quickly after.
The potential permanent ban on violent video games
From temporarily banning “Gorebox,” the conversation has now shifted to permanently banning violent video games in the country. In a press briefing, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla explained why this should be done. “I believe that it desensitizes young people to the elements of death, violence, and murder,” Remulla explained.
It also seems that President Bongbong Marcos is receptive to the idea of banning violent online games. Palace press officer Claire Castro said in another press briefing that the idea “has been discussed.”
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. also offered support for a government review on violent video games despite acknowledging that violent behavior is shaped by different factors.
“While violent behavior is often driven by multiple factors, we cannot ignore the possibility that certain forms of content may contribute to the normalization of violence and increase the risk of imitation or copycat behavior,” he said.
Video games are a convenient culprit to blame
With a nation stunned over a school shooting that almost never happens in the Philippines, everyone is looking for someone or something to blame. In this case, it’s video games.
For many people, playing violent games automatically equates to having violent tendencies. While it cannot be denied that video games can impact a child’s development—as does any form of media, including social media—to say that one directly leads to another is a problematic statement.
Numerous academic and scientific studies have also proven that this kind of thinking is erroneous. According to a study conducted by researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, there is no relationship between aggressive behavior in teenagers and the amount of time they spend playing violent video games.
A resolution adopted by the American Psychological Association on violent video games also states that “There is insufficient scientific evidence to support a causal link between violent video games and violent behavior.”
Blaming video games distracts from the real issues
Putting the blame solely on video games oversimplifies what is a very complex issue and does not fully address why the tragedy happened to begin with. Focusing on a single factor risks distracting everyone from more pressing issues, particularly those related to mental health and upbringing.
It is important to examine the suspects’ mental and emotional well-being, the environment they grew up in, the situations they experienced at home and in school, and even the influence of the adults around them. Like the media, these factors can shape how young people process anger, isolation, conflict, and behavior.
There are also practical questions that deserve attention. How did the suspects gain access to firearms supposedly in the care of older family members? How did they learn how to use it? The use of firearms requires access, familiarity, and a certain level of exposure. These things do not simply happen overnight.
The same can be said about “Gorebox” itself. As the game’s developer pointed out himself, “Gorebox” is not meant to be played by minors. The fact that a suspect was able to access despite not being at the right age shifts the discussion toward supervision and responsibility.
Were there safeguards in place at home? Were parents or guardians aware of what their children were consuming and engaging with? These questions are uncomfortable, yes, but they are necessary. In order to prevent future tragedies, it’s crucial to look beyond a convenient scapegoat and confront the broader realities that may have contributed to the incident.
The role that we adults play
The tragedy of the Tacloban school shooting should also serve as a grim reminder to adults that children do not grow and develop in isolation. They are shaped by their environment, the people they interact with, and the examples they see every day.
The hardest lesson to learn here is that prevention happens long before incidents like this take place.
It begins at home, in classrooms, and in everyday conversations. If there is anything we adults can take away from this incident, it is that protecting children means paying attention to them—not only when something has already gone wrong, but while there is still a chance to make things right.
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