Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site pedsgd.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!vax135!petsd!pedsgd!bobh From: bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran) Newsgroups: net.kids Subject: D & D : 60 Minutes 9/15 Message-ID: <272@pedsgd.UUCP> Date: Mon, 16-Sep-85 10:55:09 EDT Article-I.D.: pedsgd.272 Posted: Mon Sep 16 10:55:09 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 17-Sep-85 05:49:42 EDT Distribution: net Organization: Perkin-Elmer, Tinton Falls, NJ Lines: 52 Did anyone see the 60 Minutes item on D & D this past Sunday(9/15)? I thought the mother came off rather badly; in one segment she's saying 'no, my son didn't have any psychological problems'; in the next, her daughter's saying her brother threatened to kill her if she told the folks he played, and she apparently took him seriously. Uh-huh, Mrs. Whatever, he's perfectly normal. I'm afraid I tend to agree with Gary Gygax's comments; the parents are looking for something external to peg their child's death on, and D & D seems to be a easy target. The dozen-odd suicides with a 'connection' to the game over the last ?? years is a VERY small percentage; has anyone checked on how many teen suicides were due to say, heavy metal rock? (Save the flames, music fans; I'm trying to find something commonly and LEGALLY available to adolescents that also currently 'enjoys' bad press.) If the 'role-playing' aspects are what bothers the parents, what about the He-Man, GI Joe, and (G** help us) Rambo dolls (okay, 'figures'), that swamp the shelves? It's okay to pretend to be a bare-chested steroid-soaked commie-killer, but not to engage in a fantasy game where the targets are generally more imaginary? Sorry folks, I can't accept that one is allowable and the other isn't. The two boys in the story who engaged in '48-hour gaming sessions'; WHERE THE &^%$#&^%$# were the PARENTS?!?!? If there's no parental involvement to keep the boys in bounds, is it surprising they get in trouble? If the problem wasn't D & D, something else would have no doubt taken its place. About the 'sudden' disconnection of D & D from the case by the local police, without any particular reason, since autopsy reports are generally confidential, it is entirely possible that there were 'other' influences involved. In the recent case here in NJ where D & D was implicated, the victim's acquaintances generally said that they thought it was more likely drugs than D & D. Mrs. Whatshername really wouldn't have any rights to an autopsy report, now would she? Would CBS News? Anyone have the address for 60 Minutes? I think a few letters are in order. Bob Halloran Sr MTS, Perkin-Elmer DSG ============================================================================= UUCP: {decvax, ucbvax, most Action Central}!vax135\ {topaz, pesnta, princeton}!petsd!pedsgd!bobh ARPA: petsd!pedsgd!bobh@topaz USPS: 106 Apple St M/S 305, Tinton Falls NJ 07724 DDD: (201) 758-7000 Disclaimer: My opinions are my own. Quote: "History is made at night. Character is what you are in the Dark." Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com