We are pointing our collective finger in the wrong direction. Video games are not to blame for violent acts, people are.

Sunday’s Des Moines Register had an article on the front page suggesting violent games cause the aggressive behavior displayed on the evening news. That assumption is false. The article stated that after playing games, certain students were more prone to violent acts after provocation than those who didn’t play. Perhaps this is true, but we are forgetting a very important fact not mentioned; the other millions of kids who play games and turn out fine.

Video games are just a way to relax. To assert that violent games cause violent behavior ignores that parents ultimately manage those games.

By far, kids play to have fun. They don’t have ulterior motives like planning massacres or terrorist bombings.

The article displayed “Duke Nukem” and implied that it’s his fault. Fine, we can get rid of him, his game blows anyway. This isn’t the first time a game contained violence. By their nature, video games promote deplorable acts, even drug use.

For example, those little yellow dots PacMan ate must have been steroids. How else do we explain how he was able to eat those ghosts?

Parental control of games draws the line between fantasy and reality. If kids are having problems at school, at home or with friends, then it’s likely to show in their behavior.

Video games create two problems: laziness and insensitivity. Kids have become almost numb to violence. I remember my dad always throwing me outside to play sports or cut the grass. His point was to get me into the world. Games only make you apathetic, nothing more.

Video games are one image in a sea of images we face daily. Television is full of sexual innuendo. The evening news is probably the worst show your kids can watch. Everyday I shake my head in disgust as Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings signs off. Murders, babies in dumpsters, starvation, terrorism, the presidential elections, Elian (send him back already) — certainly this must have an effect on kids. How can it not?

Violence can be an act of defense. Of course, people provoked by Dr. Anderson’s research are going to fight back. It is our nature to defend ourselves.

That certain people were prone to act faster than others when provoked provides no explanation. Kids are exposed many other examples of violence more threatening to their development than video games.

We hear every day how games “train” people to kill. Please tell me, how in the world does a hand controller train someone to become an efficient killing machine?

People that have fired guns know what I’m talking about. Fire a gun someday, and you’ll see it’s not that easy. They have a little more kick than your average “Duckhunt” game.

Lost in all the arguments is parental responsibility. What kind of care do kids receive at home? Every kid is different. My sister and I turned out fine, while my brother, on the other hand, has a reckless attitude. Why? We all need different nurturing.

In many cases, all kids need is some attention at home. What happened to family dinner? When did it become ok to eat out all the time?

Values start at the dinner table. It is not surprising our kids turn psychotic when a black, 21-inch box plays mom and dad.

We choose to scapegoat an electronic baby-sitter rather than blame ourselves. The highest form of cowardice is blaming someone else.

From day one, we tell kids it is important to be economically successful, but we forget the importance of ethics and morality.

This, too, pushes kids to lash out. Taking Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold as examples, many labeled them as “isolated, weird, unpopular, quiet and single.” Anyone that ostracized will end up warped.

The extreme isolation those boys encountered did more to hurt their psyches than a round of Tekken.

The student body at Columbine and the lack of moral attention from their parents were to blame, not the games.

Scapegoating video games ignores the true problem: the need to care for our kids personally.

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Andy Gonzales is a junior in political science from El Paso, Texas. He wants people to leave his Tekken alone.