GTA Used To Educate

Pictures from video game Grand Theft Auto are being shown to 10 and 11-year-olds in primary school to help teach them about violence.

The 18-rated game is being used as part of a new UK scheme that is designed to help children separate real-life from fiction in an attempt to steer them away from violence from a young age. It’s run by the charity ‘Support After Murder and Manslaughter’ (SAMM) and backed by Merseyside Police.

Children are handed trading cards with various pictures on: Grand Theft Auto, Itchy and Scratchy from The Simpsons, as well as real-life images of domestic violence, such as parents arguing. They’re then asked to differentiate between what is good, bad, real and unreal.

Gaynor Bell, who is the chair of SAMM spoke of why such exercises are necessary, "They think its normal life. We're telling them this is not real, this does not go on and it should not go on." Although when I spoke to children from that age range in Merseyside I was met with some cynicism, with the general consensus being that the class seemed a little condescending.

[BBC News]

Craig Bryan, NoobFeed