Video Games Only Teach How To Kill, Says The Brazilian President

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, recently took part in a press conference. While the original conference is over 2 hours long, one part of it that has stood out is him calling video games “crap” as they only teach kids how to kill. This was followed up by an additional comment where Lula stated, “There is no game, there is no game talking about love. There is no game talking about education.”

The original statement goes,

É só pegar o jogo da molecada, o meu filho, o filho de cada um de vocês. O meu neto, o neto de cada um de vocês (…) Eu duvido que tenha um moleque de 8, 9, 10,12 anos, que não esteja habituado a passar grande parte do tempo jogando essas porcarias. Quando meu filho tem 4 anos e ele chora, o que eu faço para ele? Dou logo um tablet para ele brincar. Ensino logo um joguinho. Não tem jogo, não tem game falando de amor. Não tem game falando de educação. É game ensinando a molecada a matar. É cada vez muito mais mortos do que na Segunda Guerra Mundial.” 

While violence in video games is beyond common, it’s objectively incorrect to say that they do not teach about love and education. Many developers have spent years creating games based on those themes. Many include violence for the sake of narrative, while games such as Call of Duty are more on the other side of the spectrum. However, themes such as love or education, be it practical or just general, is always present in video games.

The Above statement translates to:

Just take the kid’s game, my son, the son of each one of you. My grandson, the grandson of each one of you (…) I doubt there is a kid of 8, 9, 10, 12 years old, who is not used to spending a great deal of time playing this rubbish. When my son is 4 years old and he cries, what do I do for him? I immediately give him a tablet to play with. I teach a little game soon. There is no game, there is no game talking about love. There is no game talking about education. It’s a game teaching kids to kill. It is getting much more dead than in the Second World War.

Some prominent examples would include video games like It Takes Two which focus on a married couple working to fix their relationship. The game won several accolades and recognition for its achievements. We also have titles like To The Moon among several others that focus on gripping narratives that move the player and force them to think long and hard about the characters and the story.

Similarly, Naughty Dog‘s Uncharted and The Last of Us series focus on such elements as well. However, they go a step beyond and add violence in their gameplay mechanics, which allow the player to progress from one point to another. While violence is present, it rarely compromises the narrative. This is true for most video games in general.

Such examples are abundant, especially when we look at educational games or titles with educational elements. Several video games often encourage players to think and solve puzzles, such as the Match-3 genre or provide a simulation experience, such as Cities Skylines. Violence is definitely prevalent in video games. However, other elements have a prominent presence as well.