Virginia Tech / V-Tech Game and media education

The Melbourne Age reported today that a 21 year old Australian man has produced a 2-D video game based on the shootings at Virginia Tech and uploaded it to the web. Ryan Lambourn uses an image of the Virginia Tech campus and the names of the shooter and some of the victims in the game. He has offered to take the game down if he is paid US$2000.

This kind of response to such an horrific event is the type of thing that many might use as the motivation and justification for media education. They would argue that young people need to learn how to use media ethically and sensitively. Of course it is also the sort of thing that is likely to have many people arguing that video games cause violence and that young people's minds are being polluted by media and popular culture.

It's the sort of event that raises many questions about youth, media and education:

• In this new media environment, where it is so easy for individuals to produce and distribute unregulated and uncensored products, how do we help young people develop an ethical approach to production and consumption?
• Should we simply read this sort of response as aberrant, and not typical of the vast majority of young people?
  
• Should we react less vigorously to these types of incidents? Could it be argued that the game is a legitimate form of expression and that the author was simply aiming to work through his response to the Virginia Tech shooting, in a way that is meaningful to him?
• Or should it be regarded as a cynical attempt to profit from the misery of others? If the latter, should we distinguish it from other media outlets that have run numerous stories about the event?
• If this type of game was produced in a media education classroom, by one of our students, how should we react? Would it be productive to simply ban this sort of production?

Nearly all these questions could be vigorously debated and this shows the complexity of what media educators are trying to achieve.

We are working with young people who have an unprecedented ability to represent themselves and their work to the world. The ethical implications are striking. I think part of the answer is that the media education classroom should be a "safe" environment where young people are able to experiment and debate the consequences of their choices.

Of course, boundaries need to be established, but if those boundaries are too restrictive it is likely that we will miss many important opportunities to help young people learn to act ethically.