North America’s most recognisable television psychologist, Dr. Phil McGraw, and videogame activist and attorney Jack Thompson, have both pointed fingers of blame toward violent videogames for the horrific shootings that occurred at Virginia Tech this week. Speaking on CNN’s Larry King Live, Dr. Phil said:

“We are programming these people as a society. Common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they’re on a mass killing spree in a video game, it’s glamorised on the big screen, it’s become part of the fibre of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high.”

He added that parents and everyone else responsible for the welfare of children must recognise and address the above issues since “the mass murderers of tomorrow are the children of today that are being programmed with this massive violence overdose.”

Are Dr. Phil’s words views really so poignant and profound? Seriously, how much credence should we give to a TV psychologist known professionally, not as Dr. McGraw, but as ‘Dr. Phil’? Well, according to (the ultra-reliable) Wikipedia, Dr. Phil’s psychological approach differs considerably from traditional methods, leaving many critics inside and outside of the profession labelling his understanding as simplistic and often invective. Hmm, really? We never would have guessed.

Infamous videogame activist Jack Thompson has also been having his say on the matter, perhaps predictably given his track record.

Fervent videogame activist and medical malpractice lawyer Jack Thompson featured on FOX News shortly after reports of the killing of 33 innocent people on the University campus started to roll in across the ‘land of the free’. Dubbed a “school shootings expert,” Thompson repeated his usual patter concerning videogames and their detrimental influence on society. Incidentally, Mr. Thompson’s comments came before any solid facts about the gunman had been released, and ahead of the authorities revealing the motives for his appalling actions.