Eight
teachers’ unions in
The
focus of their concern is Bully: Scholarship Edition.
Developed by
Vancouver-based Rockstar Games, it
features a
teenager who uses harassment as a way of adjusting to life in a
boarding
school.
According
to the Globe and Mail, “The abuse includes dunking pupils’
heads in
toilets, photographing them naked and physically assaulting them.
Teachers are
also targeted.”
“What
it does is it encourages kids to target other kids, to be a bully with
other
kids,” said Emily Noble, president of the Canadian Teachers’
Federation. “This
doesn’t help us as teachers in the work that we’re doing at school.”
Noble
said they were “asking retailers to be responsible” and desist from
“selling
games that glorify violence.”
Rockstar
spokesman Rodney Walker believes their
critics are overreacting. “Video games are not just for children,” he
said.
“This game happens to be about high school . . . but it’s also one of
the
funniest games you will play.”
The game is rated for children aged 13 and over.