Last week, The Lamron published an article calling for the end of Humans vs. Zombies on campus due to participants’ supposed lack of sensitivity surrounding constant school shootings. The hyperbolic nature of the piece draws attention to a recurring theme in modern day politics.
Humans vs. Zombies need not be your favorite Geneseo staple, and even if you find them distasteful and insensitive, it does not mean the appropriate course of action is to have them banned.
It is ironic that Geneseo’s value of inclusivity was referenced in a campaign designed to exclude a student organization that has not violated the Student Code of Conduct. It is not inclusive to publicly accuse members of the Geneseo community of being “blissfully ignorant” and calling for them to feel “serious shame and embarrassment for their self-indulgent deafness” for their enjoyment of a game.
As with most games, Humans vs. Zombies provides participants with an opportunity to escape reality and socialize with their peers. This outlet is nowhere close to resembling the actions of a school shooter. A more apt comparison would be a game of Tag or Cops and Robbers; surely those childhood games are not glorifying the senseless violence of past tragedies.
The criticism of Humans vs. Zombies sounds similar to other statements that place blame on violent video games for gun related deaths. Studies have yet to show any link between such games and instances of violence.
Fearmongering, rather than analyzing the facts, has become an easy way to conjure up support for this position. Mainstream media reports would have you believe gun violence is at an all-time high. In reality, as of 2015, gun violence had drastically decreased since a peak in the early 1990s, according to The Washington Post.
The highly politicized nature of the issue already causes people to walk on eggshells in an effort to avoid offending others. This is evidenced by how the Human vs. Zombies club, deciding to characterize Nerf guns as “blasters,” was subsequently touted as a wise choice in the earlier mentioned Lamron article.
The guns in question are hardly threatening with their bright color scheme and design. In fact, toy guys are already prohibited from resembling actual weaponry by federal law, according to gpo.gov.
Instead of contributing to this culture of fear surrounding guns, people would be better served with more education on how guns operate, as well as the political theory behind why the Second Amendment exists in the first place.
While you may not choose to partake in Humans vs. Zombies, and may even be offended by it, your stance should not force a club to needlessly shut down. Banning a club based on personal disagreements would be a harmful precedent for the school to set in place.