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DungeonslinkedandDragonsgametosuicide of teenagerBy PETE REYNOLDSThe more I play DD (Dungeons and Dragons) the more I want to get away from this world' — a young Dungeons and Dragons player.Some DD players get away permanently.Patricia Pulling’s 16-year-old son committed suicide with a handgun on the sidewalk in front of his Montpelier, Va., home in June of 1982 The suicide came just hours after receiving a dungeon-master’s curse during a D D game conducted as part of a gifted class at high school.Pulling, 43, was among the speakers at last week’s conference on ritualistic crime and child exploitation in Matteson.She heads a nationwide group called BADD (Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons and Other Harmful Influences on Children).The group was formed following her son’s suicide in hopes of informing the public about a fantasy role-playing game that she and others feel is having a detrimental effect on some youngsters.Pulling is quick to point out that she never wanted the game banned totally or removed from the market.“I’m not out to destroy the company that makes the game,” she said. “I just don't want it promoted in our schools and marketed to adolescents.I want parents and educators to be aware that it’s there and what the game is about.”What it’s about, Pulling said, is violenceQuayle may visitIndiana Sen Dan Quayle, Republican candidate for vice president, could be making a campaign appearance at Thornton Fractional South high school in Lansing this fall.Lansing Mayor William Balthis said Quayle, Vice President George Bush's running mate, is tentatively scheduled to make the trip late this month or in early October, but that no definite date has been set.Balthis said the senator might also tour an unidentified local factory during his visit to the village.A spokesman for the Bush/Quayle campaign in Washington would not confirm the Lansing trip.“I am pleased to see an effort on their part to bring him to a small community, Balthis said.“It will bring national focus on our high school and get some attention for our village.’’She said much of the material in the D D manuals draws heavily on medieval history — “the darker side of it, and includes demonology, witchcraft and the occult.”The game details multiple curses, she said, such the one involving homicide given to her son the day he killed himself.Hostile forcesD D is played in groups under the direction of a dungeon-master who has designed the dungeons and the hostile forces that players will encounter as they fight their way through a complex, underground labyrinth in search of treasure.Pulling said the game is primarily played by males between the ages of 12 and 20 — but can be played by younger children, especially those who are bright and have a high aptitude in mathematics.Math figures prominently as percentages of the probability to survive must be computed, she said.There are an estimated three million to four million players in the United States and the numbers continue to grow — despite, or maybe because of, the negative publicity about its perceived dangers to certain types of children, Pulling said“The game can last for months, even years, with the goal being to not get killed and to accumulate as much power as possible,” Pulling explained.Attaining power appeals to youngsters who oftentimes feel powerless in their own lives. The game involves an extreme number of monsters from horror and demonology literature — including the 22 types of satanic demons and devils.”Combat armor, medieval weaponry, spells, curses, magic of all types, flying carpets and brooms, charms, ESP, mental telepathy and wizards fill the game, Pulling saidPulling is not alone in her crusade.Dr. Thomas Radecki, psychiatrist at the University of Illinois School of Medicine and chairman of the National Coalition on Televison Violence (NCTV), supports her claims.Writing in a BADD publication. Radecki says: “There is no doubt in my mmd that the game Dungeons and Dragons is causing young men to kill themselves and others The game is one of nonstop combat and violence.Based on interviews with players and game materials, it is clear to me this game is desensitizing players to violence and creating an increased tendency to violent behavior.”But professionals are divided.Opposite viewThe company that produces the game with annual sales in the millions of dollars has found some psychologists, psychiatrists and educators to applaud the escapism it offers players and to tout the game as a tool to teach youngsters how to cooperate and solve problems creatively, Pulling said,“And it may do just that for a great number of players — especially those who realize it is just a game and do not take it so seriously,” Pulling said.But that was not the case among the 120 suicides and murders that her organization and the NCTV say were the direct result of involvement with DD.“It was originally billed as an adult fantasy role-playing game It should have remained as such,” she said.“It appeals to bright, intelligent kids with math ability and interest in medieval history,” Pulling said. “But it sows the seeds of satanic ritual and promotes violence. Authentic cult spellbooks are used Kids are taught how to write a spell; they become miniature occultists.”Pulling’s son Irving (nicknamed “Bink”) was introduced to D D in a talented-gifted class at his high school.He was extremely bright — I.Q in excess of 130 A member of the chess club, computer club, key club and on the yearbook staff We had no idea how serious DD was. He called it a game, she recalled Bink’s dungeon-master was a 24-year-old English teacher — and sponsor of the yearbook.In the days after the suicide, the teacher, who she said has since left the school and the state, refused to talk to the Pullings without his lawyer present.“Here’s the curse he gave my son ‘Your soul is mine. I choose the time. At my command you'll reave (pillage) the land A follower of evil -a killer of man.’ ”Pulling believes her son interpreted the curse as meaning that he had been ordered to kill his family.“In a long suicide letter he said he couldn’t do that, that he loved us too much, and so he decided he would have to kill himself. And he did,” she said.Later, as she began to investigate the suicide in cooperation with local police, Pulling said she learned that her son had been writing poetry. She described it as “horrible, sick stuff.” “Had I known he was writing that stuff, I’d have had him to a shrink for it. But his gifted teacher, a woman who also has left the school system and the state, thought it ‘creative expression’ and didn’t tell us,” she said.“Teachers are not next to God with me anymore, Pulling said.DIANA’S SCHOOL OF DANCESinclt; 195 7liallctTapAcrobaticsJazzTot*THREE BIG SHOPS 4 Y★ November 27 it March 5Diana Sebuck Tarandy DirectorFALL CLASSESSTART Sept.3758 V. 59th StreetChicago III.FALL CLASSESSTART Sept.'MU W. 151st Slrwl Orland Park. III.349-1085
Newspaper Details
Alsip Star
Alsip, Illinois, US
Thu, Sep 01, 1988
Page 3
Full Page
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Jacob S.
SE 27 Apr 2023
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