Teachers protest Bully, not realizing it’s OFN

Remember six months ago, when Rockstar released Bully, its comedic and mildly violent horrors-of-high-school simulator? Remember how some people were upset, believing the game would somehow glorify or promote bullying in school? You know, as if playing a video game could completely change a person’s personality?

Yeah, neither do I.

But the Canadian Teachers Federation, which bizarrely includes teachers in the United States, Britain, South Korea, Australia and the Caribbean, wants you to remember. They’re calling for retailers to refuse to sell the Bully: Scholarship Edition, a rerelease of the game with additional content.

Emily Noble, president of the CTF:

What it does is it encourages kids to target other kids, to be a bully with other kids. This doesn’t help us as teachers in the work that we’re doing at school. It also targets teachers at the school as well.

Rodney Walker, Rockstar spokesperson:

As a matter of principle, we hope everyone starts off by saying, “Okay, we know this is an entertainment experience. Video games are not just for children. This game happens to be about high school and it’s a tough kid in a tough environment, but it’s also one of the funniest games you will play. And if you don’t have our sense of humour, we respect that, but we think that fans’… voice has to be at least as important as the detractors.

Via Globe & Mail.