Boy, 12, starts video game dumping effort

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NEWTOWN, Conn., Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A 12-year-old Newtown, Conn., boy is asking other game-players to dump their violent video games in the wake of the elementary school shooting in his town.

Max Goldstein, who says he enjoys the virtual combat of "Call of Duty," has started a movement called "Played Out," that seeks to gets rid of the video games, The Hartford Courant reported Wednesday.

Goldstein said he didn't think of the idea last Friday, when Adam Lanza, 20, entered Sandy Hook Elementary school and killed 20 children and six adults after killing his mother in their home. He said he came up with the program Tuesday after attending a funeral of a friend's brother, Daniel Barden, one of the victims.

As he listened to the service, Max said he was struck by "how real this was" and how he didn't want to kill, even in the cyber realm of a video game, the Courant said.

His mother, Roberta Mittleman, said she at first barred Goldstein from playing violent video games, but relented.

"I don't believe it's a root cause, but it's a contributing factor," Roberta Mittleman said of the games.