"It's going to be like f---ing Doom," Eric Harris said shortly before he and Dylan Klebold killed thirteen people at Columbine High. "That f---ing shotgun is straight out of Doom!"

Klebold and Harris obviously had a lot of problems, but can there be any doubt that hour after hour of virtual sadism influenced them?  Can there be any doubt that the video game Doom's array of weaponry burned rage into their souls?

Almost without exception in the gaming universe, the most violent player wins.  These aren't civilized values, yet hour after hour - more time than they spend in school or talking to parents - we're letting our kids into the savage world of Doom, Quake, and their bloody brethren.

When Michael Carneal opened fire in Jonesboro, Arkansas, it was the first time he'd ever squeezed a trigger - yet the 14-year-old displayed the skills of a marksman.

"[He] acted as if he were in a video game . . . picking off targets with one shot," says Jack Thompson, attorney for Jonesboro parents who're suing the makers of Doom and Quake.  He describes this rapid-fire technique as counterintuitive, and says Carneal "must have learned it from a video game where you don't waste bullets."

Of course, we should also look at other solutions to teen killings, but first and foremost we have to make sure we're teaching our kids values, not violence.  The gaming industry says millions of kids play their products but only a handful turn into murderers.  That's true, but evidence shows that every one of those millions possibly has, sleeping inside them, an expert assassin. 

Do we really want our children walking around with that kind of evil talent, just waiting for something to set it off?  The answer is obvious.  We don't need another Harris, Klebold or Michael Carneal.