The pilot program, as reported by the BBC, features screenshots from the Grand Theft Auto series which are used alongside real-life images to initiate discussions about what is good, bad, real, and fictional.
"Almost any media can be edited to be educational and if the material already attracts children's interest, it can have a greater impact on them," a spokesperson for Liverpool City Council told the BBC. "This may well be depicting knife-using car thieves as the selfish morons that they are -- which of course we would welcome."
The in-school programs are run with a police officer, teacher, and members of the Support After Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM) support group. One of the group's founders, Gaynor Bell, said the project can help children learn to understand real-world violence is unacceptable.
"It's basically telling them that it's not real life, but in these games they do look real," Bell told the BBC.
Sharkey says: I'm all for programs like this that acknowledge kids are playing games like GTA and promote conversations about them. Though, given the game's 18-plus rating, I can imagine there are a number of Merseyside parents who aren't pleased.
