Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Anti-violent games momemtum grows
One good way to look at the issue of kids' access to violent video games is the way Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich boiled it down in his state of the state address: "Buying these games should be up to parents - not kids." So far - because there aren't the age restrictions on sales of "Mature"-rated games that there are on retail sales to minors of alcohol, cigarettes, and sexually explicit magazines - the onus is still on kids. Part of the problem, of course, is that technology is involved - "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" is much more familiar parenting turf than technology is for many parents, it seems. Anyway, the momentum toward violent-game regulation continues. California and Alabama have just joined the list of US state and municipal governments wrestling with this issue (see "More moves against violent games," 2/4). Leland Ye, father of four, child psychologist, and Speaker pro Tem of California's State Assembly is sponsoring legislation "aimed at curtailing the sales of ultra violent video games to children under 17," CommonSenseMedia.org reports (Speaker Ye had a guest editorial at CSM Friday). He cites some arresting stats: "Right now, according to the Federal Trade Commission, nearly 70% of 13-to-16-year-olds are able to purchase M-rated video games, which are designed for adults. Ninety-two percent of children play video or computer games, of which about 40% are rated M (Mature)." For the latest on Alabama, see the Associated Press article in today's USATODAY.
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Unintelligent and offensive comments like the previous one do nothing but make those of us who enjoy violent games look bad. Keep certain words to yourself and speak like a sophisticated person, or don't speak at all. Also, we don’t NEED violence, however we have the ability to enjoy it differently than others and in a way that does not make us feel the need to be violent like the video games and their characters we play. However, I do agree with one thing. Parents have a ratings system, use it! This hoopla about the ESRB being inefficient is harshly incorrect. Rockstar imbedding hidden code and we blame those who do their best to find offensive materials? If you are unsure as to the contents of a game for your child, then don't by it. I wouldn't let my child eat a bowl of cereal if I merely "thought" it contained something harmful. I wouldn't buy my child ANYTHING that could contain potentially harmful attributes like violent games, poisonous cereals (haha!), and pornography. Parenting works! If you don't have time then you need to give custody to someone who is capable of being a parent. Parents without time aren't fit to be responsible guardians. My mother and stepfather work day and evening shifts, respectively. Aside from there being my stepfather’s 18-year-old daughter trying to go too boy-crazy, and preteen daughter participating in various preteen tomfoolery, they still somehow manage to enforce a strict rule about games with a “T,” “M,” or “AO,” rating on the case of video games. My 6-year-old half brother browsed my collection of games, separated the inappropriate from the appropriate, and explained to me why he did what he did when I asked him. “Mommy and Daddy said I can only play E for Everyone games,” he replied.
ReplyDeleteIf your child steals from a store, do you sue the manager for having items on display? If your child does drugs, do you sue the police station for not being as efficient as you’d like them to be? If your child or teenager constantly sneaks out of the house by way of the window, do you sue the architect for designing a window in a room that is most likely intended for a child or guest? Try punishing your child for theft, teaching them early the effects of drugs, and try boarding up the damn window they consistently use as a means for sneaking out. If your child sneaks and obtains a violent and inappropriate game, take it away, take the system he/she played it on away, make them responsible and give them an incentive to do what’s right. When I was a child and refused to share my bicycle with my younger brother, I was no longer allowed to ride it. I learned to share fairly quickly. When my younger brother was caught downloading pornography at the age of 12, my parents unplugged his computer and took away all internet privileges for a month. Not only did they do that, but they became suspicious of me, being 16 at the time, and found that I, too, had downloaded pornography, and I suffered the same punishment.
Oh, and to smash all the hype, almost every anti-violent video game webpage has some comment from an uneducated moron who is riding the rumor train and making crap up. If you are Anti-anything, then you'd better know why you are against it. Otherwise you can be classified as a mentally unstable fanatic and I would suggest you should get help. Besides, someone who can believe so strongly that what they say is true "no matter what" and purposely disregard facts could be schizophrenic. But not to take things out of context, the big question is simple: Can you tell the difference between reality and fantasy?
But in the end, violence in a game will lead to the children beilieving that it is okay. Besides, there are other non-violent games out there for the taking.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the personal experience and intelligent commentary posted above - thanks! As for profanity, I hesitate to delete because all views are welcome and there's a thoughtful response referring to it, but please no profanity in this blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks, J.T., for your thoughts on violence in games, and "anonymous" responding today. Think about violence in movies - do you feel it's the same, that violence in movies teaches children that violence is ok? It does seem to me that online games are becoming a mainstream medium, like movies, and as such will have a broad ratings spectrum too, from G to X, with many levels of appropriateness for children.
1) It's probably just as unreasonable as well as unconstitutional to expect gamemakers not to produce violent or sexually explicit games as to expect filmmakers not to. 2) "Appropriateness" is very subjective - every parent has his/her own best feel for what's appropriate for each child in his/her house. What tough about these realities is that a) the onus is on parents, and b) parents have yet another medium and set of ratings to get up to speed on. That's one reason why I blog so much about games - so parents who find my newsletter, site, and blog can get informed and engaged in the gaming experience of their children. I also don't think it's a bad idea to develop laws that require retailers not to sell minors (unaccompanied by parents) games that are rated 18+ and require the Web sites/entry points of online games to create age-verification mechanisms. If anyone reads this and knows of such tech in the works, by all means post! Thanks again for everybody's comments.
I'am a 16 year old playing violent video games and you dont see me robbing a store i think video games are just something new for parents to blame. 20-30 years ago parents were blaming comic books for violence and today video games its just another excuse for parents to blame stuff on when its really there fault for not spending time with there kid and buying a baby sitter for there kid.
ReplyDeleteHow many people can truly say that the government should run every aspect of our lives? In my opinion I think the government should handle only what we as a society can handle on our own. No with that being said I believe that the government has no place governing the sale distribution or content of games. This however should be regulated by a group of people in the industry that have the public’s best interest in mind. Now this group should be made of people in the industry, people of true neutral judgment and a collection of people to vote what is right and wrong. Now this is as far as ratings and age verification systems to limit people of younger ages from getting exposed to particular content. I don't believe anyone should tell the game developers what kind of games they are allowed to make. Also I don't believe that anyone should withhold the true content of the game when it goes in front of the reviewing board for rating. If a company that is a member of such a group is found to withhold such information about it's game's content that would affect its rating. The member should be fined by the group, not by the government. It sounds like a great idea to me. It's kind of like the (BBB) Better Business Bureau.
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