I am a gamer. I have been gaming since the days of the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis; I have fond memories of being a second grader and playing GoldenEye 007 on my Nintendo 64 with friends for countless hours; I remember each of the Christmases when I was blessed with the fortune of receiving the hottest new game, game console or handheld available on the market. I am a gamer. In recent years, gaming has evolved from a pastime enjoyed by a small group of dedicated devotees into something enjoyed by millions: even grandmothers.
Gaming is increasingly becoming the number one form of entertainment for many households. This is evidenced by the steady decline in revenue for the movie industry and the steady climb of revenue for the video game industry. Today’s games are more life-like and realistic than ever before. As such, the more violent ones are considered to be “killing simulators” by some politicians and media outlets. Apparently, video games are “teaching” our young children how to be ruthless killing machines. Because of this, there is now a push to regulate the sale of violent video games to minors.
It really bothers me when people attempt to blame a medium of entertainment for the “destructive and violent nature of our youth.” It is the responsibility of the child’s parents to determine what is appropriate for the child to play; not the government. Every game sold at retailers is clearly marked with ratings and content descriptors that describe what can be found within said game. If a parent deems that the subject matter in a particular game is suitable for their child, then they should not be prosecuted or fined because of some stupid law. The government has absolutely NO right to attempt to raise someone’s child for them. This law must not be allowed to pass. I have enough faith that the United States Supreme Court will deem this law unconstitutional on the grounds that it clearly violates the rights of both the parents and the video game studios. I will follow this story all of the way to the trial in November and attempt to find some logic in this ridiculous situation.
Yeah, I agree with what you're saying. It's not the government's job to say what kids can and cannot play. It should be the parents' responsibility to monitor what games their kids are playing. And I think it is a lot like t.v. ratings; they warn that the shows might not be okay for some kids. But that's all they are, they're just suggestions. For instance, there are some shows that are not suitable for young children, so parents should keep their children from watching those shows. But, it is up to the parents and not the government.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the government has absolutely no place in trying to tell parents how to raise their children. That being said, I believe that video game companies should strive to do more to increase the awareness of parents as to the kind of material a game has in it. Many games today are full of violent content not suitable for anyone under 18 (In which case it is rated M for Mature), yet somehow little kids and adolescents still get their hands on them. Perhaps it's because the child is good at convincing the parent to buy the game for them, or maybe its because the parent just doesn't care or know what the game entails. All I know is that there are way to many children developing violent thinking habits from games not suitable for their age and maturity level. I don't think that video games are "teaching" children to be violent, but I do believe that the idea of violence is being planted in their heads. Video game companies should require a parent or any adult (18+ years of age) to sign a release from that states: the buyer of the product read the description of the game, the terms of agreement, and is fully aware of the "Mature" content in the game. This would force parents to be more aware of what a game incorporates and would thus be less likely to let their children play it. Again, I believe government has no right to tell a parent how to raise their children. I simply believe that the government should recommend that the companies who make video games take more steps to reduce the number of minors playing a particular game. Simply raise the attention of parents to the inappropriateness of violent games for children and the problem will decline.
ReplyDeleteIf the government should not have a right to regulate the sale of video games to minors then doesn’t that mean they shouldn’t be able to regulate the sale of movies? There is an age limit as to those who can and cannot buy rated R movies. So I do not see why doing the same thing for video games is such a big deal; the same concept is used for both video games and movies. Both are forms of entertainment that people complain about being too violent for some members of the audience.
ReplyDeleteI do believe, however, that just because one is a minor they should not be able to have the ability to play mature games. I know that the “violent” games are the ones I had the most fun playing when I was younger and I never have had any problems in real life with violence whatsoever. The situation varies between every minor because the maturity level can drastically be different despite the age. Some can handle the games the right way and in a mature manner and others cannot.
I also believe more responsibility should be on the household and not the government as well. It should be on the consumer or consumer’s guardians to be responsible about awareness of violence and such. More attention should come from the household if there does seem to be some violent behaviors starting to arise.
I agree with you that video games do not increase the violence found in todays society. Games do not teach children how to kill. I think that if a parent properly explains that it is just a game, and that it is not appropriate to act that way in real life then a child's level of violence will not increase.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments! I am so glad that people are agreeing with me on this issue. JQ, I do believe that some form of awareness needs to be initiated for parents to educate themselves about the content in games. However, it should not be 100% put on game companies themselves. Ultimately, it is the retailers who hand the game over to the buyer; so the responsibility should be placed on them to help parents understand the content that their child is about to witness. And Kent, the movie industry is jumping into this case as well. They believe that if this law is deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court then their industry as well as any other entertainment industry will be in jeopardy of government regulation. As of right now, I do not know of any specific law that specifically bans the sale of certain content to minors. I know that many retailers employ a rule that regulates the sale of video games, movies and parental advisory labeled music but there is not a government law yet. That is why this case is gaining a lot of support from other forms of entertainment. They believe that if one form of media is regulated then soon all of them will try and be regulated. And personally, I think that that is some Big Brother type sh*t.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view on this subject. Parents are the ones that need to be held responsible for the raising of their kids. They alone should have the authority to decide what their child should and should not play. Parents can look at the rating on a video game and decide whether or not they want to allow their child to play the game. I am really interested on how the outcome of this bill will turn out and look forward to following your blog to keep updated on it. I also hope the Supreme Court deems this bill unconstitutional, whcih it truely is.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I agree with your opinion of gaming as a whole. It does seem to be the most drastically increasing form of entertainment, and it is pretty straight forward when it comes to the level of violence in games. I also don't believe that gaming is reason for an increase in violence amongst young children. I think our society has changed in this way progressively, even though it's definitely not for the best. For example, kids begin cursing at such a young age compared to the age at which our parents began saying curse words. Our parents would have been hit if caught cursing but now there is no punishment when little kids are cursing. There is a part of me that believes that gaming is tearing our social skills apart also. The fact that talking to our friends on headsets in between sessions of shooting and killing them on Xbox live or whatever, in my eyes, has affected us to become more accustomed to violent speech towards our friends. If one is violent with even their closest friends, the people they don't know get the worst of it. I have faith in our society to adapt to this though. Parents are beginning to realize that their 8 year old shouldn't be playing games like grand theft auto because they learn about more than just violence before they should be. We will get by.
ReplyDeleteIt also bothers me when people blame video games for the “destructive and violent nature of our youth.” In my opinion video games do not have any influence on physical and behavioral actions of today’s youth. What kids are doing is not real, it is virtual. Now, if a child cannot comprehend that what he/she is praying is not real then that child should not be gaming. Like you said games have ratings clearly labeled on them at retail shops and it is a parent’s job to determine if that game is suitable for their child. The government should not be able to regulate the sale of video games. Like you said, who gives the government the right to raise someone’s child?
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