On November 2nd there was a hearing that took place in the Supreme Court where the State of California took on the gaming industry regarding a ban to sell violent video games to minors. Each side was given an hour to state their point and why they believe its the just thing to do. The State of California is arguing that video games are not a form of free speech and would like to put a kind of state ban where if someone sold a mature rated video game to a minor then that person could be prosecuted and serve some sort of sentence as well as a fine.
I personally think this is ridiculous, although i will admit that i do consider myself a gamer and take part in the gaming culture so my opinion on this is by all means bias. If you look back at any kind of entertainment medium there has always been controversy about whether the medium is protected under the first amendment, the right to free speech. Everything from movies to comic and even books have been tried against to limit the people accessing the content. As a person that grew up with games in my household i believe that the responsibility of checking what games are appropriate for the children playing it are the parents and will always be the parents. There already exists a form of informing people about what content is in a game, that is the ESRB. Everyone needs to stop blaming video games for making people violent or being a catalyst for what someone has done and start to take notice that the responsibility lies with us.
Very nice touch to reveal your own bias.
ReplyDeleteExcellent topic that cries out for some LINKS.
I agree and diagree with you SRios. I don't think games should be sold to minors becasue a parent may forbid the child from playing the game but kids are so smart they can hide them and sneak them from their parent's. I also think that blaming video games for violence is rediculus nothing can make a person do something they don't want. We ban kids from smoking, drinking, and television shows but violence is okay no!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this.
ReplyDeleteI find too much emphasis placed on corrilation in these studies, when no one really proved a causation.
Sure, lots of violent people play video games, but based on the sheer number of people who play them it doesn't prove anything. It's like linking violence to sinks, most violent people have at least one sink in their house.