Protection of minors in California?

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What do you think, will senator Y. Yee gets what he wants ?

[ December 22, 2003, 13:33: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

Thank god I don't live in California. It should be the job of parent to look after their kids (and their games) -not the salesmen.

No, I don't think that "YeeYee" gets what he wants.

 

*mutters to self* StupidstupidSTUPID people!

I doubt he'll get what he wants, but FPS do make excellent scapegoats for the latest crimes and whatnot, so there is still the possibility.

 

Meh.

It's like the adult section of any halfway decent porn store. I mean, it's not like they can't just download the demo off the NET. Um, or the movie, but that's besides the point.

Anyways, slap another bandaid on the severed appendage. Good call. Go home and drink beer.

 

I stand by my opinion as I always have. If playing a video game where you shoot at people who don't really exist makes a kid think that they can do the same and it will all turn out sunny and okay, the problem isn't with the game. It's with the kid.

 

Senator Yee wants media attention. He is getting this by attacking the the Genre in which the Governor of California became famous.

Ignore him and he will go away.

 

There are several researches done here in Iowa State U. about the co-relation between violent games and violent behavior. There is no mystery about that. The leading professor named Craig Anderson. (you could look into ISU website for more specific result and method if you want).

We cannot exclusively say that violent game is all clean from violent act. We cannot also exclusively say that all parents are educated and well informed. Well, i have no problem with people saying that it is the parents to blame when their kids took a shotgun and randomly killed people in interstate after they played GTA3(William and Joshua Buckner of Newport. Tenn). Meanwhile, i would like those to pause and think. Do you want to ultimately bet your precious life on parents or on laws? Do you want to rely on well informed and educated parents for saving your life from GTA3 reenactment? Or would you rather rely on law and oder?

We are the precious few who don't get carried away by excessive pc games. However, i am not willing to bet that every single person out there carried the same quality that we have. Laws is just the first start. Much information needed to be given to the public about "what is a pc game".

i do not reject a bit about laying laws to restrict pc game selling (mind you, i was once do not agree with that). If pc game isn't a mainstream, i really doubt that any law makers would care about it. Now that pc games and video games have occupied a notably market, it is natural that politician will get in and give their awareness regarding this issue.

Really, don't tell me you do feel comfortable when all your 15 years old child talked about is how he/she randomly killing people on street.

 

This is true, there are many stupid people, and some do not learn well from the games they play, but I must agree with everyone here, that the problem lies more with the child, or generation of children even, and that this is what should be adressed (if anything), and that "banning" or ratings laws will have little effect upon someone- not simply restricted to this day and age either; kids have been reading porno mags since they were invented. However, I think it is more of a cultural thing to tell you the truth. I do not want to seem biased, but as they say "only in America". In the defense of the USA however, I seem to remember a story about some kids from Europe or Asia who were seriously injured (one was paralyzed I think) after attempting some acrobatics they witnessed on Mario 64.

Of course, they could have tried the same thing from any number of games, movies, or books even- how many fantasy books describe swordplay and acrobatics? Or from signing up to a martial arts school and teaching friends who hadn't been trained. No, the true problem is foolishness, not the source material- and here I do not necessarily limit foolishness or neivity just to the kids either.

Edit: Hah! the perfect solution. If all of the parents played games just as much as their children (like my old man does) then they would have perfect knowledge of the material, and would be able to impart words of wisdom as necessary!

 

I think that the ratings system is flawed, and most parents don't get it. Or they say "my kid's mature!" They should adopt the ratings system from movies. Then a game that shows breasts once wouldn't be put in the same category as a game in which your job is to murder people in the most gruesome ways possible. Hopefully.

So normal kids won't shoot people. That's a given. But all kids are not normal and there are plenty of bad parents out there. Most kids don't smoke either, and they can still get cigarettes if they want them, but it's not legal. And I hope everyone can see the difference between drooling (or whatever) over Playboy and playing AS someone who kills people for thrills. I can't stand porn, but voyeurism isn't even on the same plane as over-the-top, pointless violence.

Besides, just because video games and media in general may not cause violence, that doesn't mean they can't cause social hurt. It has been proven that violent media 1)makes us think the world is more dangerous than it really is, making as mistrustful of people and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and 2)it makes us less sensitive to real violence, which makes us less likely to condemn violence as a solution, and less likely to aid the victims of violence. I don't know how to solve these problems, except by improving the quality of media. Someday people in the media will wake up to the fact that all consumers are not 14-year old boys, and that even all 14-year old boys don't think blowing stuff up while staring at torpedo boobies is the acme of existence.

 

I won't argue with the studies that prove a correlation between violent games and violent crimes. But, since when does correlation imply causation? It's the classic chicken and the egg problem. Do the video games cause the violence, or do naturally violent people play the video games? His so called 'studies' imply correlations and he is making them into causations (he even says so himself!). I could also do a study showing a correlation between passing laws against video game laws and loss of votes for politicians. This proves nothing.

I've never bought any of the scapegoat studies as they simply are not conducted properly. There is a correlation between kids listening to rap music and being involved in gang violence. Does that mean that listening to rap causes you to join a gang? No, and the same applies to video games.

It's the responsibility of the parents, not of the government, the retailers, or anyone else to raise their children. If the parents can't do that, then what the heck are they doing with children?

 

One need only examine the average American family to determine why that corallary exists. Many are two-income households, with little time for the kids. IMO, the violent games only exasperate an already existing problem.

 

I'm from that family (well, a bit higher income than most, but still) and I'm one of the least violent people you're ever likely to meet, despite sometimes enjoying these types of games.

I could contradict that argument. The violent games exasperate an already existing problems. Do those games cause the problem? No, the problem is poor child-rearing, not violent games.