Government Should Stop Kids From Buying Violent Video Games
Timothy F. Winter
Video games are uniquely problematic in that the viewer isn't simply sitting back and watching the violence.
Ultraviolent video games are harmful to children, and children should not be able to purchase them without a parent involved in the sales transaction. Unfortunately, the very industry that profits from selling such adult entertainment products to children has successfully waged legal battles across the country. The industry's arguments are logically and morally bankrupt. Hopefully, the
For parents and grandparents, most of whom have never seen or played one of these explicit games, the notion of video game violence is likely to conjure up an image akin to a Tom & Jerry or Road Runner cartoon. That is not what we're talking about. What we are talking about is a video game where the child is able to:
Shoot a police officer and urinate on him as he tries to crawl away;
Brutally beat and rape a woman, or decapitate her with a shovel;
Shoot a man, pour gasoline over his wounded body, set the man on fire, and listen to him scream in agony as he burns to death.
The courts have repeatedly held that such speech is constitutionally protected. That's why the
The overwhelming weight of scientific research suggests that these games can be harmful to children.
Video games are uniquely problematic in that the viewer isn't simply sitting back and watching the violence. Rather, he or she is actively engaged in the undertaking of the violence, choosing whom to kill, beat, rape, maim, or urinate on. Yet opponents say they're not convinced that there is any harm, much like the tobacco industry executives who testified to
If you have either purchased a video game or seen one advertised on TV, you know that games are age-rated, much like movies are. The industry should be applauded for having one of the most robust content-rating standards of all the various types of media. The problem lies in the retail sales. In recent "secret shopper" efforts, grassroots members of the
The
Read why banning the sale of violent video games to kids is a bad idea, by
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