A link to the ESA website. If you want to know about any research done based on gaming/violence/who plays what the go here.
The ESA – All the facts you need to know about Gamers and Violence
The ESRB is not controlled by the Government. It is a self-regulated entity of the gaming industry.
I support the ESRB… There is not good reason for the government to get involved with the sale of video games to minors. No evidence exists to support any claims linking violence to M rated games. Every piece of legislation that has been proposed has been a waste of tax payers money, even a few judges have expressed their concern of this very issue. Violent crimes are down, game sales are up, games are more violent. Explain how this can be with so many ‘minors’ buying violent video games?
First off, in response to Kuros, it is not illegal to sell an M-Rated game to a Minor. It is regulated and agreed upon in the same way that movies and music are. The stores agree with the ESRB not to sell them to minors.
Second, I care because I am going to be a parent. I am involved with this group because of that fact. Do not take out personal attacks on me or this organization without any reason.
Parental Statistics: Go Here
Regardless of this, the percentage of minors buying games has dropped from 85% to 42% since 2000.
Violent crimes amongst teens and children is low, especially when compared to the sale of video games.
If it isn’t illegal to go to a R movie called SAW I, II, or III, then why should it be illegal to sell a game rated M to a minor? I don’t think its the governments right to keep the game out of the child’s hands. It is the parents responsability and right to decide what their child plays. The last thing I want is for the government to start telling me that I’m not allowed to buy X game for my son because there are dumb*edited* parents out there too stupid to care. If I deem him/her mature enough then it should be my choice.
Currently there is 0 evidence linking violent crimes to video games.
Games don’t breed violence
Muskogee Daily Phoenix, OK
June 20, 2006
“…Violent behavior is harmful to society and must be curbed, but despite many claims that violent movies and video games lead to violence, no one can make a direct correlation. It’s more complicated than that.
“Some have decried motion picture violence for years, but violent crime in the United States has declined in recent years. And if even 10 or 20 percent of the children playing violent video games and watching violent movies — just as children in the 1960s watched the Three Stooges batter one another — exhibited violent behavior, then we would be experiencing many more problems with violence than we see right now.
“Simply stopping the sale of violent video games to minors and hiding the games behind counters won’t stop them from getting into the hands of minors.
“…The game industry has established a rating system, and parents are responsible for managing their households and the things to which their children are exposed, and parents should be observing the warning labels.
If the rest of the entertainment industry is self regulated then why can’t the gaming industry be that way as well?
State shouldn’t assume parent’s role in picking which games kids play
The Delaware News Journal
March 21, 2006
“… Not too many years ago critics were blamed teen violence on rock and roll. Plenty of children have played these video games without any effect — other than wasting time. To link an argument about the proper way of raising children to a claim about brain waves does a disservice to the argument. Human beings, even young ones, are more resilient that that.
“The responsibility belongs squarely on the parents.
“…And if the state takes over this function, what kind of police powers would be involved? Will the state be supervising play dates? Would the state actually be effective in enforcing such a law? Or would the law become another dead-letter restriction that is revived periodically when someone raises a stink?
“Video-game supervision belongs in the family, not in the halls of the legislature.”
Rule of the games
Los Angeles Times
December 28, 2005
“When it comes to regulating violent video games, lawmakers are like slow-fingered players who never find the key to the next level. Last week, a federal judge in San Jose placed a temporary hold on a new California law that would make it illegal to rent or sell certain types of violent video games to minors.
“The courts have been unanimous on the issue, with U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte’s ruling being the sixth to find such laws unconstitutional.
“The issue is free speech… The Supreme Court ruled in 1968 that states had a ‘rational basis’ for barring shopkeepers from selling sexually explicit magazines to minors, regardless of the 1st Amendment. But the courts have never applied the same rationale to explicit depictions of violence.
“The standard for laws against violent movies, lyrics or games is much higher: States must demonstrate that they have a compelling interest in limiting violent expressions, and that they’re using the least restrictive means to do the job. States cannot ban game sales to minors unless they can show a strong link between game playing and violent behavior, which has yet to be done to any judge’s satisfaction…
“Given the courts’ approach, however, it’s time for lawmakers and game manufacturers to find another way to address the issue. The industry has a more detailed ratings system than Hollywood’s, as well as agreements with numerous retailers to enforce those ratings. And the next generation of game consoles will enable parents to use the ratings to limit which games their kids can play.
“Ultimately, it is a parent’s duty to keep children away from inappropriate video games. Lawmakers who have tried to shift that duty to store clerks are now 0 for 6, and their average isn’t likely to improve — no matter how many times they swing.”
Locked In Mortal Combat With The Media Monster
By Paul K. McMasters
September 21, 2006
First Amendment Center
“….As much as political leaders, advocates, researchers and some parents would like to hope otherwise, sure proof of the cause-and-effect relationship between media content and bad behavior among adults or children remains elusive…. [W]e must not lose sight of the fact that millions upon millions of adults and children play video games….yet they never take up a gun and start spraying bullets into a crowd of innocents.
“….To argue that violence in media causes actual violence, or that indecency in media causes harmful sexual adventurism, is to argue that the cleansing of movies, TV, radio, video games, comic books, the Internet and even books will remove crime, perversion and other unpleasantness from our midst.
“….There should be no surprise or shock that human beings gravitate toward entertainment that reflects life, stimulates the senses, sparks a laugh, offers an excuse to waste a bit of time. It is somewhat of a surprise to realize that so many of us lack the confidence in our own ability to distinguish between life and fantasy or between cause and effect.”
America the Parent?
By Brian Glidden
July 12, 2006
Hawaii Reporter, HI
“…The gaming industry has already created an effective self-regulatory system. This system’s primary goal is to help parents make the decision about what is appropriate for their children by providing adequate information about the content of such games, on both the packaging and in various product reviews.
“…Particularly in an environment in which computer gaming companies have taken it upon themselves to inform their customers of what they are buying, the creator’s rights to freedom of expression enshrined in the Constitution should be protected from political interference.
“…Parents, not video games, raise children. Video games, like movies, music, and novels, represent an escape from reality. Parents have the opportunity and responsibility to teach children fundamentals about fact and fairy tale, right and wrong, good and evil. Without these fundamentals, children will fail the test of life even if video games were banned altogether…
“Parents, who know their children better than do Washington lawmakers, must choose what is appropriate for their children. There is no need for new burdensome, impractical regulation that undermines the principles of liberty on which our country was founded—especially when the rules won’t work and are unconstitutional, anyway.”
Think twice before bashing video gamers
By Brian Slupski
July 2, 2006
Northwest Herald, IL
“…In case you missed it, video games have surpassed rap music as the leading bogeyman out to suck the innocence out of America’s youth.
“The theory goes that kids will play violent video games and become violent…
“I always have been incredulous about such arguments. Kids today seem the same as kids in the past.
“…Surely, if violent video games are a dangerous influence on this nation’s youth, there should be some indications of that. Juvenile violent crimes, particularly homicide, should be getting worse.
“So I went to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which is part of the Justice Department. My findings were shocking.”
“From 1994 to 2003, violent crimes by juveniles dropped 32 percent.
“…Murder committed by juveniles declined by 68 percent over that time period [1994 to 2003]. In fact, the number of juvenile arrests in 2003 was the lowest since 1987. Even more good news, the number of juveniles murdered in 2003 was at its lowest since 1984.
“…We often tend to focus on the negative. And we often tend to think that the times we live in are uniquely bad, while nostalgically thinking that yesteryear was uniquely good. Neither is true.”
Fact and Fiction in the Debate Over Video Game Regulation
Progress on Point, The Progress & Freedom Foundation
Adam Thierer
March 20, 2006
Complete report text at: http://www.pff.org/issues-pubs/pops/pop13.7videogames.pdf
Adam Thierer, Senior Fellow and Director of PFF’s Center for Digital Media Freedom, identifies six myths commonly used in support of government regulation of game content and points out why each is flawed:
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Myth: The industry’s voluntary ratings scheme fails to provide comprehensive information and is not stringently enforced.
To the contrary, the industry’s self-imposed ratings system is the most sophisticated, descriptive, and effective ratings system ever devised by any major media sector in America. In addition to a standardized ratings structure, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) also provides over 30 descriptors with detailed information on game content. The ESRB also imposes corrective action, including monetary fines, when marketing or rating industry standards have been breached.
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Myth: The majority of video games contain excessive violence or adult-themed material.
In reality, the vast majority of video games sold each year do not contain intense violence or sexual themes. In 2005, less than 13 percent of electronic games received a “mature” or “adults only” rating from the ESRB. Moreover, over 80 percent of the top twenty selling electronic games over the past five years have been rated “for everyone” or “teen” by the ESRB.
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Myth: Proposals to restrict the sale of violent video games will be deemed constitutional in the courts.
State and local laws attempting to regulate video games have been struck down as unconstitutional. Of the six of the cases detailed in the paper, all the decisions cited First Amendment concerns, vague legislative language, and lack of scientific evidence of a link between aggressive behavior and video games.
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Myth: Federal regulation will build on the industry’s ratings system, not install a burdensome regulatory regime.
Congressional intervention could cause game developers to abandon the industry’s voluntary ratings system because of fear of legal liability. If enough developers do so, it could lead to the adoption of a federally mandated regulatory regime / ratings system. Any government ratings system would raise serious First Amendment concerns.
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Myth: There is a direct correlation between exposure to violent video games and decline in social and cultural indicators.
No correlation between video games and aggressive behavior has been proven. Moreover, almost every social / cultural indicator of importance, such as juvenile violent crime, has been improving in recent years and decades. These improvements have occurred even as media exposure and video game use among youth has increased.
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Myth: Video games have no social or educational value and instead reflect a new societal preoccupation with violent entertainment.
Contemporary electronic games often require the player to use complex cognitive skills, such as analyzing complex social networks, managing resources, and tracking subtle narrative intertwinings and patterns. Some scholars also believe games can have cathartic benefits. Finally, contrary to what some critics claim, violent themes and images have been part of literature and other forms of entertainment for centuries.
Thierer concludes that legislative proposals to regulate electronic games are driven by myths and misinformation regarding ratings, content and possible effects of the games. The industry has established an independent, comprehensive ratings system that provides extensive descriptive information about game content. This system has so far been effective. A federal regulatory regime could prove to be cumbersome, unconstitutional and have a “chilling” effect on expression and creativity.
A bill of rights for parents, not the feds
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Robert D. Richards and Clay Calvert
January 4, 2006
In the waning weeks of 2005, four different federal courts across the country issued rulings that, viewed collectively, reinforce the right of parents to make private choices regarding their children’s lives, free from government-imposed intermeddling.
While these cases should be heralded by pro-family organizations that routinely rail against government interference into the parenting process, they instead are lambasted by these same groups, as well as some sympathetic lawmakers who find political expediency in catering to a small yet vociferous faction of the electorate…
When it comes to video games depicting images of violence, it is somewhat easier to sympathize with legislators wanting to impose government-mandated ratings on the games and to prohibit minors from purchasing them. Many adults, after all, would find the content of some games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas offensive, disagreeable or repulsive.
But that is precisely the point. Since we cannot all agree on what speech is offensive, disagreeable or repulsive, we should not allow the government to impose its determinations and ratings about those subjects on consumers, including parents.
…When the government imposes its own ratings on video games and determines what’s appropriate entertainment for minors, it has stepped firmly and deeply into the culture wars and interfered with decisions affecting the First Amendment freedom of speech. Once again, the proper arena for setting the bounds of personal culture is neither the courts nor the schools nor the legislatures. Rather, it is the home, and the right and duty falls to parents. We should trust parents to make their own decisions about what games their children should or shouldn’t be allowed to play.”
I argue that the government has no place in regulating the video game industry. There is no proof or evidence of a causal relationship between video games and violence. The government currently has NO control over any electronic entertainment and I see no point in its involvement with the gaming industry.
The Xbox 360 has parental controls that allow you to set a password stopping the play of M rated games. It also has a way for parents to limit the amount of time spent playing per day. The ESRB is doing more now than it ever has to keep games out of minors hands without the permission of the parent.
I say that if the parent deems his/her child mature enough to play the game then it is not the place of the government to say otherwise, unless they have proof that it is damaging to the child.
No evidence exists to support government regulation. No laws should be passed that stifle gaming creatitivity and tell me what I can buy for my children.
-Kappa
PS: Please have some facts before you start responding off of emotion. I have studied and kept up with this topic for about three years. If you don’t know what your talking about, don’t waste your time here.