Honestly, I do believe some bad behavior in children is based on overly violent video games (however, these children most likely have had some behavior issues anyways). God, the number of times I’ve been in a pre-game lobby of Gears of War with a bloodthirsty 8-year-old. Something’s wrong with that. However, I propose that it’s not the lack of enforcement of the ESRB standards. Nearly every store I’ve been to upholds that rule. The problem is that parents are ignorant and weak. It makes my heart warm when I see a Gamestop employee sit and explain what all is in that Grand Theft Auto game Timmy wants for Christmas to his naive mother, and then suggest other age appropriate games he might/should enjoy.
The government needs to stay out of the gaming industry, I agree. If there was only legislation that could regulate better parenting, well then, we’d all be better off. The government only exists for a system of rules with built in institutions of punishment as well as providing defense for personal properties and even a judicial system. Nothing more. They can’t babysit everybody and nor should they. They do a hell of a lot more than they should.
Some sort of survey should go out across homes asking
1) If they know what kind of content is in “insert title here”
2) If they own it, why did they buy it?
3) And who is it for? Who plays it?
And I’d bet you’d find the homes where an overly violent child is. Especially one who plays said game over Live or on servers.
Granted, some children do age and mature faster than others. That’s why ultimately the parent gets to say what is appropriate for their child. Some can handle Halo and Gears at ages below 18 (but no younger than 13/14 I’d imagine). Meanwhile, I believe what games the parents buy should be limited by their morals and virtues, specifically in games of extreme realism (i.e. mainly GTA). Honestly, I refuse to play that game because of its story and content, just because I know my nephew looks up to me and I have to be careful what I play and expose him to, even if his parents don’t really care.
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Bottom line/Shorter version for those who don’t care to read that much:
Government shouldn’t regulate anything. Parents need to step up and become educated while getting a backbone and spanking the kid who’s throwing a tantrum over wanting the newest GTA.