toldailytopic: Violent video games - Should they be regulated? Outlawed? Left alone?

[Newman]

If violent games were taxed heavily it might persuade software companies to release milder types of games.

This is too arbitrary. Who defines "violent" or "inappropriate"? Who says what arbitrary levels of violence are approved for arbitrary ages? Who decides what arbitrary tax levels to be applied to the arbitrary violence levels?

Or they could release a lite version for children that was toned down heavily with the adult content removed. Another possibility could be that when the game console is bought, if it is going to primarily be used by children the shop could encode it not to work with R rated games.

As long as no one is being coerced or forced to do these things, then yes, these seem like good ideas. It has to be voluntary, though. It has to be the parent's decision.

 

[Newman]

I agree that parents should be more involved, but kids know how to get around their parents. They could tell grandma to buy a certain game for their birthday, and once its in their bedroom the parents don't have a clue what the kids are playing.

Don't let your kids have TVs in their bedrooms. This is a good rule to follow for many reasons.

My parents knew exactly what I was playing, watching, and doing. Of course the surveillance dropped off as I got older and I gained their trust, but they were very involved in knowing what I was up to.

 

[Buzzword]

Don't let your kids have TVs in their bedrooms. This is a good rule to follow for many reasons.

My parents knew exactly what I was playing, watching, and doing. Of course the surveillance dropped off as I got older and I gained their trust, but they were very involved in knowing what I was up to.

This is a great start, especially since keeping the video games in the living room can make video game time FAMILY TIME.

...which is another thing sorely lacking from American parents right now.


The video game medium is not the sole cause of any acts of violence or crime, just as comic books weren't the sole cause of juvenile delinquency in the 50's.
Video games are simply a relatively new medium of entertainment marketed solely to children and teens, which narrow-minded adults (being something other than the party marketed to) want to either destroy or regulate into oblivion simply because their children's tastes are not matching their own (again like comic books in the 50's).

God forbid our children have their own opinions.


Also, it amazes me how many hardcore conservatives (who typically scream bloody murder against bigger government) want video games regulated into the ground.

Double standard much?
Or is it just because this is a "moral" issue ("We have to protect our children!") that regulation (and by it destruction) is so vehemently sought?

 

[Rusha]

1. Supply ratings/warnings
2. The rest is up to the parents

That covers it.

 

[ghost]

This one is really violent! :chuckle:

 

[Dena]

Leave them alone and let parents regulate. I'd prefer not to even have them in our home but I don't know how that will pan out. We don't even have children yet. Neither of us play video games.

 

[Delmar]

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for December 6th, 2010 10:11 AM

toldailytopic: Violent video games - Should they be regulated? Outlawed? Left alone?

Take the topic above and run with it! Slice it, dice it, give us your general thoughts about it. Everyday there will be a new TOL Topic of the Day.
If you want to make suggestions for the Topic of the Day send a Tweet to @toldailytopic or @theologyonline or send it to us via Facebook.

They should be regulated...


...by each child's parents.

 

[vegascowboy]

They should be regulated...


...by each child's parents.

Shhhhhhhhh! Don't tell that to the Feds...they think that you are an idiot and incapable of parenting and want to do it for you.

:bang:

 

[Persephone66]

Do incidents like these alter your opinion on the topic?

From wiki...

Several incidents speculated to be related to video games in recent decades have helped fuel controversy.

Those incedents really don't change my opinion. Most of them look to me like either a severe lack of parenting or that games were the least of their problems.

The problem isn't the video games, it's the foul parenting.

Regulating video games would be delegating yet another inappropriate role to the government. Parenting is a big responsibility, and I don't think that shoving some/all of the responsibility onto the government to raise our nation's kids is the right answer.

Churches, communities, friends, and family should educate their parent friends about not only the harmful effects of video games but specific video games that children ought not play.

Another problem with this is that it has no end. Where does it stop? Will the state begin censoring what movies we watch? What news we read? What games we, as adults, play?

I agree. Just because some parent bought their child a game, for instance Grand Theft Auto, and didn't teach them that it's only a game and not to act like that in the real world shouldn't mean that I, as an adult, should be penalised.

I don't do video games
but
they are really driving advancements in computer technology
and
I believe that is a good thing

And maybe someday there will be an advancement in technology that fixes your sentence structure.

What about when video games allow a person to act out the role of a violent maniac?

Umm what about them? My Fallout New Vegas character is a drug addicted, gun toting, canibal girl with a purple mohawk. My Saint's Row 2 character is a transsexual leader of a street gang and beats people with garden gnomes. What of it? It's just a game.

Its another way to devalue human life through another form of media. And the software companies know that children will get their hands on R rated games. They're even banking on it. They definitely should be regulated more strictly.

Which of course is why video game consoles have parental controls. And why there is a rating system. And why Mature rated games are not sold to kids. In fact, most Mature rated games are not even marketed to kids.

 

[Persephone66]

If violent games were taxed heavily it might persuade software companies to release milder types of games. Or they could release a lite version for children that was toned down heavily with the adult content removed. Another possibility could be that when the game console is bought, if it is going to primarily be used by children the shop could encode it not to work with R rated games.

SO I should have to pay more because I'm an adult and I want to play a Mature rated game? Dude, seriously, no. Call of Duty: Black Ops and Fallout New Vegas set me back $59.95 each. Games are expensive enough and I should not have to pay more because some irresponsible parent bought it for their child that was not mature enough to handle it.

Both the PlayStation and the XBox have parental controls. If the parents are too stupid, lazy or just don't care enough to use them, it should not be the responsibility of the place where it was purchased.

This is a great start, especially since keeping the video games in the living room can make video game time FAMILY TIME.

When I bought my first video game console as a teenager, while it was in my bedroom, there was many times my mother play games with me. We played a lot of Street Fighter. Which was a lot of fun until she got really good at it. You know how bad it feels to get pwned by your mom?

They should be regulated...


...by each child's parents.

What he said!

I agree with you, you were right about something for once.

Shhhhhhhhh! Don't tell that to the Feds...they think that you are an idiot and incapable of parenting and want to do it for you.

:bang:

Yeah really. Sadly, too many people are all too willing to let the Feds do that. It takes a villiage you know.

 

[JoeyArnold]

Rid the world of evil out of love.

Rid the world of evil out of love.

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for December 6th, 2010 10:11 AM

toldailytopic: Violent video games - Should they be regulated? Outlawed? Left alone?

Take the topic above and run with it! Slice it, dice it, give us your general thoughts about it. Everyday there will be a new TOL Topic of the Day.
If you want to make suggestions for the Topic of the Day send a Tweet to @toldailytopic or @theologyonline or send it to us via Facebook.

From my perspective at this very moment I would not do anything besides encourage people to never forget the meaning to life.

Because in it we can find the very things that are meant to be instead of daring to avoid anything in life which may or may not be evil including violence and sexuality which are seen in video games and movies and everywhere else in the media or from word of mouth or anything.

We should focus on what we can do instead of soaking and complaining about the things we can't or shouldn't do.

We could talk about censoring. And we could delegate all decisions over to the parents and let them decide whether or not their children should play which games for how long and all.

We could try ridding the world of all evil. But that is one tough task to partake in. Our roles in this really depends on our gifts. How we go about ridding the world of evil is also a key factor. We should rid the world of evil out of love.

Rid the world of evil out of love.

 

[JoeyArnold]

Some claim that Columbine incident is imaginary.

Some claim that Columbine incident is imaginary.

Do incidents like these alter your opinion on the topic?

From wiki...

Several incidents speculated to be related to video games in recent decades have helped fuel controversy.

1. On April 20, 1999, 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and a teacher in the Columbine High School massacre.

Some claim that Columbine incident is imaginary.
But of course it really happened.

 

[JoeyArnold]

This might be the only woman criminal from your list.

This might be the only woman criminal from your list.

23. In October 2010, 22-year old Florida mother Alexandra Tobias killed her baby because he wouldn't stop crying while she was playing FarmVille.

This might be the only woman criminal from your list.
I am not sure why mostly men are the bad ones.

 

[JoeyArnold]

Things started going down hill when we took God out of school.

Things started going down hill when we took God out of school.

The problem isn't the video games, it's the foul parenting.

Regulating video games would be delegating yet another inappropriate role to the government. Parenting is a big responsibility, and I don't think that shoving some/all of the responsibility onto the government to raise our nation's kids is the right answer.

Churches, communities, friends, and family should educate their parent friends about not only the harmful effects of video games but specific video games that children ought not play.

Another problem with this is that it has no end. Where does it stop? Will the state begin censoring what movies we watch? What news we read? What games we, as adults, play?

Parenting is vital but not always exclusive.
My sisters went on to drinking and drugs while I didn't.

Things started going down hill when we took God out of school.
One good film about this is Time Changer.

http://www.timechangermovie.com/

 

[JoeyArnold]

People kept on pushing the envelope and the censoring went down slowly.

People kept on pushing the envelope and the censoring went down slowly.

Any video game the promotes illegal activity should have an age limit set on them--no kids under 18. I think companies should have the good sense to be not producing them.

The appeal of these games is an outgrowth of foul parenting and a christless society.

Censoring or regulating started in the films.
I remember watching a documentary about it.
People kept on pushing the envelope and the censoring went down slowly.

 

[JoeyArnold]

Only replacements, alternatives can stop that.

Only replacements, alternatives can stop that.

What about when video games allow a person to act out the role of a violent maniac?

Its another way to devalue human life through another form of media. And the software companies know that children will get their hands on R rated games. They're even banking on it. They definitely should be regulated more strictly.

That is the cost of technology. Technology can either be a tool for good or evil. Schools once worried that the internet would be too inappropriate for the schools because that would lead to possible bad things to happen. I would mention what kind of things but I am not allowed to do so. Anyways, everything comes with a cost and you have to weigh the pros with the cons to see if it's worth it or not. Some schools chose to use the internet, Facebook, texting, things like that, and make it part of the classroom, and in doing so they increase kid's ability to do school work.

Video games are also tools which can either be used for evil or for good. If we try avoiding these issues then we will only be beaten by the competition whom will pervert video games and use them for evil.

We can create Christian video games.
But there has to be an alternative to the other video games.
If there is no alternative then people will find ways to play the bad ones.
It's like outlawing bad drugs or things.
People are addicted to bad things.
Only replacements, alternatives can stop that.
And parenting helps, too.

But God in us is the most important factor.

 

[JoeyArnold]

I agree.

I agree.

I'd vote for leaving them well alone. An industry-imposed rating system is probably savvy (and helpful), but I'm opposed to any kind of government oversight or regulation.

I agree.

 

[JoeyArnold]

Tough Love

Tough Love

As was mentioned before, the issue is entirely the parents, not the games themselves.

The problem is, parents don't know how to say no to their children. I used to work at Gamestop (the most successful retail video game chain in the world) and any time someone wished to purchase a game that was rated M or even T, we were obligated to explain what the rating entailed. I can't explain how many times I witnessed as a child no older than ten wanted to purchase a game that was rated M (for Mature, which is no one under 17) and sat there as I went down the list.

"Just so you know this game is rated M for Mature for Strong Violence, Drug and Alcohol use, Some nudity, graphic gore, strong language, and sexual themes", and after hearing this list, the parents would look concerned, the kid would start complaining, and the parents would give in.

Video games are nothing but games. I've played plenty of gory games in my life, with no compulsion to actually commit any of the acts in the game. Sure, there are isolated instances of video game-related violence, but those instances are usually a question of mental health, rather than the game content itself.

The simple truth is, the NSRB rating system has been around for decades, and all major retailers are obligated to not only inform buyers of the reason for the rating, but are also legally obligated to ID anyone that appears to be under-age that wishes to purchase an M rated game. The system in place is as effective as it possibly can be, and ratings are more than appropriate. The problem is the parents, and nothing else.

My friend worked at GameStop.
That is what kids do. That is what I might just do.
We really got to show them tough love.

 

[csuguy]

Of course they shouldn't be. Giving games ratings is fine - but we shouldn't prohibit games from being sold. They are, after all, games. Rather, parents need to take some responsibility for monitoring the video games they allow their children to play. And if people can't tell the difference between a video game and reality - they have far bigger problems than what games they play.

 

[JoeyArnold]

A lack of morals can destroy from the inside-out.

A lack of morals can destroy from the inside-out.

I think the parents should be more involved, and should do more than just rely on a letter on the front of a box to decide about whether or not an individual game, or movie for that matter, is appropriate for their own child/ren. As the mother of some relatively young ones we are in the middle of this now. I have no faith that the government could regulate my children any better than I can.

And when we have a lack of parenting then we also have a lack of a moral compass meaning that if we don't get our morals from our parents then we will borrow morals from the games we play and the movies we watch and the people we hang out with and the things we do and that is the scary part because we may never kill anybody or do anything really bad but at the same time these games or movies or anything seriously can and does affect us and slowly changes us into people with bad morals or different morals or no morals or change in character or in a decline in patience or other things.

A lack of morals can destroy from the inside-out.
Because we are what we eat.