Community Corner
Supreme Court Makes Right Decision in Video Game Ruling
Since when do we need the government to tell us how to parent?
A bill passed by the California legislature in 2005 made it illegal to sell violent video games to minors. Appeals from the video game industry kept the law from going into effect, and on Monday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban unconstitutional.
But did we really need a law to tell us what to do?
As reported by the Associated Press on Monday, more than 46 million American households have at least one video game system, with the industry bringing in at least $18 billion in 2010.
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Most of us are within the 46 million households owning a game console, whether it’s an Xbox, Xbox 360 or Playstation. And it is the responsibility of the 46 million households to read the rating on each video game.
It’s called “parental control.”
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It is not up to our government to tell us what we can and cannot allow our children to do, view, or decide. It is up to us, as their parents, to make wise decisions for them and keep them in tuned with “reality” as it truly is and should be outside of the violent games they play.
There have been multiple studies on whether violent video games promote violence in the real world. Some researchers are saying “yes,” the viewing and playing of these “M” rated games cause aggression over time. However, some researchers disagree with that finding.
I side with the latter. If you’re allowing violent video gaming, then ensure that your child is aware that what they are playing is just a game, not something to mock in reality.
One popular game in our house is “Call of Duty” which has an “M” rating—I do not oppose the game being played by my 16- and 18-year-old sons because they know the difference between video games and reality.
As a parent, I've taught my boys to know violence is not useful, and they should not mimic violent acts. It is up to us as parents to take on the responsibility we gave and chose for ourselves and be a parent.
Know that if you see the rating “M” on a video game that it’s considered “mature” and could be violent. Make the choice at the time to allow the purchase or rental, not your child.
It’s all about the upbringing, responsibility, and filtering done by each parent, and not up to our government to try and control the way we each raise our children – violence or not.
