Keeping Violent Games Away from Kids - video games

Current Events, Feb 5, 1999

A MAN, ARMED WITH guns and grenades, walks through a blood-stained street. Without hesitation, he blows away monsters, aliens, and anybody else that gets in his way.

Many parents wouldn't allow their kids to watch a movie with such a scene in it. But across the United States, kids are playing video games in which they act out just such gruesome scenes.

In December, the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) released its "report card" on the video game industry. While the group praised the industry for its self-imposed rating system, it also blasted them for marketing violent games to children. The video game industry defended itself by saying that it is parents' responsibility to keep games out of kids' hands.

Stop the Marketing

The NIMF and U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Herbert Kohl (D-Wis.) say that the video game industry is not doing enough to keep violent games out of the hands of kids. Video game makers, they said, want to sell violent video games to kids by advertising rated-M (mature) games in kid's magazines and selling action figures, toys that appeal to kids, based on such games.

Violent games have a profound effect on children, said David A. Walsh, president of the NIMF. Though there has not been much serious scientific research done on violent video games, he said, "most of the studies to date indicate that playing violent video games does have some negative effects, including aggressive behavior."

Though the NIMF's report card said that parents need to be more careful about what kinds of games their kids are playing, it concluded that video game makers need to stop marketing adult games to kids. The NIMF recommends that game makers stop stop using ads that promote "murder for fun."

Parents Need to Take Responsibility

Video game makers say they are doing an excellent job in providing parents with the information they need when purchasing games. The NIMF's report, they note, gives them high marks for their self-imposed ratings system.

Ninety percent of all video game purchases are made by adults, video game makers said, so parents have the power to choose what games their kids are playing. What's more, the game makers said, the majority of games are non-violent, with fewer than one in ten receiving the M-rating. That, they said, gives parents plenty of nonviolent options when choosing games.

"Parents have to monitor things they don't want to have in their homes," concluded George Harrison, an executive at Nintendo of America.

Who has the main responsibility for keeping violent games out of kids' hands?