On Tuesday, Nov. 2, oral arguments regarding the case of Schwarzenegger vs. Entertainment Merchants Association were held in the Supreme Court. The argument was focused upon whether or not it is a violation of the First Amendment to ban the sale of violent video games to minors.
What proponents of this ban do not realize is that, like films, there is a universal rating system designed to prevent minors from purchasing these games in the first place. The Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, has ratings that range from EC, "Early Childhood," all the way up to AO, "Adults Only."
Games rated M for "Mature" or higher are prohibited from being sold to anyone under the age of 17. It's not the video game industry's fault if young children play violent and inappropriate games; it's the parents'.
People are so quick to pass the blame that it's no surprise parents don't accept responsibility for their children being exposed to violent media. If parents are going to allow their kids to own a video game console, they should take the time to learn all of its services before condemning it after they catch little Billy beating a prostitute in Grand Theft Auto.
First off, if you discover your child with a game rated M, take it from them. You're the adult in this situation and need to act as such. Explain to the children that it's inappropriate for someone their age to be playing it. Besides, if you're not buying it for them, they shouldn't be able to pick it up anyway.
Second, parents need to familiarize themselves with the parental controls offered by each console. Every console out there has them, and they require minimal effort to set up.
The Xbox 360's parental controls alone are so in-depth that not only can parents restrict what their children can play, but they can also regulate how long they can play it. By using this feature, owners could set a limit on the highest rating allowed. For instance, if the rating limit was set to T for teen, no titles above that rating would even be able to be played on the system.
It doesn't stop there. The same controls also allow owners to set a timer so that games could only be played for X amount of hours in one day.
The best part about this feature is that it takes less than 10 minutes to set up.
So what do these parents really have to complain about? All the tools necessary for protecting children from obscene and graphic images are at their fingertips, literally.
Maybe it's not the fragile minds of children exposed to violent video games that people should be worried about. Maybe it's the complete lack of effort parents show in attempting to protect their kids.
E-mail: james.twigg@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
