Banning The Sale of Filth to Kids, but Not Adults - In the continuing saga of video game violence run amok, it is starting to look like Florida may make it illegal to sell video games to minors under 17 years of age if the video game is labeled with a "M," which stands for mature audiences and "AO," which stands for adults only. Of course this begs the question, "Are you really mature and an adult if you play these games?" In other words, "Shouldn't an adult not want to play these kinds of games?"
The Miami Herald has the Associated Press report. Here's the two opening paragraphs:
A bill that would make it a felony to sell violent video games to minors was introduced Wednesday by a Orlando lawmaker who discovered her teenagers watching a profanity-laced game where the winner was the most successful at killing.
Rep. Sheri McInvale brought along two video games, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City , that she said young children could obtain by just walking into a video store and plunking down their money.
The article also informs us that Senate Democratic Minority Leader Les Miller of Tampa has put forth a companion bill in the Senate.
I applaud these two representatives for the bills they have introduced in the response to the pointless violence that Rockstar Games has put in their latest video games - the worst and newest being Man Hunt.
But I have to wonder whether it really is enough of a stance. Like Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, FL, quoted in the AP story, I think that these games should be pulled completely from the market.
When you have a game that instructs players to earn points by murdering Haitians, you have a problem.
I don't believe consumers really understand the conditioning that can be done through video games, both to children and adults. Certainly video games are not solely to blame for life's ills and they have a place and value for entertainment. But video games are increasingly becoming a major focus for youth and young adults and when you couple that with a game like Rockstar Games's Man Hunt, where players hear a voice through a headset that tells them to murder a character seen on the video game, score them for the gruesomeness of the kill, and follow up with a closeup video of the deadly deed, you have a horrific form of conditioning that breaks down the barriers of acceptable behavior in the real world.
