Parents Need To Be Informed

GamerDad writes "Dave Long looks at the recent gaming controversy and lays the blame squarely on the parents. 'If you didn't talk to them about this game before buying it for your child, then you chose to be uninformed and there's nothing myself, the game maker, the retailer or the government can do to help you. The information is out there. In fact, it's right here on GamerDad. Be smarter next time and take a couple minutes to check it out.'"

Comments

New Castle News letter to the editor

[Rinisari]

from http://ncnewsonline.com/story.asp?id=11722 (reg. required):

Editor, The News:

Recently, a modification known as "Hot Coffee" was released on the Internet that allowed a user to access illicit material in the video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."

The developer, Rockstar Games, had left this material in the game but had made it totally inaccessible to the player in any way through the game. The modification permits the player to access a brief sex scene (using in-game player models, not a movie) that would otherwise never appear in the game.

Pushed by Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board announced July 21 its plans to change San Andreas' rating to AO, or Adults Only (18 plus). Rockstar promised to ship a version of the game without the illicit content and cease sales of the version with the content. Retailers such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy have ceased sales and even Gamestop has stopped selling it.

The largest outcry from parents was, "Why are video game companies selling games with such graphic violence and sex to my children?"

My question, then, as well as the millions of other gamers, to the parents is this: Why are you letting your children buy a game that has such content?

Most of the children who have the game more than likely received it as a gift from a parent, so I should then rephrase my question.

Why are they buying games for their children that deal with such themes as drug use, graphic violence, murder and sex?

The massive parental push to get this game off the shelves simply proves that parents of today's children are not willing to monitor their children's use of television, computers and video games. Instead, they rely on such wonderful technology to baby-sit their children.