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Anti-Gaming Legislation in Florida Moves Forward
Next Generation reports that another piece of anti-gaming legislation is moving forward in Floria. From the article: "Despite the failure of similar bills, Diaz de la Portilla believes SB492 provides the means to protect children. 'Left to their own devices, children often do not realize the harm they are causing themselves through the exposure to graphic sexual and violent content found in many of today's video games'" The bill has passed its first Senate hearing with a vote of 7 to 1. We've previously mentioned this legislation.
children often do not realize the harm they are causing themselves through the exposure to graphic sexual and violent content found in many of today's video games
ADULTS do not realize the harm they are causing by failing to understand the adaptability of children.
Perhaps those lawmakers should visit Denmark, which totally legalized pornography two generations ago, even with respect to public displays in street-level windows, and HASN'T sunk into the sea of depravity since.
FTA
''Video games are protected speech under the First Amendment just like movies, books and television,'' said Sally Jefferson of the Entertainment Software Association.
Well, Sally, guess what? 17 year olds cannot go to certain movies. 17 year olds cannot buy Playboy. 17 year olds cannot buy the X-Channel.
So if that is your attempt to defend selling any title to any age group, you REALLY need to think through your arguement more.
Like the above three examples... if the parent approves it, and buys it on behalf of the minor -- fine. But some titles are questionable enough that a parental decision should be required. That is all the law says.
Now, let us hear the whiners tell us how this is an infringement on everyone's rights (it isn't). Let's hear how this means we are trying to be a nanny state (we have on many, many more issues than this over the last two plus centuries).
Bottom line: No one's rights are being attacked. This is common sense.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
From TFA:
Despite the failure of similar bills, Diaz de la Portilla believes SB492 provides the means to protect children. 'Left to their own devices, children often do not realize the harm they are causing themselves through the exposure to graphic sexual and violent content found in many of today's video games'.
I think what he's looking for is this mythical creature called a parent . Replace "graphic sexual and violent content" with "playing in the street" and you see the logic he's using. Where are the parents?
I'm sure he "means" to, but how many scientific studies have to point to the good that comes from gaming, how many different rating systems do we need, and how DO we protect children from parents too ignroant to understand that perhaps a 6 year old shouldn't be shooting cops?
Excuse my speling.
Making The Bar Project
I hear Floria's a great vacation spot, though I've never been there myself. I always assumed it was near Florida, but I can't seem to find it on a map.
Not since the time of Moses has a Bush spoken such truth as Gov. Bush did. ''I think self-regulation is the first step,'' Bush said. "Parents ought to take control over their children's lives.''
Sadly, more and more the U.S. is turning to government legislation to protect what could be protected with a little common sense. Parents should be more responsible toward their spawn than just providing a roof and food while feeling happy that Little Tommy is in his room playing games and not on the street doing drugs or worse.
I think the game industry does an excellent job of indicating what age group should be playing a game, but that is just a suggestion and parents should pay attention to what is going on.
Let's just keep giving more power to the governement so we don't have any freedoms at all.
Sig? What's a Sig?
Since some politicians use that line so much... well, if it is a sincere concern, there are more serious points to worry about.
*points to sig*
Circumcision is child abuse.
- Gaming (gambling) -- legal
- Gaming (video) -- illegal
Ha ha!"Not an actor, but he plays one on TV."
How exactly the law 'protect' children?
Does it prevent that oh so common problem of enemies jumping out of the computer screen and shooting kids with their RPG?
The only way they're going to make games less "accessible" to minors is if Walmart puts them out of reach on the top rack and not randomly tossed on the bottom rack. They had ZERO copies of Civ 4, but plenty of F.E.A.R. Oh well looks like your kid is buying the next best thing. *brags* Well I never get carded
'Left to their own devices, children often do not realize the harm they are causing themselves through the exposure to graphic sexual and violent content found in many of today's video games' Isn't that why God invented parents? Or what that Al Gore, I forgot.
Here in Germany we've already got similar laws which are a lot stricter than in the US since computer games have a very negative image here.
Brutal games are "indexed". If you want to buy them you have to ask for them and show your identity card. Furthermore, it's not allowed to present these games in places that can be accessed by children and teenagers. So in usual dvd or computer game stores you can only get them from "under the table" (German expression).
Violent games get an "FSK 18" or "Keine Jugendfreigabe" rating, which means, it's strictly _prohibited_ to sell them to under-eighteens. But it's allowed to promote them publicly.
Games that use symbols prohibited by German constitution (such as swastikas like in Wolfenstein 3D), anything else related to Nazi Germany or are EXTREMELY brutal (like Man Hunt) get "beschlagnahmt" which comes very much close to a complete ban. Only difference to a ban is you are allowed to own them privatly although it's illegal to import them to Germany.
So, since it's common sense, that violent content has to be kept away from kids, in Germany no one really understands the debate going on about this issue in the US.
In contrast to the US, violent content is considered to be much more harmful to kids than sexual content.
Regards,
-DBS
Sigs suck!
What about "Gaming (shooting deer)"?
I was once one of the officers for a college organization called the "Knoxville Gaming Bureau," which focused on, believe it or not, playing all sorts of games, video games included. We put up flyers all over campus to advertise when we first started up. Important part of this puzzle: we're talking about Knoxville, Tennessee.
Fast forward to meeting one: some good-ole-boy politely comes in and sits down, listens politely to the first five minutes of our introduction, stands up and says "Y'all don't hunt?"
"No sir. No sir, we do not. And politely take your rifle elsewhere."
*Left to their own devices...*
Perhaps children should NOT be left to their own devices all the time...
> ....
> policy, not law. The other 0.1% gets
> consistently struck down as unconstitutional.
If a paedophile gave your 9 year old indecent pictures of himself, then society jails him.
So if he _sold_ those pictures to your 9 year old, it's "unconstitutional" to arrest him, eh?
Wake up , listen to your conscience. It is about "saving the children".
I think parents should take responsibility for what their kids are doing, rather than have lawmakers do it for them. If they're so worried about their kids going on a killing spree after playing GTA, then don't buy the game. If they know what their children are playing and the kids are mature enough to handle it, that's fine too. We really don't need the government getting involved in entertainment.
My journal: Clicky. Read it because it
What about other sources of sexual or violent content? If people are really concerned about certain content being harmful then maybe they should start banning other information streams as well, such as books? Sexually themed? "The player of games" by Iain M. Banks had some seriously disturbing sexual scenes.. "The Gap Series" by Steven Donaldson is probably one of the most disturbed series of books I've ever read with a major theme around the repeated rape of a womem. "Lady Chatterley's Lover" maybe?
Hmmm violent themes, books? Nope can't think of any.. they are obviously all peaceful without any descriptions of battles, torture, murder etc..
Also, and probably more importantly, books rely on imagery painting a picture that the reader can build up for themselves given the description because *gasp* different people view things DIFFERENTLY.
Finally, one could argue that children would not read these books, because strangely enough, they are designed for adults. Not like these games that have no age reccomendations saying what target market they are aimed at.
Warning, comments may not have been passed by the sanity department of my brain.