I’m getting tired of this. A lot of powerful people are starting to light their torches and get on the ‘let’s kill the monster!’ and ‘burn the witch!’ bandwagon when it comes to video games and violence. These are the people who don’t truly understand what video games are and don’t realize that a lot of the people between 18 and 35 grew up playing video games, myself as one of them. And they apparently don’t realize we have the ability to vote them out of office.
Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander is the latest to point the finger at video games and get attention away from more plausible reasons for the recent gun violence, like mental health. See the video here.
Senator Jay Rockefeller has stated on his website that he will be introducing a bill to study violent video games impact on children. On his website he states:
“Recent court decisions demonstrate that some people still do not get it. They believe that violent video games are no more dangerous to young minds than classic literature or Saturday morning cartoons. Parents, pediatricians, and psychologists know better. These court decisions show we need to do more and explore ways Congress can lay additional groundwork on this issue. This report will be a critical resource in this process. I call on my colleagues to join to me in passing this important legislation quickly.”
Read closely where it says, “Parents, pediatricians, and psychologists know better”. If parents know better than why are they letting their children play these games and why aren’t these pediatricians and psychologists telling these parents to not let their children play these games?
One of the things that the bill says it will accomplish is that it will “submit a report on its investigation within 18 months to Congress”. What’s 18 months going to tell anybody? I’ll save you the trouble and my tax paying dollars: I’ve been playing video games for 20 years, mostly violent, and I’m fine.
Rockefeller also wants the FCC to become more involved. The ESRB, who are currently responsible for the rating system, are incredibly good at what they do. If you don’t believe me, then check their ratings guide, ratings process, and enforcement here. Again, please don’t waste my tax paying dollars on the FCC.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle, California State Senator Leland Yee was quoted as stating: “Gamers have got to just quiet down. Gamers have no credibility in this argument. This is all about their lust for violence and the industry’s lust for money. This is a billion-dollar industry. This is about their self-interest.”
So I have no credibility you say? We’ll see next time I vote Senator Yee! This isn’t the first time he’s tried to put video games down. Check out this bill for California written in 2005. The bill passed the state legislature and was signed by the governor but was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States. If you wasn’t aware, video games are protected under the First Amendment.
Newly-elected Connecticut Senator Christopher Murphy has also lit a torch and is intending to use it on the video game monster. See the video here.
Missouri representative Diane Franklin wanted to tax violent video games to “finance mental health programs and law enforcement measures to prevent mass shootings.” So you want to tax my hobby to pay for research into something that may or may not be related to it? Seems logical right? You can read more on that story and other video game violence debating here.
But the debate about video game violence isn’t just one sided. The Wall Street Journal confirms that executives from Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Epic Games and ZeniMax Media were present during Vice President Biden’s meeting with gaming industry execs about violent video games. Researchers from Texas A&M and the University of Wisconsin were also present. I just hope that they will be taken seriously.
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