Texas Attorney General Announces ESRB Public Awareness Campaign

[Andy Chalk]

Texas Attorney General Announces ESRB Public Awareness Campaign

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is encouraging parents to use the ESRB [http://www.esrb.org]rating system when making videogame purchases for their children.

The announcement was made in conjunction with the ESRB to launch a new public awareness campaign in supporting the use of videogame ratings. "Parents must play an active, informed role in their children's lives, and choosing videogames is no different," Abbott said. "ESRB ratings are an effective and informative resource that allows parents to evaluate whether videogame content is appropriate for their child."

The ESRB has been participating in public awareness campaigns in numerous states in recent months in an effort to heighten awareness of videogames among parents. Along with Texas, the Board has also recently taken part in campaigns in Rhode Island [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/79666].

"Just as movies and television shows employ ratings systems to inform parents, the ESRB ratings help inform parents which videogames are simply not meant for children," Abbott said. "Working together, public officials and the industry can help provide parents with the tools they need to choose suitable videogames for their children and families."

Attorney General Abbott has also been in the news recently for his decision to bring Children's Online Privacy Protection Act [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/79668].


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[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Everyone, please give a standing ovation to Attorney General Abbott for being an example of how to properly police the video game situation.

 

[MrCIA]

*Standing ovation*

 

[Arbre]

Waves hand from the other side of the planet.

 

[Fire Daemon]

Finally!

Abbot my friend you may be the best thing for gaming since the invention of a video card.

 

[Andy Chalk]

You guys do realize that Abbott is only the latest in a string of state-level officials who have taken part in these campaigns with the ESRB, right?

 

[Arbre]

The more the better.
As we can see, using the political rules about pandering to voters serves the industry.
It seems that all that what was needed, was only one single move, for the snowball to grow.
So let's hope it continues to get even more support and attention.

I wish the same could happen in Europe. Our rating systems aren't that different.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

i think it's a good step in the right direction, however people don't care that much and they still have the whole "i don't know computers" thing going

i don't think this will help out too much cause parents will still buy their kids Modern Warfare and then say how violent it is, as if the title itself wasn't a big enough tip off

 

[Aqualung]

Now, if only he can prevent every pining little twelve year old from buying Modern Warfare 2 before it's released...!

 

[mikemart]

Texas Attorney General Announces ESRB Public Awareness Campaign

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is encouraging parents to use the ESRB [http://www.esrb.org]rating system when making videogame purchases for their children.

The announcement was made in conjunction with the ESRB to launch a new public awareness campaign in supporting the use of videogame ratings. "Parents must play an active, informed role in their children's lives, and choosing videogames is no different," Abbott said. "ESRB ratings are an effective and informative resource that allows parents to evaluate whether videogame content is appropriate for their child."

The ESRB has been participating in public awareness campaigns in numerous states in recent months in an effort to heighten awareness of videogames among parents. Along with Texas, the Board has also recently taken part in campaigns in Rhode Island [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/79666].

"Just as movies and television shows employ ratings systems to inform parents, the ESRB ratings help inform parents which videogames are simply not meant for children," Abbott said. "Working together, public officials and the industry can help provide parents with the tools they need to choose suitable videogames for their children and families."

Attorney General Abbott has also been in the news recently for his decision to bring Children's Online Privacy Protection Act [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/79668].


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BOOM HEADSHOT! That's what will happen if he gets near me.

NO BOOM HEADSHOT, NO BOOM HEAD SHOT!! With this around games might not be always to blame with something happens

10 year old shot someone, cant blame on videogames, cause ESRB warned the parents, It would be the parents fault..

actually people will still probably blame videogames

 

[AceDiamond]

Amazing. Apparently Texas is good for something.

 

[Mookie_Magnus]

Here's the FAIL...

Awareness campaigns would be a good thing, informing the public so they don't do stupid things and all that. But the problem is that determining whether or not a kid of X age can play GTA5 falls to the parents, right? So what if the parent decides Johnny 5-year-old is allowed to play it? The ESRB does not respect the parent's right to make that choice, it's follow our ratings or else, and the stores uphold the ratings like law, when they really shouldn't have a say.

It's all fine to say that the ratings are voluntary and that the parents are the final authority, until one of said parents doesn't agree with the ESRB's guidance and then everyone goes all nazi about it.

Which is why the parents are in charge. Like all ratings, the ESRB is simply a guideline. Most parents should know what their children can and cannot handle. If they don't then they're bad parents.

Personally, this makes me extremely proud to live in Texas. I tip my hat to A.G. Abbot, and I thank him profusely. An even more effective step, would be for the parents to become proactive, and play the games themselves before their children, or alongside them. That way, we would bring new gamers into the market, and parents would gain a greater understanding.

I can see very little bad that can come of this. However, there is always that possibility that someone will fuck it up.

 

[HyenaThePirate]

This sort of thing makes me proud to be a Texan.

Now i'm going to go sing the national anthem and clean my guns.

 

[Pumpkin_Eater]

Wow, I really wasn't expecting something so... sensible and logical from Texas. Good thing it wasn't Mississippi or my brain would have exploded.

 

[cobrausn]

This just makes us look better considering what just happened in NY.

I guess even politicians can occasionally not screw something up.

This sort of thing makes me proud to be a Texan.

Now i'm going to go sing the national anthem and clean my guns.

Seconded. Especially the gun cleaning part... really should get around to that.

 

[Deleted]

I have a public awareness campaign going on too. I ask parents what the Letters mean and if they get it wrong, BITCHSLAP

 

[Deleted]

Which is why the parents are in charge. Like all ratings, the ESRB is simply a guideline. Most parents should know what their children can and cannot handle. If they don't then they're bad parents.

The point I was trying to make was that no, it isn't "Just a Guideline". It's a crutch, it's a scam, it's one group's opinion being pushed as gospel, and it's censorship plain and simple.

Can a 10-year-old buy an AO rated game? No. Could that same child buy the game if their parent was with them? No. Could that parent buy the game for the child while the child was clearly the one picking it out? Probably not. No store employee is going to sell a copy of Rapelay to a parent when they know it's for the kid. But - and this is the crux of it all - is it the store's place to say that the kid cannot have or play that game?

The answer is no. If a parent chooses to allow it, where does the store or some anonymous censorship board get off telling a parent what he/she can and cannot let their child do? They are not government agents, they are not "child services", entrusted with the well being of this child. But ratings like the MPAA, ESRB, or PEGI systems take that authority out of the parents' hands and place it at the discretion of retail employees who probably didn't even pass highschool let alone have the mental or moral fortitude to determine what is best for someone else's child.

Rating systems are censorship, and censorship is a crime that falls somewhere between genocide and illegal experimentation on live humans.

You got it all wrong. Its not about the government restricting access to well deserving kids and letting parents do what they want. Its about the government(and ideally parents) doing what they can to prevent well deserv dumbshit kids from shooting up the school. Also, censorship should only be a crime if it blocks ideologically sensitive material, not entertainment that doesn't do anything worthwhile.