Educator Group Calls For B.C. Game Ban

[Andy Chalk]

Educator Group Calls For B.C. Game Ban

The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International [http://www.dkg.org], a "professional honorary Society of women educators," has written an open letter to British Columbia Premier Christy Clark asking her to restrict the availability of violent and sexually explicit videogames in the province.

Did you know that in the year 2000, the government of British Columbia banned Activision's Soldier of Fortune [http://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Fortune-Pc/dp/B00003031F/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1311127306&sr=8-16] by declaring it "an 'adult motion picture' as defined under the B.C. Motion Picture Act?" Mary-Louise McCausland, then the Director of Film Classification, described the in-game violence as "brutal and portrayed realistically and explicitly," adding, "The object of the plot is to create an environment where the participant can maim or kill as many assailants as possible with the level of viciousness that the participant chooses to employ."

The ruling meant that anyone who wanted to distribute Soldier of Fortune in the province had to become legally licensed distributors of adult material - which is to say, porn - and would only be allowed to supply it to legally-license retailers of adult material - which is to say, porn shops. "If this inconveniences distributors," McCausland wrote [via The Free Radical [http://www.thefreeradical.ca/governmentAction/soldierOfFortuneDecision.html]], "I believe that the inconvenience is necessary to protect the interests of the public."

Now B.C. is the focus of another complaint that seeks even wider-reaching restrictions on violent and sexually explicit videogames. O. Babiuk of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International has written an open letter to Premier Christy Clark, asking the government to "further limit" the availability of such games in the province.

"As summer vacation has started, children are particularly at risk for increased exposure to the violence celebrated in many of the video games which are commonly available for sale in local stores, and at video arcades," the letter says. "Significant research has been conducted to determine the effects of violence in video games and many of the results indicate short-term and even long-term behavioral and attitudinal changes in those who play these games."

"In the same way that we protect our children from secondhand smoke, we believe there would be a benefit from a ban on violent or sexually explicit games wherever children under 16 may be present and that the sale of these items should be tightly controlled," it continues. "Please help families keep their children from the negative effects of violent and sexually explicit video games by legislating strict rules regarding the sale and the use of these items."

But whether the B.C. government even acknowledges the letter is an open question at this point. For one thing, the Liberal government currently in power is deeply unpopular with voters and unlikely to have much interest in any legislation that could prove controversial. And while "thinking of the children" has for years been a popular go-to move for politicians, the world is a vastly different place than it was a decade ago. Videogames are no longer the default evil, and it's become widely recognized that informed parents and retailers, and not knee-jerk legislation, are the best way to keep inappropriate games out of the hands of kids.

Source: GamePolitics [http://www.royalcityrecord.com/business/Keep+sexually+explicity+video+games+away+from+kids/5121539/story.html]


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[Booze Zombie]

God, they keep popping out of the woodwork. You've got to wonder if these people think everyone who isn't them is a serial killing rapist, really...

 

[Xan Krieger]

"Protect our children from second-hand smoke"? Who does that? I remember as a kid riding around with my mother who would smoke and keep the windows up.

OT: Just a new group trying to restrict freedom, just like Jack Thompson, let them scream and ignore them till they shrivel up and die from lack of attention.

 

[Biosophilogical]

God, they keep popping out of the woodwork. You've got to wonder if these people think everyone who isn't them is a serial killing rapist, really...

That sounds like Commie talk! You stay away from my children you murdering, serial-rapist!

OT: I agree with Booze Zombie.

 

[Cain_Zeros]

Well, I won't be voting Liberal in the next Provincial election anyway, but if this goes through that's just more reason.

 

[Kimarous]

As a resident of British Columbia, my reaction is thusly...

Spoiler

However, I highly doubt anything will come of this. The provincial government is getting enough flak without the youth taking arms against them.

 

[ImprovizoR]

I don't even have the strength or will to make a solid argument against these people as I always do. So I'll just say this

Fuckin' idiots.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

Good god, they have infected Canada too.

Although we tend to have less of the political theater when it comes to video games and media than the U.S., so I'm fairly confident it's not going to get much of anywhere..

 

[coolkirb]

"Protect our children from second-hand smoke"? Who does that? I remember as a kid riding around with my mother who would smoke and keep the windows up.

OT: Just a new group trying to restrict freedom, just like Jack Thompson, let them scream and ignore them till they shrivel up and die from lack of attention.

In Canada you cant smoke in a car with children.

 

[Jared Domenico]

Wait..

Soldier of Fortune?

Video Arcades?

It sounds almost as if this missive got lost in the labyrinthine postal system in 1998 and was only now sent to its recipient, likely coated in a patchworks of stamps and other postal markings from thirty nine countries and the slight, bitter scent of goat urine.

 

[theheroofaction]

And so the cycle continues.

I just wish there would be some new medium for these guys to pile up on, it's getting kinda annoying.

anyway, good luck to all the gamers in B.C.

I'd make a long winded argument on why these guys are just paranoid, but we probably already agree on that.

 

[JenSeven]

Oh goody, another group of crackpots that want to ban or restrict video-games...

You know... if they say that video games make gamers violent, let's use their logic against them.

So, if video games make gamers violent, let's take a look at the most evil man in history.
Adolf Hitler.

He really liked classical music, he was a fan of Wagner and we all know Carl Orff was also on that side.

So, does that mean that everyone that listens to classical music is a neo-nazi?

 

[TheLoneSeeker]

Maybe McCausland should move to Australia, it sounds like she'd be right at home here.

 

[KAPTAINmORGANnWo4life]

Does British Columbia really need another backwards-thinking initiative to drag their name down?

No, I'll never get over the fact that in the US there were States that protested Japanese internment in World War 2, but up here there were people demanding that the government fuck the Japanese population harder. And, while this is far less severe, it does illustrate a strange history to that Provence.

"Canada's California" has a lot more in common with the State of California than I previously thought.

 

[Jodah]

This is the exact situation those of us worried about the recent US Supreme Court case were warning about. Now it seems that our neighbors to the north have to deal with it.

 

[Eggbert]

Point of interest, BC. Alberta's been conservative for +20 or so years. Probably longer. We don't have to put up with this tripe. Or PST. Or that HST they've been debating. And oh God, I just realized I'm moving there. Blegh.

 

[Bob the frantic]

Maybe McCausland should move to Australia, it sounds like she'd be right at home here.

Irrational hatred of video games? She sounds like Attorney General material! Maybe Queensland, then Yahtzee can enjoy the feeling of having his state, along with the rest of the country against gamers (Like me in NSW)

 

[Harbinger_]

I hope the political government is smart enough not to listen to this garbage.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Delta Kappa Gamma? Come on man, you're better then that. As a society of educators you should know the golden rule of child behavior: The goddamn parent is largely responsible for controlling student behavior. Teachers know that parents who do their job and are responsible raise good kids and those that slack have horrible kids. Teachers complain when parents aren't doing their job because it makes a teacher's job harder since they need to control the child's behavior despite not having a good parent to make sure the child is acting well all the time. Teacher, more then anyone else, should know that it is not the government's job to mandate what is good and bad since that only creates more headaches. Parents need to control their children and take an active role in deciding what is right for them. You can think games cause violence all you want but you should know that its the fault of the parent if the parent is not stopping their child from having access to it. Your educators, you actually deal with children and their parents all the time, pull your heads out of your asses and apply the same arguments that work for school to other things. Don't think like the asshole bureaucratic that are regulating the US school system and running it into the ground by not holding parents responsible for anything. I expect better from you, Delta Kappa Gamma, now go sit in the corner and think about what you've done.