Educator Group Calls For B.C. Game Ban

[Marudas]

I'm confused, what unsubstantiated proof does she have that indisputably shows that violent video games cause long term damage? I shall counter it with those fun other recent articles here on the escapist that have unsubstantiated proof of video games kinda correlating to reducing crime and violence.

But really, its already a given that there's no solid proof that video games cause any harm. If there was, this medium would have been out the door a long time ago. So drop your phoney pretense of having a real reason for this crusade. The big, repeating problem I have with all of these different senators, religious groups, interest groups and state governments screaming for the ban of video games simply comes down to my belief that its not the governments job. This is a parents job. I had a Sega Genesis as a kid, and my parents played games with me and my brothers, or played them before us to determine the content. I played 'M' games before I was of age, but it was always only after one of my parents had decided that i was mature enough to handle the content therein.

So stop trying to make this the governments problem, and have the parents get off their ass and, well, parent.

 

[ameemo]

i really do not get all these movements for banning games, it says 16, 18 or Mature on the box for reason! they shouldn't be playing it in the first place and the games were not meant for them, that's why ESRB exists. If anything call out the useless parents that pay for their kid's Xbox live Gold membership and buys for their kid a game that they see 18+ written on the box! i really don't get how this is not the fault of bad parenting

 

[aba1]

"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.

Which makes sence and all but honestly when i read that I imagined a guy on the street corner relaxing having a smoke enjoying the weather and a lady grabbing her son and running all terror stricken that her son might have enhailed a tiny bit of smoke lmao people are so dramtic somtimes. I am just waiting for the day that someone tries to ban knives because they can cut people and I mean like food knives not hunting knives lmao.

 

[rutger5000]

I don't know the game, but I've got to go with these folks. I do think that when you make games too violent and too realistic they will inspire violence. I enjoy a good shooter just as much as the next guy, but when guts are flying across the screem count me out. A lot of gamers often claim that games can't inspire violence because it's not real, and we can tell games from reality. I call bullshit on that one, especially if the games are getting more and more realistic.

Find some hard evidence and objectively refute opposing evidence/arguments, then we can talk.
Kids can't even buy these games themselves. They still need an adult, law or not.

Regarding your first comment, I can't I simply don't have the time needed to conduct proper research and write a decent essay on the matter. This shouldn't be a reason for to reject my statement though. When you live in a democracy you have an obligation to think about political matters and form your own opinion. But it would be unreasonable to demand from everyone to delve into every subject and read in depth debates between experts regarding said subject. The best thing you can expect is for someone to use his/her common sense, and follow that. Common sense doesn't bring everyone to the same conclusion though, so that doesn't mean that when two parties are opposing each other, that either of them isn't using their common sense. I'll give you my reasoning behind the matter though.
Imagine you're 10~15 years into the future and doing financially well for yourself. Chance are you'll be owning some kind of VR suit, that can make you feel, hear and see whatever happens in the game from a first person perspective. Now imagine brutally killing an NPC, with all the blood screams and gods knows what else, now imagine doing this 100 times. Do you think it's unreasonable to assume that affects your mental health? Now I also think that it's quiet possible to be affected by less then the situation I just described.

 

[Mechanix]

"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."

It's this sentence that makes these women seem so uneducated on the subject. First off, video arcades? Arcades are nothing but novelties at this point, they only exist near boardwalks anyway. And they're too violent? The graphics look like they were made in the early 90's, there's hardly any blood.

I'd also like to see this person back up their "research", because last time I checked, the research was in our favor.

 

[duchaked]

guess it's Canada's turn to deal with this crap

note to future self: be sure to define "parenting" correctly

 

[Leuchtender Soldat]

British Columbia: Trailing 50 ft behind the bandwagon America set ablaze and abandoned since it's inception.

Seriously this is a total non-issue that only get's headlines because a lot of gamers can't just sit quietly while an old woman runs her mouth about how games are the devil and that playing with sticks and rocks is so much better for society. I've served in the US Military and I've seen and dealt with people overseas that fit the bill for psychotic, serial-killing rapists. Want to know the fun part? They don't play games, period.

Any psychologist that's worth their degree will tell you that while games do stimulate the more aggressive parts of our brains, it dies off fast when the console shuts down. There's no direct correlation between gaming and overly violent behavior and the sooner that everyone realizes that(like the US Supreme Court stated in their ruling) the better off we'll be.

Sorry if it seems I was ranting, but there are bigger problems we should be focusing on instead of what some group with an obvious agenda is saying.

 

[Falseprophet]

Honestly, I wish I could see the reasoning these people follow, I just cant. Let me just latch my own little thought onto what you just said; we have a strict rating system on games. A 7 year old kid cant walk into a game shop and buy GTA 4. Thats where that shit should end, right there, thats the line. If that kids parents think its a good idea to buy there child GTA 4, thats bad parenting and has nothing, nothing to do with the games industry.

While I agree with the intent of your sentiment, I take issue with the argument that a parent who lets their child play GTA 4 is necessarily a bad parent. I still find any purported links between sex and violence depicted in the media and actual anti-social behaviour to be dubious and poorly supported by the evidence, and my own personal experience. I think the values kids are raised with and the family support mechanism they have in place are far, far more important than whatever fictional content they might be exposed to.

Due to the law in Ontario, you legally cannot let a minor buy/into a movie rated "R" or higher, possibly "18A" as well, I'm not sure on that. When Manhunt was released, the Ontario Film Board stepted in and gave the game a "R" rating to prevent it from being sold to children. After that, the Ontario government steped up and added video games under the theatre act. The exact styling of the act says that the "Lt. Governer can assign a third party ratings board as the legal rating for entertainment covered under the act". That means once games were incorporated, the ESRB rating became legally binding in Ontario.

Yeah, and I found that decision frightening. You can argue the relative merits of government regulation vs. industry self-regulation. But I think you have to pick either one or the other. If it's government, you can express your concerns with lobbying and voting. If it's industry, you can lobby or boycott. But I'm extremely hostile to letting private sector interests draft laws of the land, no matter how good their intentions.

I've actually seen one or two arcades in Vancouver that are usually packed. They're typically aimed at the Asian demographic, though, so they're more like something you'd see on the streets of Tokyo than a typical '80s arcade.

Yeah, when I was there about 5 years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see them. In Ontario the only arcade machines left are a handful in some bigger movie theatres, and Dave & Busters type places.

 

[Giest4life]

Fuckin' idiots.

Dunno about you, but "fuckin' idiots" seems a pretty solid argument to me in this case.

 

[lSHaDoW-FoXl]

This world is an endless cycle of bull shit. The one thing that probably stops me from beating someone to a bloody pulp in real life is being able to do that in a game. Well, no, not really. But still, they help ease stress.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm thinking these 'educators' need to be educated a thing or to about games. You know, like maybe actually playing the damn things first.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I do think that when you make games too violent and too realistic they will inspire violence.

Based on what?

When you live in a democracy you have an obligation to think about political matters and form your own opinion. But it would be unreasonable to demand from everyone to delve into every subject

*EDIT*: Sorry, I missed this. But your argument makes no sense at all. You say we have a responsibility to keep ourselves informed, then admit that you can't be bothered and base your entire defense on some hypothetical near-future scenario involving imaginary VR suits? I think I'd like something a little more concrete than that.

 

[relevantcore]

When are people going to learn that not everybody has to have the same moral values as them?

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

"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."

comparing "violent and sexually explicit video games" to second hand smoke... really? how stupid could they be. these "violent and sexually explicit video games" are not even that bad(in fact it equivalent to other forms of media).

have they considered maybe if parents would take the time to under stand the rating system and actually regulate what there child plays. once you can do that all your require is to understand how mature your kid and you know what kind of game your kid can handle. but no that would be too hard so lets give all responsibly to the government.

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?

He also likes sugar [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HitlerAteSugar].

you bastard you just had to bring tvtrope's in to this(i made like plural to make your post more grammatically correct)

 

[jhlip]

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.

I am right there with you.

 

[PrinceofPersia]

I don't know the game, but I've got to go with these folks. I do think that when you make games too violent and too realistic they will inspire violence. I enjoy a good shooter just as much as the next guy, but when guts are flying across the screem count me out. A lot of gamers often claim that games can't inspire violence because it's not real, and we can tell games from reality. I call bullshit on that one, especially if the games are getting more and more realistic.

You sir/madam are entitled to your opinion but I disagree.

Regarding your first comment, I can't I simply don't have the time needed to conduct proper research and write a decent essay on the matter.

You don't have to people have done the research, find it, read it, and decide for yourself.

This shouldn't be a reason for to reject my statement though. When you live in a democracy you have an obligation to think about political matters and form your own opinion.

One problem opinion does not equal FACT. Opinions are subjective emotions and beliefs that must be discarded when doing any sort of factual research or claiming something as fact. Which the lady in the news article does not do.

But it would be unreasonable to demand from everyone to delve into every subject and read in depth debates between experts regarding said subject. The best thing you can expect is for someone to use his/her common sense, and follow that. Common sense doesn't bring everyone to the same conclusion though, so that doesn't mean that when two parties are opposing each other, that either of them isn't using their common sense.

Not everything that is common sense is correct. Remember a few hundred years back it was common sense that the earth was the center of the solar system and that the world was flat with edges you had to be careful of lest you fall off them.

 

[Raziel_Likes_Souls]

Jesus, this is coming from the province where weed is pretty much legal, and the Hell's Angels are all over.

There are real problems, like heroin addicts, the Triads, and the Hell's Angels to worry about. But no, bored housewifes probably from fucking Okanagan are bitching about video games. State of the fucking world these days.

 

[UlytimateDestruction]

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...

Agreed... You can't keep protecting kids and wraping them up in cotton wall all there life. They need freedom because its a free country. And for one kids under the age of the specified limit cannot be sold those games. There parents can or another adult with them but that will be there responsibility for letting them play it. And if you want to kill people with a kick in the nuts in saints row 2 you should because its fun to do and these people need to stop being so serious and have some fun.

 

[Kaytastrophe]

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..

Yes but in Canada politicians are also more willing to intervene in things that they have no reason to; unlike the U.S. as such if this truly played out in Canada there is a good chance it would happen to some degree.

 

[The3rdEye]

Videogames are no longer the default evil, and it's become widely recognized that responsible, informed parents and retailers, and not knee-jerk legislation, are the best way to keep inappropriate games out of the hands of kids.

Fixed.

If a parent deems content to be offensive to a child, it is the responsibility of the parent to limit the child's exposure to that material. It is the government's responsibility to enable parents to do so, which is why we have the ESRB and regulations regarding the sale of mature content to minors.

- or -

Stop putting the responsibility of raising your children on anyone but yourselves. I have no problem stepping outside and far away from public entrances to have a puff, but you're dead wrong if anyone's going to let you ban videogames because "I'm too busy to raise my kid".

 

[TotalHobNob]

I no longer have the sanity or willpower to give a rats ass anymore. This is what will happen more than likely. http://files.sharenator.com/and_on_that_day_not_a_single_fuck_was_given_RE_Picture_Challenge_5-s560x556-161882.jpg

This probably will sum up everybody's opinion when the law flops.