MediaWise Video Game Report Card Issued 65
Thanks to several readers for pointing to the National Institute on Media and the Family's eighth annual videogame report card, which says it "provides a snapshot of the interactive gaming industry with a focus on issues related to child welfare." A particular issue focused on is "the growing issue of screen time as it relates to the obesity epidemic", of which it's suggested: "there is both an opportunity and challenge for the industry to develop games that involve physical activity so that young players exercise more than their thumbs." The other hot topic is a continuing one: "the easy access that boys have to increasingly ultra-violent M-rated games and the popularity of the most violent games with that group." The survey ends with lists, including "games to avoid" for 2003, mentioning obviously controversial titles like Manhunt, but also other, quirkier picks such as WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne.
One Simple Question. (Score:5, Insightful)
Where. are. their. parents?
These children do not have jobs, so unless they're getting a $50-a-week allowance to blow on video games, then mom and dad have to be laying out the cash directly. And if these kids are getting that much cashola for mowing the lawn and cleaning their room, then why aren't these parents keeping better track of what merchandise is being brought into the house?
Please America... stop blaming the gaming/movie/music industry for your own parental failings.
Cause and Effect (Score:5, Insightful)
- or -
Does being the type of boy who gets in fights cause you to like games like Vice City?
And it just says they have been in a fight. It doesn't say they started it. All 70% could have been assaulted by the 30% that doesn't play Vice City, and that 30% just lied about being in the fight.
So basically that 70% statistic is meaning less to anyone who thinks critically. It might as well have just been made up. It is only used to persuade the mindless masses into action.
Actually stating that 70% of teen age boys played Vice City really takes a lot of the weight out of argument that it causes the violence that we always hear blamed on the game. You hear about the kids who shot at cars and Vice City was blamed for their actions. If playing Vice City causes kids to be violent and shoot at cars then why aren't 70% of the teen age boys out there performing random acts of violence like this? The size of the gap between boys who play violent games and those who act violently is so huge that no logical causal relationship can be made between the two actions.
The obvious answer is that the two actions are unrelated in the way they would try to have us believe.
Now is the time for all game players to rise up against our non-game playing aggressors!
Ummm (Score:5, Insightful)
Only 50% of parents understand the ratings according to students.
No follow-up to find out if the parents actually did understand the ratings? I know my gf's younger brother thinks he understands the ratings better than anyone else, especially when it comes to something rated R or M ('Im not supposed to watch that', he makes a very big deal about the fact that someone is letting him watch something rated R or play something rated M, even if his parents have looked at it and decided it's ok for him, because they are concerned about such things). I could understand if 50% of parents don't understand video game ratings, IF the people that were actually polled were the parents themselves. Asking the students if their parents understood the ratings, though, is just another bs statistic.
# 77% of boys own M-rated games with one in five reporting that they purchased an M-rated game without their parent's knowledge.
So the obvious question is, were they simply boasting about being able to buy an M-rated game without their parents knowing about it? Actually, I see 20% of 77% as a pretty good number considering how bad some other studies have tried to make this seem. Then again, with most of the respondants being under 16 and some of them being 17 or older, you have to wonder what percentage of those under 17 own M-rated games and how many bought them without their parents knowing. How did someone under 16 get the money for a game? (ok, I admit that I had some under the table jobs as a kid, but my parents still knew about them).
# Only one out of five students report that their parents have ever prevented them from purchasing a game because of its rating.
How many of the ones that weren't prevented included those parents that understood the ratings? Letting a teenager have an M-rated game can be as much a sign of understanding the rating and knowing the game is ok as not understanding/caring.
The implications of this large survey show that retail enforcement and parent education need improvement. Parent education, however, is not enough if they do not understand the need to observe the ratings. Parent education about the ratings need to include the answer to the question "Why pay attention to ratings?"
Well, this is about the most obvious statement (the last two sentences) I've ever seen. If the parents don't understand the need to pay attention to the ratings, then they have not been properly educated in the first place. It's not simply a matter of telling them that games have ratings, it's also a matter of letting them know that we're not talking about Pac-Man and Space Invaders here.
Overall, I can't say I disagree with a lot of what they actually have to say here, I just think that they put forward some misleading numbers. Overall, parents do need to be educated about the ratings system, and it needs to be made clear to them that these ratings are in place for the same reason that movie ratings are in place. They need to realize that games can put images on the screen every bit as detailed as many movies, and that they involve their children through interaction. In other words, parents that won't let their kids view R-rated movies shouldn't be letting their kids play M-rated games, and in any case parents should be aware of what their kids are watching or playing.
Re:This is getting old (Score:2, Insightful)
Here, in case your sedentray lifestyle has rendered you incapable of clicking links:
It is not the responsibility of the gaming industry to solve the obesity epidemic but it is clear that in order to successfully address this public health emergency, kids need to spend less time in front of screens and more time exercising. There is a great amount of parent education needed about the link between screen time and health. In addition, there is both an opportunity and challenge for the industry to develop games that involve physical activity so that young players exercise more than their thumbs.
But They Had Games to Buy.... (Score:3, Insightful)
I like the fact that they recommended SSX3, Zelda TWW, etc as games that children are okay to play from a "violence causing" standpoint.
It still doesn't excuse however the fact that the point of the entire article is that parents aren't doing their jobs. End of Story.
Well Duh.... (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know about you.. But being rated as "Mature" is something that I would just happen to think would automatically label it as "not recommended for children"
Just goes to show how little attention is actually paid to video game ratings..
Gotta love the fine print (Score:5, Insightful)
Child welfare? I'm sorry but child welfare usually starts with the parents doesn't it?
"in grades four through twelve"
Oh yeah, nice sample space. While you're at it, why not find out how many people between the ages 16 through 23 drink?
"The easy access that boys have [...]"
Hey hey hey! Thats sexist! Girls play video games too!
"Last year we focused attention on the top selling Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, in which gratuitous violence toward women and police is rewarded and discrimination against the Haitian community is encouraged."
Wth do you mean you get rewarded for violence against the police and the Haitian mob in GTA:VC? Last time I checked when you started shooting either of those two, they started popping holes in your ass.
"Rates of obesity among children have tripled over the past thirty years."
Yeah, and over the past thirty years the United States has enjoyed one of the largest economic booms from Reagonnomics, to Clinton's high flying success, and the dotcom boom/bust.