I honestly wonder if any of these legislators have actually ever played video games. Or were they simply spoon fed 30-second clips of acts, taken completely out of context, that you would not have to search hard to find in a book or a film? Fed scare tactics and one-sided surveys that say video games are dangerous or ruining children? I honestly wonder what led them to vote for these two related, yet completely misguided bills.
Last year, I abstained from voting in the New York Senate race because of a video game related issue. Hillary Clinton supported measures to criminalize the selling of M or AO games to minors, after jumping on the "Hot Coffee" controversy bandwagon. She even included this point in her campaign, and on that issue and Iraq, I could not vote for her with a clear conscience, so I abstained, knowing she would win, but that I could not choose her to represent me this time around.
Let's take a look at the facts here for a moment. The MPAA rates movies, and theater chains enforce those ratings as a matter of company policy only. There are no laws that criminalize or force compliance with movie ratings. Music is also rated independently. Some stores choose not to carry music with Parental Advisory labels, but not selling such music to minors is, once again, merely voluntary and subject to store policy. Books are not rated or regulated, and can be purchased by anyone, of any age. Some library systems offer parents the ability to restrict their children from borrowing outside of the children's section, but that doesn't limit what they have access to while in the library itself. Books are full of violence, sex, drugs, and other things that one will also find in games, but no one is going to try and criminalize book sales. Imagine the uproar.
There needs to be a similar uproar. These politicians are fast-tracking bills that will take away a parent's right to raise his or her child as that person sees fit. For example, my mother is disabled, and she couldn't always accompany me to rent or see movies, but if I cleared it with her beforehand, then it was permitted. Blockbuster had then, a provision where a parent could sign off on allowing a child on the same account to rent any materials from the store. My mom did that, but I still advised her about what I was seeing, and she knew she could trust me.
That is parenting for you. But if these politicians have their way, what my mom allowed wouldn't even be possible when it comes to video games. Such a thing would be a criminal offense for the person behind the counter. So much for mobility-impaired parents' right to raise their kids how they wish. So much for any New York parent that wants to take responsibility for their own child.
How ridiculous would it seem if these senators decided to take it upon themselves to try and outlaw minors from purchasing Shakespearean works, for example? They're full of murders, bawdiness, revenge plots, and many rather adult themes.
Books, like video games, are a form of interactive entertainment. As such, many adults with little gaming experience or knowledge, like many of these legislators, are scared by all the hubbub made in the media and by instigators like Jack Thompson, and fear that such interaction is dangerous. I read Lord of the Flies at the age of twelve. I didn't start having murder and coup fantasies about my classmates. I play Grand Theft Auto. I've never killed anyone or stolen any cars. What these politicians need to do is to sit down and learn more about the subject. Yet, how can we expect such a thing when only six out of 100 Senate members read a classified intelligence document prepared as a justification for the current administration's decision to invade Iraq?
Many of these legislators are parents, and it's understandable that
they wish to protect children, but this is an incredibly ridiculous,
uninformed, and shortsighted approach. Legislation does not replace good parenting, and yet encouraging parental responsibility is not on these people's agenda. Sadly enough, it looks like
they've even roped Governor Spitzer into their camp. I hope if these bills are signed into law, that they're quickly slapped with injunctions and declared unconstitutional. It makes me so
ashamed that my state is doing this. That it's my fine state, usually
the ground of many freedom-protecting laws and progressive thinking, is
falling flat on its figurative face with what is no more than
a hypocritical knee-jerk reaction to an element of modern culture that
most of those responsible simply do not understand.