Xbox 360 Senator Proposes Bill to Study Violence in Games

[The Angry Beaver]

This is from an article I found on IGN Today

National Academy of Sciences could investigate how violence affects children.
IGN: by Andrew Goldfarb December 20, 2012 - Direct Link

A proposed bill could lead to a study of the role of violence in video games. In the wake of the recent shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, West Virginia senator Jay Rockefeller has proposed a bill to study “the impact of violent content, including video games and video programming, on children.”

While the FTC has reviewed game ratings in the past and the FCC has studied “the impact of violent programming on children,” Rockefeller notes that new technology (presumably including digital downloads of games) allows children “to access violent content on-line with less parental involvement” and “it is time for these two agencies to take a fresh look at these issues.”

All I can say is... Hogwash!!!

- The Angry Beaver

 

[JessiFox]

Ugh...this is the same old crap that always happens. They point the finger at video games, movies, musicians, society at large. How about we focus instead on the fact that it was easier for the shooter to get his hands on a small armery than it was for him to get mental health care that he so obviously needed?

 

[diplox]

This reminds me of the situation around a game years ago for the Sega CD called Nighttrap, people complained because of the somewhat graphic elements in it(people getting killed, girls in their underwear at a slumber party, etc) and I believe it was one of the reasons why we now have the modern rating system. As the above poster said, it's pretty easy to point the finger at games instead of at the availability of firearms, however an even better question is this: If people are so concerned about video games causing violence in children, then why the hell do they buy these games for their kids? This is a capitalistic society, people vote with their wallets, so if they stop purchasing and giving their kids access to the kind of games they don't want them to have, well it won't completely eliminate them because plenty of adults will still buy them for themselves, but it will reduce the number of them and foster in an era of games that people might consider more positive.

 

[ACSAPA]

What a useless bill. Why is the government so worried about studying violence on video games when there are kids going hungry right here in the US ?
Nice to know that my tax dollars are going to study violence in video games instead of solving real problems. In South Florida ,some kids' families are so poor that those kids only eat at school. That means in the summer they are in danger of going hungry, so my city has a program where kids from low income families can come eat meals and snacks at the community center when school is not in session and there's no school lunch.

THAT is a useful way to spend taxpayers' money, studying video games is not.