3 Good Reasons Why Video Games Are NOT The Problem

 

   GTA V' came out and with it the controversy for video game violence took another round. I couldn't stand still while watching all the nonsense go public, so here is my take on why we're locking the wrong guy.


1. Age Ratings – A Border With No Fence 

Children vs. Age Ratings - Round 849

Every publisher rates their game according to it's contents. This is a guide to how old the consumer should be in order not to experience a negative impact from the product. There are associations that provide rating systems like the British Board of Film Classification's (BBFC) or the Pan European Game Information System (PEGI). According to the BBFC, it's an offence to sell products against the ratings. However, in practice, there is almost no legal way to stop consumers of attaining a product, not recommended for their age.

This happens mainly because the law in the area of digital entertainment is shady. It defines almost no rules and has no control over what happens.
Why hasn't the government restructured the law to address the issue of children getting their hands on inappropriate material? Nobody knows...

However, there is fully detailed information in the web about every existing video game. There can be absolutely no excuse for being uninformed. Which brings us to our second point.



2. The Lack Of Attention

What you think you son plays

Whatever the rules may say, the ratings are there, on the cover of every game. Any reasonable parent should uphold them and limit they're children to what's appropriate for them.
A growing child's mind is easily influenced by any types of materials, be it music, movies, video games, or even books. The dangers of inappropriate materials are there since forever. And by inappropriate I mean a child is too young to watch violence without that turning on a blender in his brain.
Fact is that children are not being monitored nearly well enough to stop their access to harmful content. Stores usually have no legal write to keep them away from the products.

What he actually plays

Some parents have little to zero knowledge on the Internet and digital media. A lot think it's all fun and games behind the monitor. Schools are also blind for the dangers in digital content. I've never heard of a class on Internet culture in primary or secondary schools. And if there are any, they are far too less to have a global effect. And while the two parties responsible for the youth remain ignorant, a child is watching a live execution in the web or playing as a mass murderer.

3. The “It's not my job” Effect

Last year's winner of the "It's not my job" award.

It's a human feature to not hold responsibility. Most people are somehow convinced everything they're doing is right. If something happens there goes the game of hot potato on who's fault it was. The government says the schools have to take care of this. They on the other hand pass it to the parents. Of course, the parents blame some random party of their child's doing like the game, or the TV or whoever there is left.

“My eight-year-old played your game made for 18 year-olds. He was later inspired to kill his teacher and play with her dead body. Well.. it's clearly your fault. I have nothing to do with it. I merely let my child beat a hooker to a pulp with a bat in GTA V. “

Of course this game will mess up your kid lady. But why in the world was he allowed to play it in the first place ?

If your kid breaks a plate and gets cut is it the manufacturers fault? What if he stabs a fork in the power socket? Should I mention guns and cold weapons? No? Okay.
Jack The Ripper didn't have games to play and look how things turned out for him...
We're not machines and even they break every now and then. There is a whole field of science on what goes on in our cranium and when and why things go boom . While you tell everyone your baby was just fine until video games came, do you seriously believe yourself ?
My bottom line is when people stop shrugging off responsibility like an uncomfortable piece of clothing and look for the real cause, maybe we can take a step towards making the problem go away.