Phil's Final Thought on Violence and Videogames
I’m still agitated by the Illinois law about selling violent videogames to minors (previous posts one and two). But then I see these commercials on TV that are designed to inform parents about the V-chip and blocking channels and whatnot. That doesn’t get my blood up at all; in fact, I think it’s a good idea. If the well-intentioned governor of Illinois — or Congress, for that matter — wanted a law that required parental controls built into videogame systems, I would be all for it.
The system I envision would work with the voluntary ESRB rating system that’s already in place. A game disc would contain an electronic stamp indicating its rating. The game system could be set to restrict use of games above a specified ratings level unless a password was entered. A computer system would be harder to lockdown than a console, but the ESRB could be offer a free utility to block running restricted games. In fact, the videogame industry ought to consider voluntarily implementing these measures as a hedge against future legislation.
I support blocking tools like these but not the Illinois legislation that targets retailers. The difference is that tools empower parents while the new law attempts to act in their stead, shifting the responsibilities of parenting from the actual parents to the state.
Tags: politics, videogames