Wednesday, January 14th 2009
Rep. Baca Introduces Legislation to Make Violent Video Games Sold With Health Warning
Today, Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto) introduced legislation that mandates all video games with an Electronics Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating of Teen (T) or higher be sold with a health warning label. The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009 creates a new rule within the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which forces games with a T rating or higher to be sold with a simple warning label, reading: "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior."
"The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers - to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products," said Rep. Baca. "They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products."
Rep. Baca has been a lead advocate in Congress on the issues of violence and sex in the media. In particular, he has been very active in ensuring the video game industry accurately details the content of its games to parents and consumers. Recent scientific studies from the Pediatrics Journal, University of Indiana, University of Missouri, and Michigan State University all point to a neurological link between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior in children and teenagers.
"We must hold the video game industry accountable and do everything in our power to ensure parents are aware of the detrimental effects that violent games can have before making decisions on which games are appropriate for their children to play," concluded Rep. Baca. "I am proud to introduce the Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009, and am hopeful my legislation can work to stop the growing influence of violent media on America's children and youth."
Source:
House.gov
"The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers - to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products," said Rep. Baca. "They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products."
Rep. Baca has been a lead advocate in Congress on the issues of violence and sex in the media. In particular, he has been very active in ensuring the video game industry accurately details the content of its games to parents and consumers. Recent scientific studies from the Pediatrics Journal, University of Indiana, University of Missouri, and Michigan State University all point to a neurological link between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior in children and teenagers.
"We must hold the video game industry accountable and do everything in our power to ensure parents are aware of the detrimental effects that violent games can have before making decisions on which games are appropriate for their children to play," concluded Rep. Baca. "I am proud to introduce the Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009, and am hopeful my legislation can work to stop the growing influence of violent media on America's children and youth."
91 Comments on Rep. Baca Introduces Legislation to Make Violent Video Games Sold With Health Warning
Really, if they started to ban games then millions of gamers will have nothing to do and start doing bad things instead, like (taking drugs,alcohol addiction and smoking problems) believe me this is what will happen.
For example the Saudi youths don't have anything to do because the government banned a lot of games like GTA and God war..etc, so most of them has smoking problems and violence.
not that i had any respect for you before, but if i had, you would have lost it.
we do not play games to further anyone. we do it for enjoyment and/or relaxation. i bet you watch tv or play video games or smoke or drink(i could go on). do any of these further anyone? that's what i thought. stfu.
edit:
if you actually contemplate it, the development of games does further technology, which furthers society as a whole. if we were not playing video games, the developers would have nothing to do and therefore probably no longer exist, slowing advancements in certain technologies to a crawl.
think before you speak, and have a nice day.
This is just another baby step towards the US controlling what games can and cannot be sold here. Just forget about people making decisions for themselves, the government will do it all for you...
people should already be aware, and if they're not, just look at the box of the game/movie/album. if there's a person hanging out of the side of a car firing a gun(ala saint's row 2) there's a pretty good chance the game is violent. if that's not warning enough, look for the ratings board logos: esrb/pegi/grb classification, explicit content warning, or mpaa/bbfc/oflc rating. most of the time, it's on the FRONT of the case as well as the back.
people need to take responsibility for what their children/teens see and stop blaming everyone else.
for example: there's a lawnmower called the "flymo." it has no wheels, it hovers. after the initial production run, there needed to be a warning and a new carburetor fitted. why? because some moron decided to trim his hedges with it. he lost grip and cut his friend's arm off.
honestly, sometimes i think we should just remove the warning labels from everything and let the problem solve itself.
Put the label on all alcohol saying: "May cause excessive stupidity. Do not operate large machinery including a motor vehicle and construction equipment."
You still will most likely have massive amounts of drunk drivers murdering whole families on the US roadways. A label changes nothing.
For all children to get psychologically checked every few years is more important than limiting what they may play on a console. That way if a child is struggling with sanity you can help them. Videogames may be the only outlet for expressing psychotic behavior and keeping it in check for all we know.
Too often in today's society it seems we point the finger at everything but what is really the cause of problems. There is NO excuse for not knowing what your kids are watching, who they're hanging out with, etc. Make time to do this, period.
The school system is the same way. The "under achievers" are typically the same students whose parents have never shown up for an open house and are not engaged in their child's school experience. These are typically the first parents that will stand up and shout out that the school system is not doing enough for their kids. Bullshit.
Bottom line, pay attention parents or a thousand labels won't help. Rant over. :D