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How to Raise a Trained Killer, Press Telegram, Dec. 4, 2005
By Gavin McKiernan
Parents who allow minors to purchase violent video games might be doing just
that - raising killers.
Is it an exaggeration to say that video games can create cold blooded killers?
Ask the people we trust most to create and train killers, the United States
military. They use video games to train servicemen for combat. The same games
reward cop-killing and other violent criminal conduct.
A child should not have the unilateral discretion to walk into a store and
purchase such a product. This is why AB 450 was signed into law recently by Gov.
Schwarzenegger. The evidence is conclusive: Independent studies confirm that
repeated exposure to graphically sexual, violent and profanity-laced video games
has a harmful and long term affect on children.
Most recently, researchers at Michigan State University used functional magnetic
resonance imaging technology to observe which areas of the brain are stimulated
when a subject plays violent video games. Researchers concluded, "There is a
causal link between playing the first-person shooting game in our experiment and
brain-activity pattern that are considered as characteristic for aggressive
cognitions and affects … Violent video games frequently have been criticized for
enhancing aggressive reactions such as aggressive cognitions, aggressive affects
or aggressive behavior. On a neurobiological level we have shown the link
exists."
If these games are marketed to and manufactured for adults as the industry
insists, then their sale to minors should be restricted. This solution protects
our children without interfering with the rights of adults. We place similar
restrictions on the sale of firearms, tobacco, alcohol and pornography. This is
no different. Currently, a ten year old could purchase a Mature (M rated) or
Adult Only (AO rated) video game. There are voluntary guidelines that tell
retailers not to sell these products to children but they have been a failure
due to their voluntary nature.
Assemblyman Yee's bill, AB 450, that was recently signed into law by the
governor, basically makes these guidelines law. Despite the failure of their
voluntary guidelines, the multi-billion dollar video game industry has filed
suit to stop this legislation from being implemented.
Video Game stores have failed to police themselves. The Parents Television
Council conducted a secret shopper in several cities across the country and
found more than 50% of stores willing to sell M rated video games to children
under 16 years of age without asking for identification; law enforcement in
Michigan found about half of the stores investigated sold adult rated games to
minors without asking for ID; In New York City a sting found 88% of stores
selling M rated games to minors. The Parents Television Council also polled
parents and found that 40% were unaware that there are no legal restrictions
preventing children from obtaining these games.
The children of California are bombarded with sexual and violent images through
video games. The more than 100,000 members of the Parents Television Council in
California worked hard to get AB 450 passed and will be vigilant in defending
this tool to protect their children from such harmful influences.
Gavin McKiernan of Long Beach is National Grassroots Director of the Parents
Television Council, an advocacy organization that seeks to protect children from
sex, violence and profanity in entertainment.