Comments on: Don't pretend video games are as bad as cigarettes

If a new bill is passed, all video games with ratings of Teen or higher will have a warning affixed, much like those found on cigarettes. Are video games really as bad as cigarettes?

[c4s2k3]

This is just another ill-conceived attempt at giving parents who fail to actually take charge and actively 'parent', a pass. It says "the fact that your child is violent isn't really your fault after all." If parents are that concerned about what their children are exposed to, they should, by all means, step in and control what they have access to. If they are not willing to do at least do that much, it should not be up to the rest of us to regulate all content for their benefit. The fact that we have been on a very slippery slope to large scale censorship for some time, all under the banner of "save our children," is a big concern for me. Many of those pushing such agendas would pass laws to censor the internet in a heartbeat if they could.

[xcal78]

Can we have this warning on tv shows too? How about The loonie toons since that does show dozens of acts of violence. Dropping an anvil on someone's head or blasting them with a shotgun. Violence has been on tv and in games for generations. The parents are the failure so adding a warning is doing as much good as adding a flashing yellow light to an intersection. Sure people will pause for a breif moment but they won't stop or slow down. Before violent video games it was Dungeons & Dragons and how violent a book was. It's all bad parenting plain and simple. Take an active roll in your childs life, teach them right from wrong, and know what's happening in their life. Problem solved!

[c4s2k3]

They don't have to label cartoons . . . they just edit them. A few years ago I was shocked, saddened, then angered to see that some of the Looney Toons I grew up watching had been edited. The Road Runner cartoons were now cutting such that Wile E. Coyote was shown falling off a cliff, then shown after the impact. The actual impact was cut out!!! Pitiful.

[LewTheDu]

Ridiculous! Hey Joe Baca!!! instead, why don't you work on getting insurance companies to extend their coverage of mental illness as a legitimate medical condition.

it blows my mind, the sorts of things we waste exuberant amounts of energy trying to accomplish in this country when there's so many other things that could benefit society.

[ChicagoZ]

So by this logic we need warning labels on the following products:

All candy: "WARNING: Over-eating will cause you to get fat, stop exercising and DIE"

Toothbrushes: "WARNING: Do shove too far down throat. You can choke."

Water: "WARNING: Over-drinking this liquid has the propensity to kill."

Running Shoes: "WARNING: Over use of shoe will wear out the sole, possibly cause a fall, and wearer could die."

Come on people, common sense. Since the number of people playing video games increases by the day, there are going to be more acts of violence that can be "linked back" to playing video games. If Charlie Manson had Halo when he was a teen, would you blame Halo for his mindless, cult-starting, murderous ways? Or would blame the fact he was bats**t f***ing loco?

[myles taylor]

How about a general warning on everything: living may cause death. :P

[ChicagoZ]

How about this one:

WARNING: Living WILL cause death.

[Dalkorian]

Nice, let's legislate it so that every newborn child has this tatooed on the back of their hands so they can read it constantly:

WARNING: LIVING LEADS TO DEATH

[cahomsy]

WARNING: Creating life will cause death!!!!

[cahomsy]

So let's outlaw everything!

[The 3rd Nipple]

How about, WARNING: Watching NCIS, CSI, and many other crime and violent related prime time television shows may cause violence in youth or give you the necessary education on how to get away with a crime of this type by not following the same path the fictional killer took.

But hey....again, another politician with his head up someone's rear getting misguided information and looking to point the finger at something. Considering this type of thing got us into Iraq, again we see history repeating itself.

[raitchison]

As luck would have it my congressman (Henry Waxman) is the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, I just sent him off a note expressing my disapproval and asking him to vote against this.

[Exe_]

The warning label doesn't really bug me. He's right, parents should be forewarned about violence, drugs, and sex in video games. However there is no link between video games and adverse effects, which makes this an abuse of a community. Instead of the examples other posters have said, I would more lean towards this as an equivalent of saying "Your community has no power or influence, so we are going to blame you for something when there is no known cause, so that I can say I protected children when I ran for re-election."

[walsh84]

The ESRB label is warning enough. If a parent can't deduce that graphic violence, gore, strong language, drug use, etc. may not be appropriate for their developing child... they really aren't much of a parent at all.

I remember as a kid I'd go to the movie store with my Mom to rent games. Here we have a middle aged woman, who knows NOTHING about video games (I mean, if she could turn the console on, I'd be impressed) yet a violent game never slipped through the cracks. Mortal Kombat? Well there is this giant "M" on the box with details below it, not to mention the graphic box art... dead give away? I think so.

In most cases I would say these ISOLATED incidents are a result of bad parenting and other (maybe undiagnosed) issues lingering in the shadows.

[roachbrain]

How much more warning do you need? The description of the ESRB rating is on the back of the case. All you need is a fourth grade reading level to come to your own conclusion if they should buy this game or not. I'm only 25 years old but it amazes me how times have changed. My parents got me video games since I was five years of age, and yet not a violent bone in my body. Stop passing the blame and start being there for your kids. What?s next blaming cooking mama for you 13 year old daughter?s pregnancy?

[Exe_]

I mean, I agree with having E, T, and M ratings, but nothing that implies mental health damage.

[JandroG]

First I just want to say how excited I am to see my professor from college in your post. I had several classes with Karen Sternheimer while at SC.

Now, I agree completely with the idea that parents need to be the gatekeepers here. There already labels on games and countless sources that provide the makeup of a game including violence, sex and drug use. Every time something goes wrong with kids in this country people look for a third party to blame. No one wants to take responsibility and putting it on the gaming industry is just sad. I've played video games since Nintendo (sorry too young for the Atari) and I've never hit someone in anger in my life.

My parents don't know much about video games so they ask me about games they consider buying for my little brother. It's not that hard to get information on a video game. This is just a sad attempt by the government to put the blame somewhere else and it makes me angry.

Learn what the ESRB ratings mean and consult Web sites and blogs about game content. Done.

[wackyteen]

this is one of the stupidest things i've ever heard. I've been playing game for 10/15 years of my life. i've only hit myself out of anger. never anything else. and only then when i am extremely annoyed. i've never been exposed ot obscenely violent content in games, but come on.

blame the parent. A parent who can't regulate what a kid watches, plays, and does, doesn't deserve to have a child anyway. I mean sure the child might get away with a couple of normal things, but nothing serious.

If i had a child i would play the game and decide if it was to violent for my kid. Plus, you have to add in a child's maturity and mental stability before and after playing video games.

[Dalkorian]

A good friend of mine has a 7 year old daughter that plays Halo on a regular basis - with her dad. He makes sure she understands it's just a game, pixels on a screen and not in any way connected with reality. This has been going on for years and she hasn't shown any signs of being maladjusted in any way, she's a typical fun loving happy 7 year old girl.

It's not the games folks, it's the parents. The only people who refuse to understand that are childless people without brains or folks who refuse to accept responsibility for their own actions.

[Chris Grayson]

Every member of Congress should be forced to read Steven Berlin Johnson's book, "Evrything Bad is Good for You," before being allowed to vote on this bill.