Laws or Parenting?
I was recently talking to the manager at my local EB Games and asked him how the new gaming laws impacted his store. He mentioned that, even though not strictly required to, he tells a parent why a game is a mature title before selling it to a minor. For example: "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is rated M (Mature 17+) because of: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs."
Despite this, these are the three responses he usually gets:
(a) I don't care.
(b) My kid already has Halo.
(c) So what? You see worse on TV.
This saddens me -- after all, it can't be easy to sell GTA to a seven-year-old child whose parents ignore the content.
Comments
It scares me that there are parents out there who will buy these games for their teenagers (or kids even younger). Fantasy violence is just as dangerous to a developing child as real violence.
Posted by: Katie | April 19, 2007 6:04 PM