Scantily clad women. Arson. Average Joes beating the crap out of each other. Characters urinating on cop cars. \nNo, this isn’t just your run-of-the-mill weekend debauchery. This is the content of many of today’s video games, which lawmakers fear might influence the behavior of the impressionable young people who take in these images day after day.\nGone are the good ol’ days of “Super Mario Bros.,” replaced by gorier entertainment that the Indiana state Senate would like to keep from America’s youth by imposing greater fines on retailers who sell these games to them.\nIn our humble opinion, lawmakers would be better off spending their time on another issue. First, we aren’t sure we buy the connection between video games and violence. On the news, we routinely see incidences of crime concentrated in less affluent areas, where you would be hard-pressed to find a GameCube. It is very rare to find kids from wealthier areas (where video games are more prevalent) reacting to their feelings of suburban, middle-class oppression through violent means, supposedly instilled in them by the video-game industry. \nBesides, is imposing a fine on vendors really going to be effective? Technically, it is illegal to sell kegs to consumers under 21, but has that kept alcohol out of the hands of underage students here? Of course not. It seems like all underagers have an over-21 connection who is more than willing to provide them with Keystone aplenty.\nImplementing the additional video-game fine will not keep “inappropriate” items out of the hands of young consumers. It will simply add another step to the process of obtaining them.\nFinally, even if this law were to succeed in kid-proofing the video-game world, it would by no means protect Indiana’s youth from disturbing, raw images. Just turn on the news. Or look through a magazine. Or read a billboard. It’s all there: sex, drugs and Uzis. In the absence of a police state, there is no realistic way to keep kids away from it.
Dissent: Legislation will protect children\nA 2000 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that those who played violent video games were more likely to commit delinquent behavior. The state government has an obligation to protect people who cannot protect themselves. \nThe right of free speech is powerful. Parents should in fact have the right to decide whether they want to purchase violent games for their children without fear of prosecution. However, holding retailers accountable, as this proposed legislation would, will have a dual effect. It will deter the sale of inappropriate games to children who simply avoid parental permission. And more importantly, it will protect those children whose parents are not responsible enough to make correct decisions for their children.\nWho is the state to decide responsible behavior? It is the entity with the power to deter children from potentially damaging material, effectively raising productive citizens and keeping them out of the Indiana jail system.\n–Jacob Stewart
