From Reuters via Yahoo! News:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Violence depicted on television, in films and video games raises the risk of aggressive behavior in adults and young viewers and poses a serious threat to public health, according to a new study.
After reviewing more than 50 years of research on the impact of violence in the media, L. Rowell Huesmann, of the University of Michigan, and his colleague Brad Bushman concluded that only smoking posed a greater danger.
“Exposure to violent electronic media has a larger effect than all but one other well known threat to public health. The only effect slightly larger than the effect of media violence on aggression is that of cigarette smoking on lung cancer,” he said in a statement.
Video games pose a serious threat to public health? With that assertion along with the comparison to smoking, how long do you figure before some liberal legislator tries to introduce a “violent video game” or “violent media” tax? After all, congress has recently considered reviewing the ESRB game rating system.
Posted on:
November 28, 2007 , by
newyank • Trackback
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Slashdot member eldavojohn writes:
“Some US Senate members sent a letter to the ESRB asking for ‘your consideration of whether it is time to review the robustness, reliability and repeatability of your ratings process, particularly for this genre of ‘ultraviolent’ video games and the advances in game controllers,’ the senators wrote. ‘We have consistently urged parents to pay attention to the ESRB rating system. We must ensure that parents can rely on the consistency and accuracy of those ratings.’ The group of lawmakers were concerned that Manhunt 2 was only given an ‘M’ rating and instead feel that it should have the ‘AO’ rating — a rating that only 23 other games have been given and a rating that would cause Sony & Nintendo to restrict it from being released on their consoles.”
This is from the Reuters story linked from the Slashdot article:
WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - A bipartisan group of lawmakers including a Democratic presidential hopeful is calling on the makers of video games to review the industry’s ratings system.
In letter to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the lawmakers complained about its decision to give an “mature” rating Rockstar’s “Manhunt 2″ game.
Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Sam Brownback, R-Kan., Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said the game’s violent content, which includes “many graphic torture scenes and murders,” should have garnered an “adults only” rating.
Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, has long pressed for tougher ratings and has called for a unified ratings system for movies, games and TV shows.
While browsing reader comments on the Slashdot article I found this:
“Why should Sony and Nintendo stop it being released on their consoles? There are people making the games, there are people that want to play the games, why not just let the rating system rate them and let people choose to play them or not?
Then there wouldn’t be so much pressure to get a game in under the M rating, the ESRB wouldn’t be under so much pressure not to give out AO ratings (which are an effective ban at present), and parents would have a fairer idea of what is suitable for little Jimmy and what really is not.”
Exactly right. Why not let the free-market work its magic in this case? Let ordinary people decide what’s acceptable to buy, or not. Why should Congress extend beyond its constitutional mandate and try to regulate yet another industry? With such low approval ratings, you’d think they’d have bigger fish to fry.
Posted on:
November 20, 2007 , by
newyank • Trackback
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Another fine example of how American's are losing their liberty and freedom.
From this morning's Washington Post:
The parents of more than 2,300 Prince George's County students who failed to get needed vaccinations could face fines of $50 a day and up to 10 days in jail if their children do not meet the state's immunization requirements, county officials said yesterday.
The threat of legal action is a last resort after months in which Prince George's has struggled to get its 131,000 students immunized for chicken pox and hepatitis B, as mandated by the state. More than 2,300 students have not been immunized and have been barred from attending schools, almost two months after a Sept. 20 deadline for meeting the requirement.
"The goal is to get kids in school," State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said. (By Gerald Martineau — The Washington Post)
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it's got to get done," Prince George's State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said at a news conference in Upper Marlboro. "I'm willing to move forward with legal action."
Notice the "D" after State Attorney Glenn F. Ivey's name? Keep a close eye on the Democrat party. They don't stand for freedom, they stand for Socialism. Mr. Ivey says "We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but it's got to get done". Really?
More and more responsibility for raising children is being taken away from parents and given to the State. This ought to send a chill through most sensible people, especially parents.
Read the rest of the article.
Posted on:
November 14, 2007 , by
newyank • Trackback
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