This week a California video game censorship law was overturned in the Supreme Court. If the law had been allowed to stand it would have outlawed the sale or rental of violent video games to minors (anyone under the age of 18) in the state. Retailers who violated the act would have been fined up to $1,000 for each infraction. It covered games “in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being,” depicted in a way that “a reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would find appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors,” that is “patently offensive to prevailing standards in the community as to what is suitable for minors” and that “causes the game, as a whole, to lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.”
However the proposed law was duly struck down by a 7-2 vote in the Supreme Court where it was deemed that the law would violate the First Amendment rights if minors. Justice Antonin Scalia conceded that “no doubt a state possesses legitimate power to protect children from harm,” but added “that does not include a free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed.” She pointed towards the inherent violence in many early fairy tales such as Hansel and Gretel and Snow White to support her decision. “Certainly the books we give children to read – or read to them when they are younger – contain no shortage of gore,” she said.
Though a precedent has now been set, effectively making it unconstitutional to restrict the sale of violent video games, it should be realized that there must have been a fair proportion of citizens in favor of the ban for it to garner so much attention in the first place. It is our opinion that this is a worrying trend. The federal or state government should not have the right to interfere in the relationship between child and parent, or to regulate it in like manner. Many of our constitutional rights are being whittled away under the guise of “protecting” us, but people, and especially parents, should be free to make their own decisions on what is best for them and their families.
Do we advocate violent video games in any way? Absolutely not. Gratuitous violence in video games aimed at children and young adults is unnecessary and upsetting, but most parents feel the same way and will regulate their kids playing of such games accordingly. And those that aren’t bothered by their kids playing such games – well that is their right to feel that way and it is their right to raise their kids as they see fit.
At this point the only argument that still stands is that the playing of violent video games can lead to kids becoming violent in real life. If such a thing were proven, then it would indeed result in a stronger case for the banning of such games in the manner the California law proposed. But here’s the thing: There is absolutely no solid evidence for any correlation between violent video games and violent behavior. As the respected folks at PBS report in a great article called “Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked,” the rate of juvenile violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. They also point out that “the overwhelming majority of kids who play [video games] do not commit antisocial acts.”
Crucially, according to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General’s report, the strongest risk factors for school shootings centered on mental stability and the quality of home life, not media exposure. This proves that no measure of government intervention can ensure the safety of our kids in practical terms, and it is the quality of home life, not media exposure, that is essential. As a result we should be focusing on being better parents and ensuring that our children have the best possible upbringing, not looking to the state to tell us what to do.
To conclude, if kids are encouraged to engage with educational toys and games from a young age all of this controversy could be avoided. It is important that we strive to improve our children’s lives using the home as our base and making reliable informed decisions along the way, not relying on others to make those decisions for us.
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