Critics opening fire on video game violence

It is early evening on the city streets. Senior Mahbubur Khan snatches a helpless citizen from his car and takes the wheel, zooming down the road with police on his tail. The pursuit soon ends with the bloody corpse of the police officer lying on the pavement.

As sinister as this sounds, worse things have happened in "Grand Theft Auto III" ("GTA3"), the ultra-violent bestselling video game for Playstation 2, which Khan is playing at a friend's house.

The murderous acts in "GTA3" are a far cry from the cartoony mayhem of games like "Super Mario Bros." Today's games replace high scores with body counts, two-player competition with four-player deathmatches and save-the-princess plotlines with kill-the-terrorist scenarios. The gamers of the Nintendo generation have changed, and so have their games.

Responding to these increasingly violent games, irate parents and legislators are demanding stricter regulation of the electronic entertainment industry. Beginning this school year, Blair's computers now automatically block students from viewing inappropriate websites, including sites containing games. This policy, in compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000, lumps games in the same category as pornography and hate sites.

Not just harmless fun

As scrutiny over video games has increased, researchers have conducted numerous studies to determine the effects such games have on children. This August, researchers published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology that aggressive children play more video games and tend to favor more violence in their games than do non-aggressive children.

Sophomore Merhawi Seghit doesn't believe video games increase aggression. Although his favorite games include violent shooters such as "Perfect Dark" and the "Turok" series, he says, "I never think about taking my anger out with real guns."

Khan even uses violent games, such as the terrorist-themed shooter "Counter-Strike," as a relaxation tool. "'Counter-Strike' is such a stress-reliever," he says. "If you put some lead in some guy, it just feels better."

The ratings game

Conflicting values of propriety in games is leading to calls for closer monitoring of the video game ratings system.
The Electronics Software Ratings Board provides a ratings system for video and computer games suggesting what age group the game is appropriate for, ranging from EC (early childhood) to AO (adults only).

According to Teresa Lang, communications director for the Lion & Lamb Project, an organization against the marketing of violent media to children, the current ratings system is confusing and often inaccurate.

The Lion & Lamb Project opposes the industry's self-regulated policies and is advocating an independently controlled ratings board. Lang says her organization wants game labels describing specific content so parents can make better-informed decisions.

And though ratings are in place, there is currently no national law against selling mature-rated video games, the equivalent of R-rated movies, to minors.

Lang also charges publishers with using shady cross-marketing tactics to interest young gamers in mature titles. "They'll make a video game for mature audiences and make a toy based on the video game for ages five and up," she says.

Laying down the law

According to an informal Silver Chips survey of 100 students on the week of Sept 9, 71 percent of students oppose government regulation of the sale of violent video games to minors. Many students believe it is the parents' responsibility to decide what their children play.

Greg Kasavin, executive editor of Gamespot, a video game news site, blames a lack of parental involvement for gamers committing violent acts in real life such as Columbine. He writes that the lesson to be learned from such incidents is probably that "parents need to do a better job of paying attention to what in the hell their kids are up to."

Lang disagrees, arguing that there are simply too many influences on children for parents to bear the sole responsibility.

One obstacle to government regulation is possible violation of the Constitution. The Interactive Digital Software Association opposes any law enforcing game ratings, calling them a "content-based restriction" infringing on the right to free speech.

But Lang doesn't believe video games constitute speech. "When free speech was introduced, it mainly encompassed political speech and freedom to express," she says. "They weren't considering commercial speech."

Still, Lang says her organization's goals are to protect minors, not to censor. "The point of the ratings system is not saying that children can't have [a game]," she explains. "It's saying they can't buy it by themselves."

Junior Chris Mulligan hopes the issue won't interfere with his gaming hobby or the freedoms of the Constitution. "I don't want censorship," he says. "I want common sense."