Posted on 04/26/2010 3:41:04 PM PDT by OldDeckHand
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court will decide whether free speech rights are more important than helping parents keep violent material away from children.
The justices agreed Monday to consider reinstating California's ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, a law the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco threw out last year on grounds that it violated minors' constitutional rights.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed the law in 2005, said he was pleased the high court would review the appeals court decision. He said, "We have a responsibility to our kids and our communities to protect against the effects of games that depict ultra-violent actions, just as we already do with movies."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Actually I think the parents not the states should decide what is best for the kids, but that is just me..
So if things with killing, maiming, dismembering and sexually assaulting of human beings can’t be sold to kids does that mean no To Kill a Mocking Bird?
That’s always the problem with these kind of laws. What makes video games so magical?
Well, that’s fascinating.
Doesn’t mean its related (post hoc fallacy), but still interesting.
Of course it makes a certain amount of sense from the government side - the government is ALWAYS looking to allocate power to itself at the expense of others.
Then under California's law you're free to buy violent games and give them to your kids. What California is trying to stop is kids buying them on their own, the same way that kids can't buy alcohol, cigarettes or porn.
Leaving the subject of connectivity between violent crimes & video games alone, I think it's fantastical to believe crime statistics published by the government. It's analogous to Cuba's 100% claimed literacy rate, and the Iraqi claims of "100% voted for Sadam", during his regime.
Retired Officers Raise Questions on Crime Data
In the 80's, the federal government began measuring crime metrics reported by states and municipalities, and would tie improvement to added federal investment. Almost magically, crime statistics began to improve. How about that?
Well, if To Kill a Mocking Bird was turned into a video game, I suppose so. But, since it's a book, it should be perfectly safe and readily available in school libraries all over California.
Actually, there is a proposed causal mechanism: violent video games provide an outlet for youthful agression, which otherwise finds its outlet in antisocial behavior, including crime. There are finer statistics focusing on crimes by young people that find drops in the wake of each release of a very popular first-person shooter or two-player fighting game (e.g. the Mortal Kombat series).
And books require reader visualization. And TV and movies put people into a beta wave state similar to dreams and hypnosis. And meanwhile nobody has managed show that any of these things actually make people do anything. I was just reading a book about Psycho and he loon that killed two people after watching the movie, and many accused the movie of “making” him do it. But the only way they could make those accusations fly is to ignore that at least 1 other person he killed before the movie came out and the dozen rapes he claimed to have committed, again before the movie came out.
There’s always the crowd that wants to blame the movie, or the game, or the book. But it’s PEOPLE that commit crimes.
You ignored the next sentence: what makes video games so magical?
Reminds me in the 80s with the AD&D crowd. The social cons went straight Taliban on the that crowd.
I don't know. I'm not a child psychologist. But, I am a conservative Republican who believes that matters like this should be left to the states to decide absent the heavy hand of the imperial federal government.
The parents in California elected the state legislators. They crafted a bill that was signed by the governor, who too was elected by parents. That's good enough for me.
I’m sure there are plenty of issues to worry about then kids buying video games..
We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.
Yep, and the evils of heavy metal, and more recently Harry Potter, and let’s not forget good old Fredrick Wortham and Seduction of the Innocent. There’s always something people are blaming for “twisting our kids minds”, it never seems to occur to them that maybe parents more interested in crusading than teaching might be messing up our kids.
I don’t know what to believe, I only know about the other guy ‘cause he gave me a free book.
I have played “violent” games all my life - GI Joe, dirt clods, BB Gun, wargames, RPGs, first person shooters, etc.
I served in the military, and have a bit of range time and I love to shoot (doesn’t mean I’m good shot, unfortunately!).
Despite that, I have never been trouble or been inclined to make any. If I go my whole life without any more trouble than I’ve seen, I will die a happy man.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure this regime is gonna allow that.
These guys obviously have not played Just Cause 2. In it, you get to blow up all sorts of oppressive government property, run missions against the government, and decimate their military. It’s great fun, and I’m thinking there may be something for the children of the future to learn within...
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