I'm sorry, "It’s the merchant’s rights over the parental rights"? I didn't know parents were not able to go in the store and purchase games with their child without the law. I wonder where these kids are getting the money to buy these 50-60 dollar games if their parents aren't involved. Here's an idea, learn to be a Goddamn parent and you'll have a great idea of what your children are doing.

Wow, this in my town.

It's not about merchant's rights. It about the rights of adults to be able to consume what media they want.

These guys need debated down. They try for a emotional approach and pass off so much BS as stated fact.

"We need to understand the impact entertainment violence has on kids."
That's right, you do. Since it's obvious that you don't yet.

"The media spends a lot of money debunking the research."
Please cite your references.

"[Kids who consume violent media] see the world as an angry place."
Rather then a tela-tubby hot tub party? I supposse after Katamari Damancy kids see the world as a place to roll giant balls?

"They are desensitized to the effects of violence."
Not always a bad thing, despite what you often claim. The Army and Marines need people like this. Police, Fire Dept, Rescue Squad all need people like this. We don't NEED to faint at the sight of blood, it isn't a survival trait.

"The more they play violent games, the more impulsive they are since games reward impulsive reactions, to shoot quickly in order to kill."
Interesting... you base this off of one genre of games called twitch gaming because it supports your veiw point. However, there are MANY kinds of games, even ones equally violent, which reward careful planning, higher math skills, patience, patern recognician, and stealth. You neglected these because they disprove your statement.

"We pass laws that are helpful,..."
You don't pass laws.

"...like an ordinance that won’t allow a minor to rent a [mature] rated video game without a parent,..."
While I personally think this is good as a policy, I don't think this is good as a law. Perhaps you should be talking to BlockBuster and asking them to impliment this as a policy.

"...but the laws are thrown out because the First Amendment is interpreted so broadly."
Actually, the laws are thrown out because they are unconstitutional. It would require redefining "Free Speech" or "shall pass no laws" or something. As soon as you start defining what is allowed to be said and what isn't then we are no longer free. You can't define Free Speech as only speech you agree with.

"It’s the merchant’s rights over the parental rights."
How is passing a law against retailers giving parents any more rights? The parents have a right, a responsability, to monitor what there children are doing. They aren't playing Kane and Lynch on the bus or at school. They would have to be near around $1000 worth of equipment. If you honestly think you can't control what your children are playing, either throw out the Xbox or look into putting them up for adoption.

Oh. Goody. More crap. Okay, first, video game laws do not help parents, they infringe on their rights. When you get a broad generalization like "All these games are bad for all kids" and inforce it by law, based on a generalized rating system, things could go bad for parents who don't agree with everyone else on whats appropriate for their kids. Second, HOW HARD IS IT TO KNOW WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE PLAYING? REALLY, I GOTTA KNOW! Third, The world IS AN ANGRY PLACE, FULL OF HORRIBLE THINGS, AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW THIS, YOU'RE IN DANGER(proof of this can be found in Iraq, various major cities, and the whole damn world)! Forth, DESENSITIZATION IS A GOOD THING! This has been pointed out by everyone, so I'll move to the next point. Fifth, NOT ALL GAMES ARE IMPULSIVE! HELL, EVEN MANY *ACTION* GAMES ARE BETTER PLAYED STRATEGICALLY! IF YOU RUN INTO THE FIGHT LIKE A TOOL, YOU'RE GONNA DIE! To sum it up, this lady is terribly uninformed.

"We pass laws that are helpful, like an ordinance that won’t allow a minor to rent a [mature] rated video game without a parent, but the laws are thrown out because the First Amendment is interpreted so broadly."

I thought it was also because that would be giving governmental or government-like powers to a private organization (the ESRB), meaning that to do so, there'd have to be a government run rating board. And then as others have mentioned there's also the issue of the fact that the first amendment exists for a reason and things like "free speech" and "Congress shall make no law" would have to be completely redefined.

No offence to hardcore gamers but gaming geeks normally strike me as the least impulsive people out there...

"The media spends a lot of money debunking the research."

Either she means the media spends a lot of time debunking the tons of evidence that violent games don't = violent people, in which case, why is she using it to further her case? Wouldn't that be a good thing in her eyes?

Or she means the media spends a lot of time debunking the research that violent games DO = violent people, in which case, HAH. Yeah, all the media outlets support us. They always bring forth evidence that furthers our cause.

Especially Fox News.

God forbid there be evidence against her case, though.

"The more they play violent games, the more impulsive they are since games reward impulsive reactions, to shoot quickly in order to kill."

Yeah, I was in a bar last night, some guy stood on my toe and I immediately shot him because I'd been rewarded for doing that in games...

You get rewarded in football for making hard tackles, and in boxing for punching people, where is the blame they should get for this violent behavior?

"We pass laws that are helpful, like an ordinance that won’t allow a minor to rent a [mature] rated video game without a parent, but the laws are thrown out because the First Amendment is interpreted so broadly. It’s the merchant’s rights over the parental rights."

Allowing a shop to sell a game does not stop a parent from forbidding their child to play it. Furthermore, the laws are not in any way helpful like she says, they are simply "feel-good" laws passed in order to make it look like something is being done, while the REAL reasons behind bullying and violence are swept away. It's hard to ignore REAL problems and issues without a convenient scapegoat to divert attention away from them.

Those laws she wants to pass won't help. If you make it illegal to rent or buy, it just ends up being homeless guys buying the games for kids.
Also, not every game rewards killing, many have consequences for not abiding laws.

Also, isn't her saying they spend money to debunk the research is damaging to her viewpoint? You'd think her saying that means that her viewpoint doesn't hold water since it was possible to debunk.
And the authors of Grand Theft Childhood aren't really funded by media. At least, not to my knowledge.

Ok, I'll be the first to admit, I'm impulsive. When I see the newest RTS out on the market, I just pretty much have to have it. Also, I indulge my daughter and spoil her as well and buy her the latest Wii and DS games she wants. But I also enforce a very strict grade policy and when it comes to grades or video games, grades always come first. I also believe in spankings on a limited basis.

So I guess I'm a horrible parent and my daughter will end up an overtly violent, impulsive, disconnected. Yeah, and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in Mackinac ( Pronounced Mackinaw for those non-Michiganders out there).

I play violent video games and watch violent movies and im still a spineless wuss.

I'm curious to see what 'indelible parental rights' parents are granted under law ... and how those rights are violated by the gaming industry's insistence on putting out the same level of trash as the other forms of media, especially when the industry does indeed self regulate. I'm twenty five, and I still get carded when I buy M rated games.

"Yeah, I was in a bar last night, some guy stood on my toe and I immediately shot him because I’d been rewarded for doing that in games…"

Did he drop any loot?

"“Yeah, I was in a bar last night, some guy stood on my toe and I immediately shot him because I’d been rewarded for doing that in games…”

Did he drop any loot? "

Yeah: [Boots of the Intimidating Drunk] and [Anime Drunken Tie Headband]...epic lewt

Set Bonus:
Impared vision +10
Intellegence -50
Stength +20

Equip Effect: Bar Tab increases 50%. Chance on hit to gain "Score with the Ladies" effect where every female in a 10 yard radius gains +150 Sexy.

I love how someone is a professor so they assume they know everything about everything and all of us 'ignorant folk' will believe any feces that comes out of their mouths.

I agree that the media is focusing much on extreme examples of violence and often misinterpret psych research, often ignoring that the research results are based on the more common forms of aggression.

However, her claims of desensitization are probably based on television violence. Some of the books I read makes some references to desensitization, but no elaboration. As of now, there's only one study on video game desensitization. So I would take desensitization with salty french fries.

@ Jeff

Yeah, she said it like children are just driving all over the $%^ing place, and the only concrete way to prevent them from finding a game store that sells to an 8yr old with an H2, is government regulation.

Here's a novel idea, DON'T LET YOUR 8 YEAR OLD HAVE AN XBOX IN HIS BEDROOM.

Just because the parents don't want to share their TV with their kid is no reason to go screaming about your little kid having inappropriate games.

Let your kid use the family TV for a couple of hours a day, you can live without TV that long can't you?

[i]"The media spends a lot of money debunking the research. [Kids who consume violent media] see the world as an angry place."[i]

This just in, we live in an angry world, the planet is not the land of sunshine and rainbows. Sorry to break it to you.

It’s the merchant’s rights over the parental rights.

And of course she entirely forgets the children's rights to have noone but their parents tell them what they can and can't read/watch/play. At least, I'm fairly certain that the courts have consistently held that "free speech" also implies "freedom to listen", and that this right also extends to children except in special cases (i.e. porn). Thus:

"Won't someone please think of the children?"

Same old same old.

last time i checked the world is a very angry place. Thats why we go to war.

Crap,I play a LOAD of violent games and I watch nearly every war movie that comes on TV,and I flinch terribly when someone even pretends they're gonna hit me.If video games could teach you how to fire a rifle correctly,I'd be a crack shot no matter what gun I use.But,as it stands,they don't,so I suck at using any form of firearms.

I think it's funny that everyone blames video games... Not really. In my opinion parents are afraid to tell their children "NO", the same way their afraid to discipline their child by way of spanking. The child and the Parent have switched roles. The parent is more afraid of the child than the child afraid of the parent. It's rediculous.

ITS THE MERCHANTS RIGHTS OVER THE PARENTS RIGHTS BECAUSE IT'S NOT UP TO THE GOVERNMENT TO REGULATE FREE SPEECH YOU BLOW HOLE!!!