The Utah House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a violent video games bill which equates such games with pornography. The Republican-sponsored bill now must go the State Senate. The linked article featured this little gem of a quote from the bill’s sponsor, David Hogue, in reference to school shootings such as Columbine:
“Would these same kids have done this anyway without watching violent
videos? Maybe not,” Hogue stated in the Salt Lake City Tribune.
I understand the concern about violent video games. It’s a natural conservative reaction. But we already have a ratings system in place. Unfortunately, most parents either don’t understand it or aren’t aware of it. I’m sure many Americans can tell you what any given movie rating means, from G to XXX. Ask them what the ‘M’ rating means in video games and you’re more likely to get a blank look. So rather than wasting effort on proposing laws that have already been declared unconstitutional in other states, why not take some time to educate parents on what the rating system means?
Hopefully there will one day be a definitive study that proves once and for all that violent video games/movies/other media do not, by themselves, make children violent. You would think that people would have gotten the picture by now after decades of violent movies. I mean, what kid under 17 doesn’t sneak a R- or X-rated flick on cable now and then? How many kids have access to such movies on video or DVD that mom and dad have left lying around the house? How many hundreds of thousands of people grew up watching violent movies and video games and didn’t shoot up their classmates? People who are predisposed to violence will, of course, be prone to enjoy violent games and movies. I don’t need a psychologist to tell me that. But it seems like conservatives all over the country prefer to turn it around and say the games or movies made such people violent in the first place. It’s a cop out.
I do believe that violent entertainment has no place in the lives of children in their formative years. That is when they are most impressionable. And there’s no doubt in my mind that violent entertainment can be a negative influence on teenage minds. But so can the evening news. So can real life. We are surrounded by negative influences every day. That’s why it is important for parents and other family members to be a positive influence in a child’s life. Children who turn to crime are usually those who didn’t have enough good influence in their lives to counter the bad.
I know, it’s easier said than done. Many families in America are of the single parent variety, or have two working parents. If we follow the social progress of the 20th century, we can see where traditional family values were lost as Women’s Liberation succeeded and the Sexual Revolution gained momentum. Women suddenly became more emboldened to seek divorce to escape abusive, or simply unhappy, marriages. I’m from the ‘divorced parents’ generation. I remember in elementary school my friends’ parents were divorcing like mad. It seemed like every week I was hearing of a new divorce. I actually felt a little jealous until my own parents divorced when I was 12. Also, legions of women went from ’stay-at-home’ mom to ‘working mother’. Before my parents’ divorce, I was home alone after school most of the time. I don’t recall at what age that started, perhaps 9 or 10, but at the time I was rather happy about it. I could do what I wanted and usually did.
If it sounds like I’m ranting against Women’s Lib and blaming that movement for teenage crime, I’m not. I’m actually all for it. The problem was not the movement itself, but how we handled it. The welfare of our children was never considered. How could it have been? It’s not like there was a definitive guide on how to raise children in the new environment. What happened is that Mom went to work, but Dad didn’t stay home to replace her. Women in unhappy marriages divorced so that they could be happy. In both scenarios the childrens’ futures were secondary to the parents’ personal goals and happiness. The kids lost a major positive influence for most of the day. Many of the divorced parents found that their state of happiness didn’t improve after the divorce. My own mother worked herself hard in order to support my sister and me, then wound up in another unhappy marriage which she stayed in way too long just to support us better.
So the problems we have today, I think, can be traced back to that culture that was born in the 70s and 80s, the birth child of the 60s. America liberalized in a way it never had before, but did so without considering the consequences. Today’s conservatives are eager to fix what is broken by reversing some of the progress we have made over the last 30 years (Roe v. Wade, anyone?). An attitude has developed in America that really burns me up. It seems everyone is quite eager to point the finger and lay the blame at someone else’s feet. It’s time to wake up, people. Video games aren’t responsible for high school shootings. We all are.
If we really want to solve the problem, we need to attack the source. We need to provide a positive influence not just for our own children, but for those of our friends, neighbors, and other family members. We need to make sure that all the bad in the world is framed in a way that they understand why it’s bad and what the consequences are if they follow that path. Video games and movies can be used as tools to that end. America needs to ditch the self-centric, ‘it’s a free country and I can do what I want as long as it makes me happy’ and ‘it’s not my problem’ attitudes and start focusing on others. Our children in particular. We need to rediscover the values that we have lost. I’m not talking about the values Repbulicans go on about. I’m talking about the basic idea of postive reinforcement and strict punishment.
Parents used to be a strong influence in a child’s life. We used to clearly draw the line between right and wrong, stand around and make sure the kids did their homework, make them clean their rooms and take out the trash. We used to positively enforce good behavior and strictly punish the bad. Even when I was young my father would give me three lashes on my bare bottom with his belt if I did something really bad. I wouldn’t do it again. If he did that today someone would surely report him for child abuse.
Let’s get it together, people. Stop pointing the finger, own up and do something that actually helps the situation.
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