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Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior
While I am all for freedom and liberty in this issue, I would have to agree. The rating system just doesn't work. And what's the point when a mother can buy them for her kid's birthday or christmas gift anyways? Certainly there needs to be a system to screen "gifts" presented to minors.
And most parent's are ignorant to the level of exposure in games like these in this day and age. Back in the day a video game was about space invaders or plumbers and hedgehogs. An R-rated game isn't limited the way an R-rated movie showing on HBO is. There is no time restriction (i.e. the game doesn't become playable and unlock itself after a certain hour such as when a kid should be in bed!) and furthermore there is no NCA-like organization censoring the airing of the game like there is with TV. Oh, there are parental locks on consoles and even MMO's (see WoW and EQ) but how many parents even know how to access them? Mine don't. There is currently only one screening process in purchasing these games and it is a broken one because anyone over the age of 18 can purchase it for a minor, all the while never realizing how similiar this is to buying beer for a child.
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There is nothing wrong with the rating system and everything wrong with retarded parents not monitoring what their kids are doing.
It's not hard, just check what your kids are doing. Are they taking drugs? Are they watching porn? Are they playing mature games?
It doesn't take much effort to tell if Manhunt or Grand Theft Auto is suitable for your children. Any parents who have so much as read the box should be able to tell, or if they're really slow and don't understand the words "MATURE" and "DEPICTION OF DRUG, ALCOHOL, and SEX", they certainly should be able to tell from five minutes of gameplay.
The argument about time doesn't work. Mature games are like adult dvds. If you have an adult dvd you can watch it at any time of the day, and it's your responsibility to keep it away from your kids. As far as I know, video games don't get streamed live on cable tv yet. Or at least that's what Microsoft told me when they sold me an XBOX console.
http://www.christianexaminer.com/Art..._Aug08_01.html
Even Christian websites are realizing it's the parents' responsibility to get involved. Parenting is hard, shifting the blame is easy.