HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
July 27, 2005 First off, I have to admit I have never played said game. I do, however, own the two prior games: Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I am also on my early 30s so it is okay that I own them. What I do not understand about the whole ordeal is how the parents would have let their children play these games in the first place, especially if they are not 17 or older. Let me explain something: The age of rated M games, like rated R movies, is 17 or older. That means that it is not suitable for kids who are not one year from being draftable by the military, buying cigarettes or gambling. In that one crucial fact, the difference between "Adult Only" and "Mature" is one year! If parents get all upset because of the questionable nudity or violence in video games, movies, on the internet or elsewhere, then this your wakeup call to start doing your dang job! I see parents at the video store or at the local electronics retailer buying their kids whatever they ask for. I have seen 10 year old kids get games like Resident Evil or movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street and the parents do not even blink. The retailers, thank god, are stepping in and pulling the million-plus selling game from the shelves because of some coders input at the developers level. Sure, you have to do some research to get said information but it is embedded in the game itself. My beef with the parents and the Congress for getting into this argument is that they should have known better in the first place. Rock Star Games, the creator of the Grand Theft Auto games, knows who its customers are and should be. It is not their fault that some ignorant parents buy games for their kids that they should never be able to play. Does that mean consumers who are of age should not be allowed to buy this kind of entertainment? No. One last piece of advice for parents. I know it is tough raising children, especially in such a world as this. you can either lock your kids away until they are married or you can try and teach them lessons in life to help them against the kids of those parents who could care less what their kids do. When I was growing up I was exposed to child molestors, overly sexual kids, pornography, drugs, alcohol, crime, violence and the media. Today I am a person with no criminal record, a good employment history, am drug-free, have a steady relationship and am a good citizen. You see, my mother taught me what to look out for and I listened. Hopefully I can pass that on to my future children. If my kid were to ask if he could play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas I would tell them "Sorry but you are too young. Wait until you are 17." That is what a responsible parent does. The next time you want to ban a video game, ban it with your wallet, not with some investigation or law. I have heard this phrase "youth dollar" in reference to how our society spends. I know they are not getting that money from a job. If you don't want your kids to buy stuff, stop giving them money. See? Piece of cake. Problem solved. ------------ About the author: Nicholas Olson is a long-time journalist who has been a columnist at his college newspaper and is currently a military journalist. Email: nicholasjolson@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
