U.S. government to fund studies on video game's effects
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Sep 18th 2006 at 12:28PM }
On Friday, The Children and Media Research and Advancement Act (CAMRA) was passed by the U.S. Senate. The bi-partisan act introduced, in part, by Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and First Amendment hater Joseph Lieberman (D, sometimes R, but currently I -CT), is designed to research the effects of media on children.The research will be headed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, if the study finds that video games do in-fact harm the children, the government will be free to impose its will on the industry.
One of the major roadblocks to imposing legislation on the video games industry is that every superior court judge that's dealt with the issue has stated that games are protected under the First Amendment and, furthermore, that there is no scientific proof video games are harmful. By proving the latter, these pols hope to overcome the former.
(Queue up Night on Bald Mountain from Disney's Fantasia)
[Via Next-Gen.biz]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
phillosmaster @ Sep 18th 2006 11:26AM
I worry about the validity of the results. This is not easy to prove. Just because two things are correlated does not mean one thing causes another. They might be co-dependant. I hope someone will be watch dogging this to make sure all the angles are covered. Especially considering how much fire this could potentially fuel.
Why is this even being done anyway. We have a rating system. If it needs to be refined then fine. If it needs to be more strickly enforced then fine. Any other sort of legistlation will serve no other purpose then to limit our freedom, which I thought was the very thing we sought to protect. If I want to read a violent book, watch a violent movie or play a violent game and I am old enough to do so, then I should have that freedom. That's not even getting into the free speach debate.
Rein @ Sep 18th 2006 12:40PM
We should retaliate by starting a study on how Hillary Clinton effects children. D:
ihavenoideawhatisgoingon @ Sep 18th 2006 12:37PM
THIS JUST IN!!!
The 5 o'clock News has negative effects on children! The government is now conducting a study to see if the news is safe for children to watch. Also, Rock and Roll is the devil. Also, Pokemon makes kids try to fit their dogs into small plastic bubbles. also...you get where i'm going with this. There could be a study on ANYTHING, but it's not going to prove one single thing. The only reason kids go crazy is because they are already crazy. If games weren't here as a scapegote, it'd be the music, or that damn "moving picture box". I hate all these newfangled inventions. Why can't we go back to the good ol' days, when we didn't have these things, and the world was full of peace and harmony...oh wait, it never was!
Dracula Jones @ Sep 18th 2006 12:36PM
This is stupid. How can any study be trusted when it's sponsored by people who have a bias on the subject?
Canadian Geese @ Sep 18th 2006 12:38PM
Every time they do a study on the effects of video games, the results show that video games do not cause violence, but do stimulate the violent part of our brains.
Government-funded studies don't always go the way of the politician. Look at all of the marijuana studies Harry Anslinger began, and they all ended up hurting Harry's agenda in the end.
Derbeste @ Sep 18th 2006 12:45PM
One teensy weensy problem there, phillosmaster.
Miners do not have the same rights as those over 18. The government can (and has) circumvented many rights defined by the constitution on this point.
As such, while they cannot dictate what is told to or viewed by adults, they CAN regulate what is distributed to miners. Even if the merchandise itself is legal.
(think cigarettes, alcohol, etc.)
If this study PROVES that videgames do CAUSE psychologically violent anomylies within children, they might have enough to finally create constitutional legistlation limiting what miners can and cannot buy.
The only reason the government has not intervened in the movie industry is because they feel (so far) that the rating system in place is sufficient (read: they are more familiar with it because they grew up with it).
Unfortunately, I think you are right on everything else. I think this study will be influenced by those in power for political gain. Luckilly, I think it will also be heavily scrutinized by somebody no matter the result.
NETNAVI @ Sep 18th 2006 12:59PM
Ah who care.. I'm over 18 anyway. Still this won't stop kids ( Should we really still be calling them that in this day and age?) from getting anything they want anyway. Just like they still can get beer or drugs if they really want it. This won't change a thing except put more innocent people in jail with ridiciously superfluos laws.
oh and legalize it
EnderAl @ Sep 18th 2006 12:59PM
Derbeste,
It is really sad that our nation's miners are so limited in their freedom. They toil away in dark caves, risking life and health to support our energy demands, and we repay them by taking away their alcohol, cigs, and games. What's a miner to do?
Just messing with you. :)
Turken @ Sep 18th 2006 1:02PM
And what will happen when the study finds that video games are only harmful to the same extent as other media (movies, music, books, etc) considered socially acceptable?
WooHoo, let's all go have a book burning party!
Wild Homes @ Sep 18th 2006 1:04PM
as long as they determine it's constitutional, I support legislation to block the sale of M-rated games to minors. I really don't think children need to be playing certain types of games.
but more importantly, I think the ESRB needs to be scrapped and replaced with a more effective ratings panel. the guidelines for T- and M-rated games need to become more comprehensive. should videogames be rated by content in the same scope television programs and movies are? or do we need to consider that the interactive nature of a game alters the value of the game's content?
for example, would a wrestling television broadcast and a wrestling videogame deserve the same rating? or would the videogame deserve an M-rating only to be rated T- because the corresponding television show is rated as appropriate for teens? in my opinion, something like Smackdown Vs Raw is more adult than something like Fable, but I feel the WWE games continually receive a T-rating just because the television show isn't deemed inappropriate for teens.
Wild Homes @ Sep 18th 2006 1:06PM
oh and: I wish Joystiq would talk about how Lost Oddysey is going to receive a playable demo for TGS, according to Famitsu.
ihavenoideawhatisgoingon @ Sep 18th 2006 1:07PM
MORE BREAKING NEWS!!!
After reading Harry Potter, a 9 year old jumped from his family's 10th story apartment balcony in new york with a broomstick between his legs! Apparently, the book made him think he was a wizard and could fly! Stupid muggle!!
All books from the UK are to be banned in the US until further notice!
redjack @ Sep 18th 2006 1:23PM
Actually, I believe this was the first year that the Harry Potter books weren't on the top 10 most banned books in schools list. Yep, Christians don't seem to like the witchcraft angle.
san @ Sep 18th 2006 2:04PM
CDC has a great track record for handling issues that affect public health. Even areas the are more sociological than pure medicine. In my opinion CDC is the US agency least likely to make findings in line with political winds. And even should they determine video games are harmful to children, 1st Amendment protections still apply. The are very few, very specific exceptions to the 1st Amendment and video games are not likely to be included. The 1st Amendment will protect the right to produce these games although they may be regulated -- like movies and some published material today.
Stoli @ Sep 18th 2006 2:26PM
I am concerned that we'll see some biased results...hopefully not.
george @ Sep 18th 2006 2:40PM
we are all products of our environment... to say that video games, tv, movies, culture, advertising, politics, wars, etc. don't affect us is stupid...
of course, video games affect children, just like politicians' lies affect children... i know the latter is worse...
maybe if we our country really gave a damn, it would use all that money to educate its citizens rather than casting stones at others...
GamerEdie @ Sep 18th 2006 4:10PM
" ... First Amendment hater Joseph Lieberman (D, sometimes R, but currently I -CT) ..."
Now **THAT's** funny!!!!!
Nice one, Alex!
Boscorooty @ Sep 18th 2006 4:23PM
How come everytime legislation is introduced that seeks to ban something- like violent video games, explicit lyrics, and certain (admittedly ugly) forms of free speech, a demorcrat is behind it?
Ryan LN @ Sep 18th 2006 4:29PM
Abosolutely no one should worry about this development for even a second- this is election year politics writ large, and is unlikley to result in anything other than the waste of millions of taxpayer dollars and the handwringing of idiots on both sides of the isle. I can assure you that neither Senator Lieberman nor Senator Clinton have had children who played video games with any kind of regularity. I mean, have you seen Chelsea? Does she look like she even knows how to play Tetris? As for Lieberman, what, is he like 107? His kids probably played with wicker hoops and and rode five foot tall bicycles. The other non-troubling aspect to this story is that this "bipartisan" movement is being moved on by two Democrats, and what do you think the odds of anyone in a Republican controlled Washington lighting a fire under the CDC so two Democrats can look good? About the same as me winning a gold medal in women's double luge at the next Winter Olympics.
Video games, like novels, movies, paintings, and other artforms, are protected speech that fall under the large Constitutional umbrella of the 1st Amemmendment. The day that the some idiot in Congress is able to draft legislation regulating games and their sale that passes constitutional muster is the day that I buy everyone who visits Joystiq the brand spanking new video game console of their choice. It's good to see that, in the spirit of cooperation, our government can get together and solve the REAL problems of our society, instead of foolishly squandering their time on things like high gas prices, our wonderful foreign policy, our shitty public schools & failure to educate, and the fact that the rest of the world thinks we're collectively either Satan, idiots, or Satanic Idiots. Way to go, jerks.
ben @ Sep 18th 2006 6:19PM
I agree with Ryan..
This is such a waste of money. I just pray that Hillary Clinton never get's elected president.. That would mean the end for video games.
Teh Destroyer @ Sep 18th 2006 7:05PM
This is what happens when an industry doesn't pay off politicians or hire lobby groups to fight for them. Anyway this will end up much like the studies on marijuana, that is to say they won't show any real side effects.
chudgoo @ Sep 18th 2006 7:45PM
The industry has become so large that some form of regulation is inevitable. It makes me sick to see these names (Lieberman mostly) popping up again in this context. I have to ask...where is Tipper Gore? No 'Parents *Video Game* Resource Center'?
Honestly I think we've just been *lucky* so far.
(in that videogame censorship was never really an issue. GTA and the like were allowed to happen.)
Maybe the Democrats should focus on correcting the various foreign affairs before they turn inward with a mind to restrict what goes into yours.
SonicRift @ Sep 18th 2006 8:12PM
I prefer the Canadian government and how they fund the development of video games, like the stuff coming out of UbiSoft Montreal.