Calif. Lawmaker Calls for State-Level Action Against Video Game Violence
by Ed Thomas
August 24, 2005
(AgapePress) - Recently the American Psychological Association released findings linking video game violence to aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, and aggressive behavior in children, and the organization recommended the video game industry look at cutting back on overall violence in the games. One California legislator is gratified that the APA has spoken up on these issues, but he says many more such voices are needed to ensure that kids are protected from the real dangers of simulated game violence. Leland Yee is Speaker Pro Tem of the California Assembly as well as a long-time advocate of tighter controls on the video game industry and the sale of electronic games in his state. He is currently fighting for a bill in the state legislature, AB 540, that would fine retailers that sell mature video games to children.
Yee, who has a background in psychology and education, says his viewpoint has been formed not only by his professional experience and research but also by his sensibilities as a concerned father. "As a child psychologist, as a parent -- I have four kids -- and as an educator, I come from the perspective that we as a society need to be involved and protect our kids," he says.
One reason for the state legislator's concern, he points out, is that many modern parents -- though they mean well -- are simply not monitoring the type of material that is confronting their children in terms of video violence. "Ultimately, I would like to say that parents should be doing that," he says, "but in these times, you have parents who are working a couple jobs, both parents working, and unfortunately they may not provide the kind of supervision that we would like."
In the absence of that kind of parental vigilance, the pro-family legislator says reform addressing the problem is necessary, and in most instances it will probably have to happen at the state level. Yee contends that, despite the recent call for a Federal Trade Commission investigation over hidden sexual content in the popular video game "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," parents and other concerned public officials and private citizens cannot afford to wait on the FTC or the game producers themselves to adequately police the industry.
"Unfortunately," the state assemblyman observes, "if the federal government is not accepting responsibility, and if the gaming industry themselves are not accepting responsibility, then individual states are going to step in." That is why he hopes measures like California's AB 450 can push through the gaming lobbies' opposition to provide an extra layer of protection for kids.
That bill, however, is currently stalled in the legislature. But Yee says concerned citizens owe it to the children to get laws passed that will help curb video game violence so the media environment will be safer and, ultimately, healthier for kids.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
