- Violent Computer Games - photo by taliesin
Banning the sale or rent of violent videogames to minors was the intent of a state law signed by the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarznegger, in October 2005. The ban of violent videogames was slated to take effect in January of 2006, but the law was challenged almost immediately after the governor signed it. And the law has not been enforced.
On April 26, 2010 the Supreme Court of the United States consented to hear challenges to the constitutionality of the law that banned the sale of violent videogames to children. The law was overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in 2009, but the Supreme Court has agreed to review the case and make a final decision regarding the ban.
Freedom of Speech in Videogame Creation
In the meantime, although the ban was signed into law and scheduled to take effect in January 2006, the law has never been enforced in California. Opponents of the law argue that the law violates the videogame maker’s right to free speech.
Bill Mears in the CNN.com article “High Court Accepts Case over Violent Videogames” explains that “(t)he gaming industry sued in federal court and won an injunction halting enforcement of the law until the courts sort out the constitutional questions.” He adds that the court is trying to determine “how far constitutional protections of free speech and expression, as well as due process, can be applied to youngsters.”
Linking Bad Behavior to Videogames
In the Associated Press article “ Free Speech Versus Kids and Violent Videogames,”Jesse Holland reports that “California lawmakers approved the law, in part, by relying on several studies suggesting violent games can be linked to aggression, anti-social behavior and desensitization to violence in children.”
But judges in the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals dismissed the studies that showed a link between aggression in children and violent videogames. The judges didn’t believe that the link established in the studies was conclusive.
Iowa State Study of 2010 Links Violent Videogames to Aggression
However, a study conducted by Craig Anderson was published in the Psychological Bulletin’s March 2010 issue. The publication is considered a reliable information source as it is an American Psychological Association journal. The magazine NewsRx Health & Science printed an article with the explanatory title “Iowa State University; Study Proves Conclusively that Violent Video Game Play Makes More Aggressive Kids.”
The article include quotes from Craig Anderson, the head of the Iowa State study, who states “…regardless of research method -- that is experimental, correlational, or longitudinal - and regardless of the cultures tested in this study [East and West], you get the same effects….And the effects are that exposure to violent video games increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior in both short-term and long-term contexts..."
Violent Videogame Defined
How do researchers who conduct the studies determine which games are violent? Tor Thorsen in the GameSpot article “Schwarzenegger Signs Game-Restriction Bill” quotes the legal summary of the legislation establishing the ban and explains that a “violent” game is a "game in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being."
Opponents of the California law point out that the Entertainment Ratings and Software Board (ESRB) already assign ratings to videogames, so banning the sale of violent videogames to those 18 and younger is unnecessary. But Jesse Holland reports that “supporters of the law say the same legal justification for banning minors from accessing pornography can be applied to violent video games.”
Different Studies of Videogames Give Different Results
Supporters of the ban also insist that the studies that link aggression to violent videogames are valid and conclusive. Rowell Huesmann in the March 2010 issue of Psychological Bulletin summarized the debate in the article “Nailing the Coffin Shut on Doubts that Violent Video Games Stimulate Aggression: Comment on Anderson et al.”
Huesmann says the results of the Anderson's study probably will not “change the critics’ views or the public’s perception that the issue is undecided because some studies have yielded null effects, because many people are concerned that the implications of the research threaten freedom of expression, and because many people have their identities or self-interests closely tied to violent video games.”
Marian Henderson - I was in the Marine Corps for 12 years, and after completing my last four-year enlistment, I became a Merchant Marine. I worked aboard ...
