Children in the virtual violent games -The Matrix will be everywhere-

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Children in the virtual violent games -The
Matrix will be everywhere-

• Community Pediatrics
• Legislative Advocacy Project
• Akihiro Asai

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Menu

• Background
• Case
• Games and child health
• Current regulation
• AAP policy
• Legislation issues
• What can we do?

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Back ground

• Video game industry
• 9.5 billion in the US in 2007
• Video games at home
• Wii Xbox PS 3 33 M in the US
• Portable games 40M
• US minor population 80 M

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Video game history

• 1983 Family Computer in Japan
• 1985 Nintendo in US

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New generation

• Wii (2006)
• Remote controller Tangible, motion detecting in
  3D.

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Violence in video game
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Case of Grand Theft Auto

• Extremely popular
• 50M sales in the world
• Main activity Carjacking
• Once a car is stolen, the player can run over
  pedestrians
• purchase guns to shoot at and kill rival gang
  members (or pedestrians)
• the player is able to pick up a prostitute, have
  sex to replenish health, then kill her to take
  back the money spent

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Case of Grand Theft Auto case 1

• 18yo male, D.M.,  shot and killed two policemen
  and a dispatcher after grabbing one of the
  officers' weapons.
• At trial, the defense claimed that Moore had been
  inspired by the video game Grand Theft Auto Vice
  City
• 2003 June

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Case of Grand Theft Auto case 2

• 14yo and 16yo male, J.B. and W.B. ,used a rifle
  to fire at vehicles on I-40 in Tennessee, killing
  a 45yo man and wounding a 19yo woman.
• The two shooters told investigators they had been
  inspired by Grand Theft Auto III.
• June 2003

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First-person shooter

• Highest immersion factor
• see through the eyes of the character in the
  game
• Virtual effects
• Columbine High School shooter mentioned in their
  own video

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Video games and child health

• Media exposure 2-18yo 6hr 32min/day
• (TV, Video, Game, Radio, Print, Music, PC)
• Video game exposure lt 1 hour/day (average)
• violent video games increase aggressive behavior
  in children and young adults
• Psychol Sci 2001 Sept
• Association between television, movie, and video
  game exposure and school performance
• Pediatrics 2007 Feb

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Influence on children

• Increase aggressive behavior, desensitization
  to violence, fear, depression, nightmares, and
  sleep disturbances
• Interaction -gt enforce learning
• Video game ideal tool when used to learn violent
  behavior
• Vulnerable to learning and adopting violent
  behavior
• Kids younger than 8
• cannot discriminate between fantasy and reality

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Violence in children

• Interpersonal violence
• More prevalent than infectious, cancer,
  congenital disorder
• the most prevalent cause of injury (33)
• Homicide, suicide, and trauma
• leading causes of mortality in the pediatric
  population,
• cumulative death rates of 22.8 /100 000 in
  5 -14 yo ,114.4 / 100 000 in 15 -21 yo

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Current regulation

• Entertainment Software Rating Board
• game industrys self-regulatory body

•  Game companies must follow Principles and
  Guidelines for Responsible Advertising Practices
  

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Rating
Strong violence and sexual contents Only 25 game
titles Selling to 17yo and younger is not
illegal Not sold at almost all the store in town

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Problem of rating system

• It does not have the legal authority !
• Rating mismatch, misconducts
• Confusion with other media rating (TV, movie ,
  etc)
• only 10 check the ratings of computer or video
  games that their adolescents wish to rent or buy
• Everyone can buy them all on-line

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AAP Policy

• Media Violence
• November 2001
• Play of violent video games should be restricted
  to age-limited areas of gaming arcades the
  distribution of videos and video games and the
  exhibition of movies should be limited to
  appropriate age groups.
• Pediatricians should incorporate a media history
  into annual health maintenance examinations
• When heavy media use by a child is identified,
  pediatricians should evaluate the child for
  aggressive behaviors, fears, or sleep
  disturbances and intervene appropriately
• Limit media exposure 1-2 hours/day

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Current legislation

• Truth in Video Game Rating Act (Introduced in
  Senate)
• Video Game Rating Enforcement Act of 2008
  (Introduced in Senate)
• Children Protection from Video Game Violence and
  Sexual Content Act (Introduced in House)
• An act to amend the general business law, in
  relation to prohibiting sale of certain video
  games to minors ( NY states)

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Previous act

• Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA) 
• 2005 Nov, 109 Congress
• introduced by Senator Hillary Clinton, and
  co-sponsored by Senators 
• called for a federal mandate enforcement of the
  ESRB ratings system for video games in order to
  protect children from inappropriate content.
• impose fines for offense of selling a "Mature" or
  "Adult-Only" rated video game to a minor
• FTC investigation into the ESRB
• did not become law
• referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce,
  Science and Transportation and expired at the end
  of the109th session of Congress without further
  action

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Recent movement

• A Louisiana federal judge has thrown out a law
  written by video game critic Jack Thompson
  (Attorney) which would have prevented the sale of
  violent games to minors.
• November 2006
• Judge strikes down Washington, Illinois, Michigan
  state's violent video game law
• July 2004 - 2006

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Other countries policy

• Japan
• CERO (Computer Entertainment Rating Organization)
  3rd party
• A (all age) B gt12yo C gt15yo D gt17yo
• Z gt18 yo adult only
• Not law binding
• Harmful media law by states
• To Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
• UK
• BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)
  rating
• Backed up by law

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What can we do?

• Recognize the effect of video game violence on
  children
• Continue to educate patients and parents
• Encourage the government to introduce
  legislations which regulate game rating and sales

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Emerging virtual world
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The Matrix will be everywhere