My Reflection of Video Game Censorship

 Video games, they are a form of entertainment to not just children, but to grown ups as well. Many people including myself are fascinated by video games, and enjoy playing them to entertain themselves. However, to the eyes of the law, while they may be a work of entertainment to some, to them it can be the contrary. The censorship of video games has not been a private matter, as there are a lot of violent video games being released that lawmakers feel they should not be playable at all to the public. Specifically, they should not allow the children to play violent video games, along with the protesters who want to reduce the violence that children are exposed to by some of these games. 

In 2011, Supreme Court case Brown v. The Entertainment Merchants Association ruled that California law prohibited the sales or rentals of violent video games to minors as a violation to the First Amendment rule. These video companies had made the defense that there was no connection between violent video games and harm to children. According to the article written by David L. Hudson Jr on "Brown V. Entertainment Merchants Association", Justice Antonin Scalia noted that the law was not "tailored in part" due to a voluntary rating system that was out for parents to be informed of on how violent specific video games were. As such, the law was put as unconstitutional, and there is no ruling that bans minors from buying violent video games. 

As someone who loves playing video games, I can say that there are a lot of violent video games that I have played like Grand Theft Auto 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mortal Kombat, Gmod, and many more. However, I do not think video games are sorely the reason why children are exposed to violence. While there are plenty of graphic video games for young kids, it is on the parents for letting their kids play these games. Not only that, but parents can be sometimes clumsy, and let their children get exposed to media that can be unsafe for them at their age. It is the reason why some kids can turn out to be bad people and the parents are irresponsible for letting them become who they are by enabling them to do as they please. Without parent protection, kids growth development can end up hurting them with too much media exposure. Increasing parent protection can help kids develop better and healthier by limiting their young ones' time behind the screen and behind the controller. More time spent with them can help them develop better relationships between parent and child, and getting them to spend more outside time can help expand their social skills. Outdoor activity can also help them be in great shape and set them up to live a great life. 

Going back to my reflection of the law, I believe that the lawmakers made the right choice with this decision. Parents should be more aware of what their children play or see when it comes to video games. If they feel the game is not right for their child, they should take control of that. Better parent guidance can prevent children from going down the wrong path. 

Source: 

"Brown V. Entertainment Merchant Association (2011)". Hudson, L. David.  Free Speech Center, last updated 19 Sept. 2023. 

https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/brown-v-entertainment-merchants-association-2011/#

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