Parents and the ESRB Rating System: The Death of Common Sense
Posted by HCG KP1gL37 | Filed under Editorials, Rants
Christian, family, and parental watchdog organizations are responsible for a discouraging trend lately by flooding the web with “parental buying guides for video games.” Take The National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) for example. They recently released their 13th annual video game report card that includes a list of games parents should avoid in 2008. And another group, The Timothy Plan, has started their own little witch hunt of “evil-doers” in the gaming industry. Also, as we mentioned in Hey Did You Hear… last week, the ESRB has instituted a new policy that will require a detailed listing of the game’s content on their website (hello, spoilers!) in addition to the current rating and content descriptors so that parents can further understand what is included in a game. The more these organizations clog parent’s brains with these “games that are evil” guides, the less parents will rely on the ESRB rating system and make good parenting choices on their own. I’m not saying parents don’t need to be informed (because I know a lot of them are clueless). I’m saying these organizations need to focus on teaching the rating system, not demonizing games based on their content.
Tags: Editorials, ESRB, MPAA, National Institute on Media and the Family, NIMF, Rants, ratings, The Timothy Plan, Video Game Voters Network
