VIDEO GAME CENSORSHIP--

In today's ever advancing society, video games are a controversial topic. Should games be censored due to violent content? Should parents be more responsible about what their children see and play? People tend to blame video games for violence in society. Are games really to blame? To further explore the issue of censorship, we will look at two tragedies concerning video games and discuss how censorship can be prevented.

One of the most horrifying experiences in recent American history is the tragedy that occurred at Columbine High School in April of 1999. Allegedly, the two kids that mercilessly killed innocent victims, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, played violent video games at one point in their lives. (Ed note: Well, so what? Ohhh, they're all violent now!) Immediately thereafter, video games were blamed for causing the two kids to become murderously inclined. But evidence suggests otherwise. The two murderers were building pipe bombs in their rooms and garages, and their parents were completely unaware. Harris and Klebold also recorded videos for school projects that were full of violence and hatred; again, their parents had no idea. Eric Harris even cut off the barrel of a shotgun and left it in plain view on his dresser in his room. Clearly, Harris and Klebold's parents were not involved in their kids' lives.

Another horrible event that took place not long ago is the World Trade Center tragedy. Millions of innocents were killed in a disgusting act of terrorism against the United States. Recent developments have shown that many of the terrorists were taught to fly by using flight simulators. Instantly, America reacted to the news by pulling many flight simulator games off shelves. Talk has already begun of censoring video games so as not to include anything related to terrorism. If video games get censored, what's next? Computer games are the next logical steps in censorship, followed by movies, literature, and any other kind of free speech. Would they go so far as to ban human thought? As one can see, video games are but a small piece of the pie.

So, what can be done to prevent censorship of video games? For starters, parents need to be more involved in their kids' lives. They have a say in what their kids see and play, and they should let their children know what is allowed and what is not acceptable. Also, everyone should know what is in a video game before they purchase it. If a game has violence and you don't like violence, don't buy the game. Read the label on the game before you buy it so you know what you're getting yourself into. Lastly, if you're unable to differentiate between reality and virtual reality, you don't need to be playing video games. It's a very sad thing indeed when video games have to be censored because some idiots can't tell the difference between Doom and reality. Be informed, be smart, and, most importantly, be sane.

In summary, video games don't need to be censored because of violence in society. The problem's a lack of parental involvement and a lack of informed decisions. The Columbine tragedy could have been prevented by parents' simply being aware of what was going on in their kids' lives. People would be less offended by video games if they understood what they were going to play before they actually bought them. Thus, parents need to be more absorbed in their kids' lives, at least where video games are concerned, and people need to be able to make educated, intelligent decisions when buying video games.

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