Debating Myself

In 1.5 hours Grand Theft Auto IV will be officially on sale in the United States. Grand Theft Auto IV, in case you have not heard any buzz about it, is an adult-themed video game being realized on the next generation consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) in which players play a gangster and commit increasingly violent and illegal acts in order to progress through the game.

The game, like its predecessors, has sparked much controversy. Many are calling for an outright ban, saying that the game is too damaging to children if it gets into their hands, and that it may promote violence and illegal behavior among them.

GTA IV is rated M for Mature, which means children under the age of 17 cannot buy the game without the presence of an adult–a rating standard that has been much more strongly enforced over the past few years. Essentially it is the video game “R” rating.

With that perspective, let’s point out that GTA IV is estimated to bring in between 200 and 400 million dollars in sales on its opening weekend alone.

If the game breaks $337 million in its opening weekend it will outsell any Hollywood film opening gross in history–despite having a much smaller target audience (essentially those aged 17 and older).

It goes without saying that GTA IV has become a showdown in the battle over video game regulation.

But should there even be a showdown? Parents and those opposed to violent video games need to learn to handle video games exactly the same way they handle violent movies (in fact the debate around video games mirrors much of the debate around violent films in the 70s and 80s)…

Parent your children. Talk to your children. Stop asking the government to be your child. The regulations are in place to prevent children from purchasing the game without parental consent, now it is up to parents to take that further step and ensure that their children don’t play the game without their consent, and if they do play it the parents engage their children in a healthy dialog about the game and its content.

Parents should use the game as an opportunity to talk about sex, violence and drugs with their kids. It could be a huge positive if parents use it as way to relate to their children and use the game to demonstrate to their children the differences between the virtual and the real world (as the proverbial doll parents used to use to talk to their children about anatomy, puberty and sex).

Historically, government regulation has been a lousy substitute for parental involvement. Those worried about their kids getting their hands on these games need to stop expending energy pushing their beliefs on the rest of the country (in an ultimately fruitless effort because it will always be unconstitutional to regulate such media based on its content–hopefully) and they need to focus their efforts on one of the most difficult tasks any of us could ever undertake–being a parent.

Be a parent, not an activist. Your kids will appreciate it and society will be better off if we are honest and direct with our children instead of relying on the government to dictate what they can and cannot do.