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in support of free expression
The information presented here by the National
Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) may be freely redistributed in its entirety,
provided that readers are informed that the information was obtained from
NCAC's World Wide Web site and that credit is given to the appropriate source
of whatever information is used. Permission is expressly granted for the information
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may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without
the written permission from the National Coalition Against Censorship.
©Copyright 2005 NCAC
WEB DESIGN
Jeanne Criscola Criscola Design
YFEN
Express Yourself! Op-Eds
Letter to NCAC: Video Game Censorship By Jesstin Jacobs
Dear NCAC,
I would first like to introduce myself, and explain the purpose of my letter. A new graduation requirement in Rhode Island is to complete a Capstone project, in which we develop a ‘core question’ and create a product based upon it. For mine, I decided to focus on video games. Following on the heels of literature, music, and television, video games have quickly become the next controversial form of entertainment in today’s world. And, being a video gamer myself, I chose to further explore the debate. The core question I developed asks how video games affect those who play them, and whether or not they should be further regulated/banned. For my product, I decided to write a letter, based upon my research. As I also feel very strongly about censorship, I thought that the National Coalition Against Censorship would be the perfect place to send my letter.
To address the first component of my core question, video games do indeed affect people. As I have found, through various practices and studies, video games can have multiple effects on children and numerous applications in the real world.
One of the more beneficial effects of video game playing is that it increases visual processing skills. One confirmation of this is a study done by the University of Rochester. In this study, a series of tests were given to sixteen men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. These tests calculated their ability to locate the position of a blinking object, count the number of objects on a screen, and pick out the color of an alphabet letter. The results showed that “Those who played video games for the past six months performed better in all those tests than those who didn’t.” (USA Today). Another test, consisting of seventeen individuals who had never played video games, taught subjects to play either the military shooter “Medal of Honor” or the puzzle game “Tetris”. Those who had played “Medal of Honor” tested better than those who played “Tetris”.
This may not seem like a great benefit, but one such application can be found in a study from the Archives of Science journal. A group of thirty-three surgeons were subjected to playing three different video games, as well as participate in ‘Top Gun’, a preparatory course that tested laparoscopic surgery skills. In the study’s outcome, “Overall Top Gun score (time and error) was 33% better (P<.005) for video game players and 42% better (P<.01) if they played more than 3 h/wk.” (Rosser) As this study proved, video games can, in fact, improve laparoscopic surgery skill, and “Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons.” (Rosser)
Similarly, more of video games’ benefits have been recognized by the United States Army. According to military experts, “Soldiers who grow up playing video games do better in processing information on a screen or operating long-range unmanned aerial vehicles that can film or photograph enemy activity on the ground.” (USA Today) And according to Lt. Cmdr. Russell Shilling, “The people who have been playing video games all their lives seem a lot more comfortable in some of these kinds of environments.”
Besides those who have played video games before entering into service, the army itself uses video games to train soldiers. Simulation games “have been successful in the military and aerospace industries, focusing on training, performance enhancement, and error prevention.” (Rosser) Furthermore, the army has licensed the Rainbow Six series of video games to train special-operations groups because “…it is an excellent way to teach all of the steps necessary to plan and conduct a successful special-operations mission.” (Rosser)
The actual merit of the military’s decision to use video games can only be debated. Florida attorney Jack Thompson has been quoted as saying that the military was simply looking “for a way to disconnect in the soldier’s mind the physical act of pulling the trigger from the awful reality that a life may end.” The validity of that statement is unknown, but at least the soldiers are being trained. The more training American soldiers get, than the less likely they are to be killed in combat. Disregarding the ethicality of taking another human life for one’s country, this still equates to less casualties for the country, and more soldiers that are able to return home alive.
While feuds with Rockstar Games and Take Two Interactive are well-known, some benefits can be gained even from Grand Theft Auto. As seen in the case of Haitian American Coalition of Palm Beach Co. v. Take-Two, the Grand Theft Auto series has been filled with racially offensive content. And what is the value in this? Kurt Squire, an assistant professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has studied middle-school children playing Grand Theft Auto. When the children played by themselves, the game has little use, and Squire said that the children “even got bored with the killing part of it.” Instead, its value was found when Squire led a game-based discussion among the players. According to Squire, “What you could do is get white kids and black kids playing the game together and talking about their perceptions. We found they were all troubled by the stereotypes in the game.” While this in no way makes Grand Theft Auto an acceptable game, it can, nonetheless, be used to achieve a positive outcome.
Had I decided to write a biased letter, I would now deal with the second component of my question. True to my research, though, I will talk about both sides of the issue. As much as I myself enjoy video games, and try to defend them, they aren’t perfect. As you yourself surely know, games can also have harmful effects on certain individuals.
An experimental study by Anderson and Karen Dill, 210 undergraduates were assigned to play either Wolfenstein 3-D, a first-person shooter, or Myst, an adventure game with emphasis on solving puzzles. Given the chance to ‘punish’ losing opponents with a blast of noise, the students playing Wolfenstein 3-D “…chose to inflict significantly louder and longer blasts than the Myst kids did.” (Schaffer) Another study, also proving an increase in aggression, was conducted by psychologists Craig Anderson, Douglas Gentile, and Katherine Buckley. This long-term study, conducted on 430 third- through fifth-graders, showed that children who played “more violent video games ‘changed over the school year to become more verbally aggressive, more physically aggressive,’ and less helpful to others.” (Schaffer)
While these studies show how video games can negatively affect people, the problem is not as dire as many have suggested. With the sick and tragic exception of Joshua and William Buckner, who cited Grand Theft Auto III as the inspiration for an incident which involved in the death of one, and the injury of others, the plain fact is the video games are not the be-all, end-all cause of violence. Grand Theft Auto III, and its sequel, Vice City have sold a combined 11.5 million copies. (Morris) Quite simply, there have not been 11.5 million children running around the country on murderous rampages. Fortunately, most Americans know that taking a gun and indiscriminately killing others is not a rational thing to do.
This, however, does bring me to my second point: should video games be further banned or regulated? The answer is mixed, although I do have some suggestions.
First and foremost, violent and offensive video games should not be banned outright. Regardless of anyone’s opinion of video games, they are protected by the First Amendment. In similar cases, the courts have shown, as early as the forties, in the case of Winters v. New York, 333 U.S. 507 (1948), that they “can see nothing of any possible value to society,” but “they are as much entitled to the protection of free speech as the best of literature.” Id. at 510. The court also discarded the idea that the First Amendment applies only to ‘worthy’ material because the “line between the informing and the entertaining is too elusive for the protection of that basic right.” Winters v. New York, 333 U.S. at 510.
In addition, should one ban anything that has been cited as the cause for violence? Should one outlaw the Bible, or the Koran, because a religious fanatic will claim that it justifies his actions? As is the case with any act of violence, there are, and always have been, multiple factors to take into consideration.
Also, take a moment to compare video games with film. Are R-rate movies banned? What about NC-17-rated movies? These M-rated equivalents are not banned, but enforced so as not to be viewed by minors. By law, no one under seventeen can see an R-rated movie without a parent, and no one under seventeen can see an NC-17-rated movie at all.
Having said this, I think that there are other, more appropriate solutions to this problem. Part of my inspiration comes from Jack Thompson. In the case of Thompson v. Best Buy, No. 04-23568 (Miami-Dade Co., Fla., Cir. Ct.), Best Buy agreed to enforce a policy requiring identification for the sale of M-rated games. Similarly to movies, I believe this is where the answer lies. Rather than try to outright ban violent video games, I believe it would be more realistic to make it harder for children to acquire them in the first place. After all, if a ten-year old child is corrupted by, say, Grand Theft Auto, where does the fault lie? Does it lie with the companies that created and published the game, or the negligent parents who purchased it for their children?
To this end, I believe that you should try to enforce regulations keeping video games out of the hands of children. At the same time, I suggest working alongside the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), which, as I am sure you know, is the group that rates video games. According to an article from their website, 74% of parents surveyed use these ratings when buying a video game, and 53% never allow their children to play M-rated games. And since 2005, these values have only increased. Stricter video game sales laws, coupled with an increased awareness in ESRB ratings, could effectively help to keep inappropriate video games out of the hands of children.
In conclusion, video games can be both beneficial and detrimental to those who play them. They can increase visual skills, and be used as teaching aids. Unfortunately, some games can also cause an increase in aggression. For those games that do cause negative effects, prohibition of them is unconstitutional. Instead, attention should be focused on how the games are sold, similar to R-rated movies, and even tobacco and liquor. If there were harsher consequences for selling games to minors, and if parents were more conscious of what they were purchasing, the problem could be solved much more reasonably.
Finally, I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to read and, hopefully, consider what I have written. Since this is part of a graduation requirement, a response (even something as simple as saying you received my letter and took my ideas into consideration) would be more than greatly appreciated, as it would show the Capstone Committee that I have truly complete my project. In hopes of a response, I have also included a self-addressed envelope that you can use to reply. Once again, thank you for reading my letter, and most of all, take care.
Sincerely,
Jesstin Jacobs
Works Cited:
"Study Surprise: Gaming can be good for you." USA Today 28 May 2003 8 February 2007 <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/2003-05-28-games-good_x.htm>.
"Awareness, Use and Trust of ESRB Video Game Ratings Reach Historical High-Point Among Parents." ESRB Press Releases, Public Statements and Announcements 29 MAR 2006 08 MAR 2007 <http://www.esrb.org/about/news.jsp>.
Schaffer, Amanda. "Don't Shoot: Why video games really are linked to violence.." Slate 27 Apr 2007 30 Apr 2007 <http://www.slate.com/id/2164065?nav=ais>.
Rosser, Jr, MD, James C., Paul J. Lynch, MD, Laurie Cuddihy, MD, Douglas A. Gentile, PhD, Jonathon
Klonsky, MD, and Ronald Merrell, MD. "The Impact of Video Games on Training Surgeons in the 21st Century." Archives of Surgery. 142(2007): 181-186.
Morris, Chris. "The return of 'Grand Theft Auto' ." 27 Oct 2004 1 June 2007 <http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/25/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm>.
Winters v. New York, 333 U.S. 507
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