Posted by mikezillion at March 19th, 2008

They’re always looking for ways to control the marketplace of ideas. I am a big support of protecting minors from having any access to pornography, but I surprise myself when it comes to violent video games.

Violence, unlike sexuality, is a part of life from the very beginning. I don’t think there’s anything particularly mature about wanting to blow somebody else up. It’s one of those emotional issues which we all need to learn to deal with right from the very start.

Sexuality, on the other hand, is something which arrives later in life. Freud might argue that point, but I contend that it’s worth preserving the innocence of youth around issues of sexuality.

I don’t see the argument for restricting children from access to violent video games. It’s not as if the games teach them anything they won’t come up with in their own imaginations in the face of ordinary childhood life. We can’t insulate them from their anger or frustration, so why should we limit their access to tools and techniques for learning how to deal with it?

I don’t play video games. Never have. I have friends who do, and they don’t seem any more or less inclined to use violence than I am. It’s just a way that they deal with those feelings. I deal with mine in other way. So do you.

Restrict children from access to pornography because there is a valid reason for doing so; they are not yet mature enough to understand those issues. But even the youngest of babies get frustrated and scream. Don’t pretend that you can protect a child from rage.