Justice?

One of my favorite webcomics a few weeks ago had a link to this story. While I am normally opposed to people abusing the internet and its functions to cause problems for others, in this case I found it vastly amusing. For those of you too lazy to go read the whole story, I will break it down for you. A new video game out recently, Mass Effect, has a rather involved plot and strives for a more movie type feel rather than just a button mashing game. Part of the story line involves a romance. Now a reporter on a Fox News program appeared on national TV saying how the game contianed full frontal nudity and that was basically putting pornography in the hands of all the children playing the game. How did she come to this conclusion? She asked someone before going on air what they had heard about it. Wow.. the commitment level to research and in depth reporting just floors me. So basically a reporter for a widely watched news network was allowed to get on screen and just throw out whatever random rumors that someone on set had relayed from what his best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night!

Well one thing you really don't want to do is piss off a nation of gamers and avid internet users. They extracted their revenge, by doing the same thing she did. Skipping reading her book and then going to the Amazon and Barnes and Noble sites and posting hundereds of 1-star reviews for her book with key words like "hypocrite" and "ignorant" Basically making her book a joke as far as ratings and reviews go on the site.

The news person in question, a Ms. Cooper Lawrence, later responded with these statements:

In an interview on Friday, Ms. Lawrence said that since the controversy over her remarks erupted she had watched someone play the game for about two and a half hours. “I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke.

“Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.”

So there you go. Let me also remind you that this a game that is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and the rating for mature has the following description:

MATURE Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.

You know what else has that same description? Rated R movies. So the real concern here is that this game might have frontal nudity of a computer generated female form which may or may not even be human? This is not a problem with the game. This is not a problem with the video game industry as a whole. This is a problem of misinformation and bad parenting. Period. If you don't want your kids to see the mature content of the game, then don't but it for them. Same way you don't take your 10 year old to a rated R movie. It was the same back when I was a teenager. More music was coming out with explicit lyrics. Groups were up in arms to get labels on them. Fine. No problem there. Just don't spout retarded uninformed facts to further your crusade. I listened to GN'R and some other albums growing up that had the big E for explicit lyrics on them. Hearing the F-bomb in a song doesn't suddenly make a kid a deviant, out stealing cars and doing drugs. If you think that is the case, then you yourself might want to toss in a GN'R cd, play a few tracks and lighten the hell up. I was going to replace "hell" with an f-bomb there for effect, but I wouldn't want to be accused of corrupting the minds of the next generation and I would also have to give my post an 'M' rating. Actually, lets go ahead and give this the 'M' rating now in case my fury over this topic overflows later on.

I ran into a similar situation recently with a family member. This adult was shocked that both of my sons have played the game Halo. Halo does indeed carry a Mature rating as does Mass Effect, but here is the difference. Mass Effects details on its 'M' rating says this: "Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Violence" where Halo's says this: "Blood and Gore, Violence". Halo is a combat game. You shoot stuff and kill stuff to complete your objectives. Halo however is set in a futureistic sci-fi scenario. You are essentially a space marine with access to vehicles and weapons like the Fuel Rod Gun. Oh, I know.. I am a bad bad person for letting my kids be exposed to such raw violence and gore. They are probably half a brain synapsis away from going on a school shooting rampage. Right? I mean thats what we are all afraid of isn't it?

My kids are straight A students, involved with student councils at school, pariticipate in sports, music and art programs. They love to read. They are great to hang out with and talk and love to play card games and board games as well. Yeah, I am very concerned with their emotional state and the likeliness that they will go on a shooting rampage. (/sarcasm off). Please people. Get the hell over your indignation and ignorance and stop putting blame on games and music. This is a parenting issue. This is an issue of the friends they hang out with and if they are strong enough to stand on their own and not follow blindly what everyone else is doing. Talk to your kids. Don't be afraid of the games and the music and shove your head up your ass. Did I say that? I meant stick you head in the sand. Yeah.. thats what I meant.

Do your research on games and know what your kids can handle and maintain touch with reality. No one freaked out when kids played cops and robbers, cowboys and indians or wargames with sticks for guns or even little metal cap guns and such. Why not? Its the same damn thing. Either the kids can play and make believe and then realize that its not reality afterwards and that killing someone with a gun is a BAD idea, or they can't. If they can't, then that is something wrong mentaly with that child and he should be in therapy. Back in my day, they had Lawn Darts / Jarts. These were oversided darts with heavy steel tips on them.. that came to a point. They goal of this game was to stand in a circle toss them straight up in the air as high as you can and then dodge them as they came back down and hope you don't impale your skull. Ok Ok.. I know that is not the actual way to play the game, but I can't tell you how many people I have talked to that remember doing that. Skull pierced with a lawn dart .. that is more likely to cause brain damage and send someone on a rampage than playing a game of Halo or Mass Effect. Lawn darts didn't carry a Mature rating for possible blood and gore now did they? Yet 99.99% of the people who have ever played with a lawn dart are still living happy, normal lives without going on dart incessed rampages leaving a wake of dead behind them.

I can't even begin to explain how tired I am of self-righteous individuals giving me looks of shock when they find out my kids have played Halo, or I let them play a game like Half-life or World of Warcraft or even let them get on the internet at all without me standing over their shoulder. If you know my kids at all you know they are about the most down-to-earth, easy going and good natured kids you will meet. They are not angry violent kids with bad attitudes and behavior problems. So, has Halo affected them? Not a bit.

I played a song the other day that has a fantastic rythym by a band that the kids love. The song has one bad word in it, right at the beginning with a line that goes "Going out of my fucking mind". I played it, then turned off the radio and had a discussion on the word, why it might be used there and then had a discussion on how they were not to sing along with that word in the song and that they are never to use it either. So they still enjoy the song, and I am quite comfortable knowing that they are not going to be sitting around with the extended family at xmas and go "You know what Nana? Im going out of my fucking mind here." :P Although, the shock factor might be comical. <3 you Mom!

I have had many discussions over the years with my ex, my sister and others about parenting. I think my parents did a great job and I take a lot of what I do from how I was raised. I also have observed a lot of other parents / kids and brought some of that knowledge in as well. One thing we decided to do was not hide the kids away. Not pretend that stuff isn't out there. Not try and shelter them from the big bad world, but slowly expose them to things and use that as a discussion starter. Look, kids today are growing up even faster than my generation I think, which was even faster than my parent's generation. I would rather have my kids aware and armed with the knowledge to make smart choices than to be so sheltered that everything they run into is a shock and wonder and they don't know how to process or deal with it.

I went to high school with a girl that was a straight A student, honor roll, honor society, mock trial .. you know all those good college application things. She was so controlled by her parent that she couldn't really do anything. No movies, only music her parents allowed. Couldn't really go out with friends etc. This individual ended up in the same honors dorm that I did down at college and I will tell you, as soon as she was not controlled 24/7, she went crazy. All the freedom and things she never was exposed to in high school.. overload. She would stay up all night partying, drinking, ignoring all her classes and homework. You get the picture.

I feel our jobs as parents is to educate and prepare our kids to be healthy, happy, and well adjusted kids, teens, and eventually adults. Yes, as a parent, I do all I can to protect my kids and keep them safe. I just don't see keeping them unaware of the world and all the good and bad things that happen in it is protecting them. You can over shelter your kids in my opinion. Help them grow, talk to them, guide them, but don't think ignoring things will help them in the long run. I am lucky in that my ex is a phenomenal parent and we are still friends. She takes the parenting thing very seriously with me. We discuss how to handle things with the boys and when we think they are ready to handle certain things.

My mom and other relatives are probably in shock reading this right now, but ask them how they feel about my boys. They are complimented on their behavior, attitudes and conversations they can hold with adults on a regular basis. I know it sounds like I am tooting my own horn here, but I am not trying to. I am just saying that my kids are fantastic and I am comfortable with them going out in public without concern of what they are going to do or say. I am confident that when they are out and about even without me there that they have the intelligence and information they need to make a smart decision on whatever comes up. They know they can come and talk to me or their mother about anything without fear of getting in trouble or being told they don't need to know about it. If they heard it somewhere and have questions, then they most certainly do need to know before they try and figure it out on their own or take whatever information is given to them through word of mouth.

Love you kids and protect them the best you can. Just don't turn them into a bunch of skittish, naieve teenagers that don't know how to interact with others and be their own person. Give them the tools to be a strong, smart individual.

And whatever you do, don't piss off the gamers!