BLOG VIEW | HEADLINE VIEW

ALL

GEEK

Parents Surrender Responsibility

WEDNESDAY MARCH 30 2005 12:25 PM

Submitted by Domo_Kun. Edited By Michael_J_Totten.

Apparently, in Illinois there is no such thing as parental responsibility. Your underage kid bought Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas without your knowledge or consent? It isn't your problem, if Gov. Rod Blagojevitch has his way. It's the fault of the retailers who sold the game. That's right, the State of Illinois - if the General Assembly follows the lead of the governor - will make it a Class A misdemeanor to sell M-rated video games to minors. Any violation of this law would be punishable by up to a year in prison or a $5,000 fine.

From The Missouri Valley Times:

Gov. Blagojevich has proposed a law to make the sale of explicitly violent or sexual games to under-18 consumers a Class A misdemeanor, carrying a punishment of up to a year in prison or a $5,000 fine. He also wants to require video retailers to label games for content and post signs in their stores explaining the rating system for the games.

In addition, the governor named a task force of educators, medical experts and parents to advise him on the potential harmful effects of suspect videos on minors. Last December, he urged the Chicago Transit Authority to cancel a contract for advertising a mature-rated video game on city buses.

I'm sorry, but it's the parents' job to decide which entertainment their children can and can't consume. Retailers cannot and should not take the place of parents.

Anyone who has worked retail, as I have, where they have had to deal with parents trying to shirk their responsibility would agree. It is up to the parents to be parents. It is not up to the retailers.

79 Comments

PAGE:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Dreamweaveruk

United Kingdom

October 2004

MAR 30, 2005 12:36 PM

...what has this got to do with France?

mamet

Charleston, SC

March 2005

MAR 30, 2005 12:39 PM

Some people will do anthing to shirk accountability and not have to actually parent.

OctoberSeven

Downers Grove, IL

December 2002

MAR 30, 2005 12:41 PM

I don't see what the problem here is. There are stores already that will not sell 'M' rated games or albums with explicit content stickers to minors. To me this just seems like a continuation of standards the industry has already begun to set for itself.

Stiles

New York, NY

November 2002

MAR 30, 2005 12:43 PM

So, you guys must have lots of empty jail cells just sitting around, right?

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

MAR 30, 2005 12:43 PM

Can you please edit your article? And, as much as I appreciate your:
A)Distaste for the French
and
B)Work history
Neither one of them have anything to do with the story.

mamet

Charleston, SC

March 2005

MAR 30, 2005 12:45 PM

OctoberSeven said:
I don't see what the problem here is. There are stores already that will not sell 'M' rated games or albums with explicit content stickers to minors. To me this just seems like a continuation of standards the industry has already begun to set for itself.

I certainly agree that people probably shouldn't sell this stuff to minors (actually, I would like it if no one bought these GTA games, but I believe in people's rights to like what they want), but the penalty is severe. It appears like a ploy to shift responsibility from the parent to the retailer, and that is unfair and reprehensible.

PhantomVI

Chicago, IL

May 2003

MAR 30, 2005 12:48 PM

It's not going to stop a thing. I've watched parents buy copies of GTA:SA for their 6 year old kids. Pass all the laws you want, G-Rod, but you're still going to have floods of disinterested and uninformed parents.
Oh, and the "France" bit was classy

[Edited on Mar 30, 2005 2:49PM]

Shalome

MODERATOR

Los Angeles, CA

MAR 30, 2005 12:49 PM

Cthulhu said:
Apparently, in Illinois, there is no such thing as parental responsibility. Your underage kid bought Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas without your knowledge or consent? It isn't your problem, if Gov. Rod Blagojevitch has his way. It's the problem of the retailers who sold the game. That's right. the State of Illinois, if the General Assembly follows the lead of the governor, will make it a Class A misdemeanor to sell M-rated video games to minors. Any violation of this law would be punishable by up to a year in prison or a $5,000 fine.

From The Missouri Valley Times:

I'm sorry, but it is up to the parents to police what entertainment their children consume. Retailers canot and should not take the place of parents.

Back when I was working at Claire's, I had plenty of parents who asked me how on earth I could have eitehr sold merchandise tehy found to be questionable or sold so much to their kids. I replied with this: "It isn't my job to enforce your standards for your children. It is my job to run this store and sell merchandise." Anyone who has worked retail where they have had to deal with parents trying to shirk their responsibility would agree with me. It is up to the parents to be parents. It is not up to the retailers.

Okay, I'm done. Discuss.

So retailers should stop checking ID of young people buying cigarettes, alcohol, and pornography, right? After all, it's a parent's responsibility to police what minors buy, not a retailer's....

Jeff_Fries

Humptulips, WA

September 2003

MAR 30, 2005 12:51 PM

*BLARGOJEVITCH*

legionnaire

United Kingdom

November 2003

MAR 30, 2005 01:00 PM

PointBlank said:
Can you please edit your article? And, as much as I appreciate your:
A)Distaste for the French
and
B)Work history
Neither one of them have anything to do with the story.

Hmm.... yeah. Agreed.

smithers_jones

Los Angeles, CA

November 2003

MAR 30, 2005 01:02 PM

legionnaire said:

PointBlank said:
Can you please edit your article? And, as much as I appreciate your:
A)Distaste for the French
and
B)Work history
Neither one of them have anything to do with the story.

Hmm.... yeah. Agreed.

A spell check would be nice too.

reprobate

New Orleans, LA

December 2002

MAR 30, 2005 01:04 PM

Firstly, this statue has some very serious due process problems, but that aside how does your mythical parental responsibility work in practice? Are parents supposed to walk around the mall shackled to their kids? Not let them have any disposable income? Implant a lo jack that sounds a warning when they get within 100 feet of Best Buy? Sure you can keep your kids from playing the games, at least at your house, just like my parents kept me from smoking in mine, but there was sweet fuck all they could do to prevent me from buying the cigarettes.

Okuma

Pensacola, FL

June 2004

MAR 30, 2005 01:13 PM

While I agree that parents should take more responsibility for what games/movies/music their young children are exposed to, it cannot rest solely on the parents' shoulders. The ratings on these games aren't there to make them look pretty, and it IS, whether you want to accept it or not, the retailer's responsibility to NOT sell the Playboy Mansion game to a fucking 6 year old, get it? The EB games that I go to has taken their responsibility as a retailer VERY seriously. To purchase a game that is rated M or above, you are required to present ID or have a parent with you who then also must present ID.

Sure, Parental responsibility is important, but it's also important for the retailers to have some common sense not to sell objectionable material to children. It's true, it's not your job to enforce the standards of parents which most likely vary family to family, but as a retailer, it is your job to enforce the standards that the ratings boards put in place on such things.

Snottlebocket

Netherlands

March 2004

MAR 30, 2005 01:14 PM

it's a shopkeepers job to sell products
it's a parents job to raise their kids

where's the hard part again?

Subrosa

San Francisco, CA

July 2004

MAR 30, 2005 01:29 PM

reprobate said:
...how does your mythical parental responsibility work in practice? ... Implant a lo jack that sounds a warning when they get within 100 feet of Best Buy?

Holy CRAP that would be fun to watch.

PAGE:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6