Violent video games are back in the news again. Wasn't that long ago Jack Thompson's anti-game jihad got him disbarred. Our old friend, and known constitutional butt-wiper (someone who repeatedly wipes their ass with the Constitution) Leland Yee also got smacked down by the Supreme Court for his own crusade against video games.
As much noise as politicians and people like Thompson make about video games and what ever perceived societal ills they cause, they, as usual, miss the core issue. Parenting.
Parenting is quite possibly the greatest of all social responsibilities. Simply put if you're going to abdicate this responsibility to politicians like Leland Yee, than well, don't have kids.
Video games aren't a problem for society, and never have been. I say society since they can be problematic if your child lacks discipline or has a short attention span. but again that goes right back to parents. If there is something I've noticed it's that politicians like Leland Yee aren't interested in solving the deep core issues, that would take real, hard, work. Instead politicians like Leland Yee, present their red herrings to the public. Present a feel good measure, make everyone feel warm and fuzzy, do no real work, get re-elected, rinse and repeat. Video games are nothing more than the 21st century comic book.
It has always been the responsibilities of parents to teach their kids and equip them with the things they need to know to function in an ordered society. Yes there are public schools, but their job isn't to teach kids how to behave. In terms of teaching reality and fantasy, it seems like for the most part parents are rather successful in that regard. Millions of people play video games, and the vest majority of these people aren't driven to violence over these games. Sure there are the unadjusted sore losers who are driven into a rage because they die too much in a death match or zombie survival mode, but very rarely even these people don't carry out acts of violence over the game. I myself have been playing games like Doom since 1993. I also own a semi-auto civilian variant of the AK-103 (an update of the venerable AK-47) rifle. According to Leland Yee, I'm a mass murder waiting to happen, not another law abiding citizens who's never been in trouble with the law.
Naturally the responsibility of parenting go beyond video games. But extends to just about every facet of life, including sex. It isn't just Democrats who are trying to ursurpe the responsibility of parenting. Republicans are just as guilty, where as Democrats like Leland Yee want to usher in a People's Republic of China-esque nanny state, Republicans want to usurp this responsibility in the area of personal morals. Case in point, abstinence only "education" and crusty old white men wanting to legislate personal decisions for women.
These politicians can say all they want but at the end of the day it's all meaningless if no one bothers to listen to them. And that's sort of the issue. It's the parent's jobs to raise their kids not politicians. Also parents shouldn't listen to politicians. Leland Yee, nor Todd Atkin give a damn about you or your kids, they want to be re/elected. That's all they care about. A politician is the last person anyone should take parenting tips from. Every time one starts talking about "for the children" a parent should always think, "what is s/he getting at?"
There's a phrase that I believe it was President Harry Truman who coined it, "the buck stops here". And that's how it is with raising your kids. It's all on you, it's a responsibility you can't abdicate to the state.
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