Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Bill O'Rights
At the risk of sounding like an ass (but, what else is new)...what are you basing your thoughts/opinions on? Seriously. I mean, I'm a parent, and while I'm not stalinistic about it, I do monitor, quite closely, what my kids...ingest. Most parents that I know either do as I do, and use the ratings/age recommendation (for toys) as a guideline, or rigidly adhere to the label. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to identify any parent that expreses such a laissez-faire attitude as you're describing. Not to say that they do not exist...I know that they're out there...I just question the use of the word "most" parents.
|
My thoughts/opinions are formed the same way that you form your thoughts/opinions, on the information I've got my hands on and personal experience. The word 'most' was a judgement call. Sure it was a generalization, but all things considered I think I used it appropriately.
GTA: San Andreas has sold nearly 12 million copies since it's release late last year. That number, however, is from before Rockstar released it for the X-box and the PC, so it's no doubt a little low. This is only one of the 5 'mature' games that made the 2004 top 20 best selling games list. Not to mention all the countless clones, copies and spinoffs the success of the GTA franchise has spawned in the last couple of years. That's just the 'mature' video game numbers. What about the sale of 'mature' movies? Late night television viewership numbers? Sales of 'mature' music? etc, etc.... How many copies of all this 'mature' material do you think are actually in 'mature' hands?
In my experience, parents (like you and your friends) seem to be exceptions to the rule. You seem like an educated fellow and it appears you take an interest in what your kids are..'ingesting' (from what I've divined from what you've chosen to share on the forum) as do a lot of other folks here, but, sadly, that just hasn't been my experience in real life. Parents for the most part, again... in my opinion, are all too happy to plunk down their kids in front of the television, let them get on the internet unsupervised, or blindly take their children's advice when it comes to purchasing/renting video games, movies and the like because it's quick and convenient - deftly shifting the blame to others when those same kids get into trouble. "Well, he shot that cop because the GTA franchise rewards you for killing cops" or "He beat the crap out of that little girl because 'rasslin made him do it."
Far be it for me to judge... I just get upset when I see lawmakers and the like cry out for stricter control on 'mature' material and blame the game-makers, the music distributors and the 'Hollywood' boogyman when clearly, and again, in my opinion, they aren't the weak links in the chain.
I applaud you for monitoring what your kids...ingest. I applaud your friends for being involved as well. I just can't believe that you and your friends are accurate representations of the general public when nearly everything I've 'ingested' says otherwise.