Censorship in Video Games

Censorship in the modern society has proven to be very necessary. The amount of nudity, violence, and distasteful language that the public is exposed to has steadily increased throughout the past couple of decades. This exposure has been present in all forms of media including both television and video games. In response, many organizations have been founded, such as the Electronic Software Rating Board and the Federal Communications Commission. These foundations are dedicated to preventing children from viewing obscenities that are present in the media. Some people wish to have more censorship, but I feel quite differently. It is unnecessary to provide any more censorship within either video games or television. The rating boards that have been founded provide parents with all of the necessary information to protect their children from inappropriate material. It is now the parent's responsibility to learn how to take advantage of these rating systems. They must take an active role in educating themselves on what they mean. It should not be the governments job to be the parent, but instead the parent's.

The ESRB, or Entertainment Software Rating Board, is a foundation that was established to notify parents of whether a video game is, or is not, appropriate for children to play. This foundation provides a rating symbol which gives information about the age range that is appropriate for the videogame. An example of this is the "Teen" rating. This rating says that the game is appropriate for children 13 and older. Included with this rating is a listing of all negatively influential material within the game. For example, if the game contained the use of alcohol it would be indicated on the package. This is, in short, reasoning as to why the game has the rating that it does. This is a good amount of information to provide on a video game package. This means that parents should always know what kind of material their children are being involved with. However, this is not the case. The National Institute on Media conducted a study that found that only 40 percent of parents understand what the ESRB ratings mean and that 53 percent use those ratings to choose which games are appropriate for their children. The ratings are present, but parents are not using them to their advantage. This means that it is not necessarily the ESRB that is not doing its job. A majority of parents are not taking the necessary steps to protecting their children. A study conducted by Craig Anderson and Karen Dill found that allowing children to play excessively violent video games can cause extreme aggression (Anderson/Dill, 2000). If parents watch for the ratings displayed on the package they could be aware of the type of video games that cause this overaggressive behavior. Parents are not informing themselves as to what the ESRB system is and what it means. They must realize that these ratings hold a very large significance. However, this is evident not only in video games, but in television as well.

The Federal Communications Commission, FCC, is an organization that was founded due to the Communications Act of 1934. According to the Federal Communications Commission website, the FCC regulates National and State communications including radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. The FCC works through six different bureaus. Each bureau has a different job and an individual task that they must perform. Some are in charge of maintaining the restrictions that have been set up by the FCC. Other bureaus, however, are in charge of determining punishments for those that disobey the regulations set forth by the other bureaus. The FCC has been helping parents protect their children and themselves for decades. They have been very efficient in providing an understanding of what programs are acceptable for children and parents alike. The rating system is actually quite similar to the rating system used by the ESRB. The system provides a rating system to tell the viewer what ages can view the program. For example, a program that is rated "TV-Y" is appropriate for all ages, whereas a program with a rating of "TV-MA" is intended for anyone over the age of seventeen. They also contain a broad content similar to that of the ESRB video game ratings. Like the ESRB ratings, the ratings created by the FCC can only work if parents know and care what they mean. Some might complain that these are just not effective ratings. This is true if they are misunderstood. This is again, a situation where parents must take control into their own hands. Parents need to learn what television programming and radio stations contain explicit content that they would not like their children and themselves to view. On the other hand, there are things that can not be censored such as live television. This is where parents can lose control of what they think can be appropriate programming.

Live television has been found to be extremely unpredictable and often uncensorable. Live television can start as a mild mannered program into a controversial one in no time at all. The infamous Super bowl half time show with Janet Jackson is a prime example of this. This is definitely a large problem when it comes to preventing obscene material on TV. Live television broadcasts can not prevent unforeseeable events. This can cause many parents to feel that the FCC is failing in its responsibilities. This is very understandable argument as well. The fact is that there is no real way to censor live television. The only way to do this would be to control the actions of the individuals on the live broadcast. So, what can society do to prevent this? Adding a couple of seconds of delay to a broadcasting signal could allow a network to censor inappropriate language and explicit material such as nudity. Also, increasing fines for disobeying the FCC's regulations would make people think twice about their actions on television. This might not eliminate all obscenities in the media but it could reduce them.
In today's society it may not be possible to censor everything that is thrown at the general public. Nevertheless, it is still possible to reduce the chance of these things reaching children and those that do not wish to see such things.

I think that no child should grow up in a world surrounded by pornography and violence. However, these things do exist and it is really up to parents to step in and protect their children. Parents need to step in and take control of what their children and themselves see. Parents need to take some time out of their day to learn what they can do to prevent their children from being exposed to these modern day obscenities. It would help if parents would take about an hour to visit the ESRB and FCC websites. It may not be easy and it may not be an enjoyable experience, but if a parent is really concerned about what their children do and see, they should try. Everyone needs to make an effort to try reducing obscenities that are present in this modern day society.