Parenting Call of Duty

Did you know this existed?

http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp

What about this?

http://www.mpaa.org/ratings/what-each-rating-means

Why does the 2nd look more familiar? Maybe because you go to movies and recognize them?

If you recognize the first, then you play video games. And if you play video games... odds are you are in your 30s. Did you know the average age of a video game purchaser is 35? The average gamer is 30 years old and has been playing for 12 years?

I'll sprinkle some more facts in a bit, but the point is simple and premise is simpler: Video games are not just for kids and video games don't cause violence.

There have been no credible studies to support the notion than video games cause violence. That myth is perpetuated by people who don't know what video games actually are, who plays them or who they are made for. Video games (and violent ones at that) are linked to these atrocities because it's always easier to indict than to understand. Don't just take my word for it... look it up. There are NO causal links. To say the two are connected would fly in the face of highly educated doctors, lawyers, and Supreme Court findings.

I got my first computer when I was about eight years old. Santa brought me a Commodore VIC 20 and a 13" TV/monitor. I played Zork on the thing (for all you old school geeks.) I then played on a Commodore 64. I had friends who had Apple II's.

I then played the original NES. (Was the first person I knew to beat Mike Tyson's Punch-Out and the 2nd person I knew to beat Legend of Zelda.)
Then the Sega Genesis. My eventual wife would always kick my butt at Mortal Kombat.
Then the original Playstation.
Then the Playstation 2.
Then the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

I'm 38 years old. Been playing AT LEAST 30 years.

I've probably shot and killed nearly a million enemies. Some human. Some cyborgs. I've killed Ares, Zeus and every other Greek god. I've saved the world more times than it deserves and have also let alien civilizations die because stood in my way. Recently, I just killed a human trafficking leader in the South Pacific while slipping into a violence-induced haze and eventually came back from a descent into madness. Oh... and I took a flamethrower to a group of pigs. Bacon anyone?!

I've also cut my own finger off to rescue my son from a serial killer targeting children. I've beaten Tiger Woods in golf (who hasn't lately?) I've won 5 consecutive Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys. (Call me up Jerry!) And I've killed countless zombies with pea shooting plants, venus fly traps and corn cob shooters.

I've shot nuns in the Wild West. Even set them on fire. Even put one on a train track and watched as the train turned her into a blood puddle just so I could add a new trophy to my PS3 profile. I shot my horse in the head as I was riding it, resulting in my being thrown about 50 yards forward... just to see if I could.

And you know what? I laughed. The game actually let me do that.

And I'm normal... ish. Well, at least I haven't committed mass murder in real life. Phew! Society sure dodged a bullet (pardon the pun) with me, huh?

I find it curious that every time one of these events occur, video games are on the short list of contributing factors.

Let's see... most of these murders involve men squarely in the video game demographic. That only makes sense because that is the wheelhouse demographic for who plays them. That's just like saying most shark attacks happen in the ocean. Well, yeah.... That makes sense.

I won't argue the fact that some people may be prone to greater influence. It's possible that while the games don't cause them to do anything, it might help set a mindset and desensitization to what they see. Which leads me to my next point...

Hey, did you know:

* 47% of all gamers are women?
* Women over the age of 18 comprise 30% of all gamers? Boys under 17 represent 18%
* 68% of all gamers are age 18 or older

Still think it's just a kid thing? If the core demographic for video games are that age... then many developers will gear their material TO that group. Common business sense.

But, let's keep going... if 68% are over 18... that means 32% are under 18. (See what I did there?)

Of that 32%... how many parents are educated enough to guide their kids' purchases? Of that group, how many even know the ESRB exists? Of THAT... how many actually research to find out what their kids want to play?

Folks... it's about parenting. I was in a Gamestop one time and a kid probably nine years old grabbed a Call of Duty game (rated M for violence, language and intensity) and gave it to his mom to buy. She looked at it like he handed her army soldiers from the grocery store and that was that.

The clerk didn't say anything to her about the content. (Should he have?)
She didn't even look at what the game contained.
She rubber stamp-purchased that game for little Johnny to shut him up.

As a parent, would you take your nine year old to see Full Metal Jacket? That's a 2 hour film (give or take) set during the Vietnam era. So, their exposure is fairly limited.
Call of Duty? By industry standards, it's a pretty short campaign at about 7 hours. And that's before any multiplayer exposure. Nearly 4 times the exposure in a video game meant for adults.

Call of Duty is not meant for kids.
Dead Space isn't meant for kids.
God of War isn't.
Battlefield isn't.
Mario Brothers is.

So... is the problem the video game or lack of parenting?

I'd argue lack of parenting results in more shootings than anything else combined.

Will Little Johnny turn out to be a mass murderer? Probably not. But who could argue he shouldn't be head-shotting bad guys and cussing up a storm while playing online?

Did you also know these same games are sold overseas? All over Europe, Japan, Africa... name it. And did you know violent crimes are significantly lower in those markets than they are in America? The link is in the background, mindset and upbringing. Not the video game.

The NRA wants to point to video games as a cause. Heck, the video game industry wants to point to gun ownership as a cause. Neither is right. Guns don't kill people and neither do video games.

Amazing how few people want to point to bad parenting as a cause.

Did you know 90% of the time a game is purchased by someone under 18 that a parent is there?

If your kids play games... research what they are playing and asking for. Get off Pinterest for a second. Turn off the football game. Educate yourselves on what they want and grow a backbone if you don't think it's appropriate for your kid.



http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

Who's Stupid Now?

We are Americans and we have a fascination with stupid.

How else do you explain Honey Boo Boo?

Or Dorito-shell Tacos?

Or Spongebob Squarepants?

Or American Idol?

Or the Democratic Party?

Or thinking guns kill people instead of stupid, deranged and/or evil people?

Or states suing sperm donors to lesbian couples?

Or $10,000 rims on a $1,000 car?

Or having 15 kids out of wedlock and expecting someone 'to be accountable' other than yourself?

Or tucking your boobs into your shirt and going to Wal-Mart? (You know you've seen than pic...)

Or Jack-Ass movies? (I admit, I'm guilty...)

Or how we care about Tom Cruise weirding out on Oprah?

Or how we all assume homeless people are lazy alcoholics instead of maybe, JUST maybe assuming they are down on their luck?

Or how we we now seem to automatically assume the worst in people than the best? (Or maybe the worst in people IS the best?)

Or how a family will struggle to put food on a table, but pay thousands of dollars for season tickets? Or iPads? Or Playstations? Or Golf Memberships? Or Lottery tickets?

Or suing actual states for idiots breaking into schools and shooting children?

Or college professors who believe Sandy Hook is an elaborate hoax to further a political agenda*?

Or how we spend more time playing games, watching tv, playing golf, etc than we do with our families or at church? (That one hurt to write)

Or how many of us walk around in life with a chip on our shoulder, pointing at it, then getting mad when people notice it?

Or how we want to blame our past on our current decisions?

Or how our own laziness has overtaken our desire to work for what we want?
Or how our society has rubber-stamped that that is somehow ok?

Or how we think our kid's accomplishments are an extention of our own parenting ability?

Or how society tolerates anything except for holding firm to your beliefs? (If your beliefs aren't fluid and 'progressive', they aren't tolerable?)

Or how we know more about our favorite sports teams than we do our own jobs? Or Bible? Or spouse?

Or how we think we can treat people with disdain, but expect them to still treat us with respect?

Or how looking out for #1 means pushing down everyone else?

Or how many think if you don't support their cause, you must, by definition, be against it?

Or how Jerry Jones still thinks he can run the Cowboys?
Or how Josh Hamilton thinks the Rangers' fans treated him poorly because he quit on them?

Or how we think when someone you have a generally positive history with does something that hurt us, that's the 'real' them? (See? Assuming the worst in people...)

Or how our stubbornness gets in the way of our friendships?

Or how we can kick the idea of God out of our schools and society and wonder where He is when bad things happen?

Or how we blame God for bad things but don't thank Him for the good ones?

Or how we want to blame mental illness instead of personal decision?

Or how we want to medicate away our problems instead of dealing with them?

Or how we want to coddle our kids instead of empower them?

Or how we want to push social agenda in children's shows?

Or how Nicki Minaj is popular?

Or how we just can't freakin' be happy with what we have?

Or how we think we are always entitled to more? (Just because someone else has it?)

Or how forgiving and forgetting has been replaced by harboring and resenting?

We celebrate stupidity. We revel in dumb.

We really ARE the smartest generation of idiots in collective history.

We have more knowledge, but have less intelligence.

I think maybe my dad had it right a long time ago when I used a calculator on my math homework...

"That thing is gonna make you stupid..."