A federal judge has struck down a Minnesota law that would have fined minors (instead of the retailers) who purchase video games rated for adults. It is not the government’s place to determine what video games children should be playing. This isn’t a governement issue. It is a parenting issue. This would have never worked anyway. Cigarettes (and alcohol) are illegal for minors to purchase too (but even then we don’t fine the minors, we fine the companies selling them. At least in AR, we do.), and look how well that works. How many people did you know in High School that smoked? About a quarter of the people in my class, at one point or another. And that is on an issue where there is a real reason for the ban (health issues). There are no proven ill-effects of playing violent video games. There is a lot of conjecture out there and studies timidly claiming one way or the other. But there is no way to know for certain. Which is why it should be up to the parents to decide what to do.

If parents care so little about their kids that they are letting them play anything they want, then what difference is some law going to make. It only addresses a symptom of a much deeper, incurable problem. And if parents are playing these games with their children and discussing the issues that come up, I have a feeling that would actually be beneficial for children. But it is just my feeling. I have no right to tell other people how to raise their kids based on my own feelings. And if children disobey their parents and play these games even though they aren’t not allowed to, that is a family discipline issue that the government has no right to intervene in. To sum up my feelings, the government has absolutely no reason to be passing laws like this. To read another opinion on this issue, check out jayreding.com