The Change Mariner

Legislation Attacks Violent Video Games with Legislation

SFExaminer:
Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, wants California children to spend the holiday season peacefully, not gunning down minorities and running over prostitutes.

Standing in front of the towering Union Square Christmas tree on Dec. 1, Yee announced legislation prohibiting the sale of violent video games, such as the notorious “Grand Theft Auto 3” to children.

“Violence as a form of entertainment has really reached epidemic proportions,” he said. “It is really a health crisis.”

The Assembly member, whose district straddles San Francisco and San Mateo counties, will introduce two bills restricting the sale and marketing of violent video games this month.

The first piece of legislation includes the games in an existing law, which imposes penalties on those who distribute “harmful matter” to minors. The second bill requires retailers to prominently display the rating system, separate out “mature” rated games and display them well-above children’s eye-level.

Yee’s legislation was inspired by a member of his staff, Jodi Hicks Hernandez, who was disturbed by the video game “Grand Theft Auto 3” — particularly a scene where players can pick up a prostitute. The prostitute enters the car, it visibly shakes and the player loses money but gains health. After the woman leaves the car, the player can recoup the money by running her over.

Yee said such games are particularly egregious because they place the player in the position of a “first shooter,” who stalks and kills victims who are often women and minorities.

Yee, who holds a doctorate in child psychology, believes there is a dangerous connection between violent media and aggressive behavior in youth — a position backed by public health officials, psychiatrists and law enforcement officials.

“When you have gratuitous violence and you are teaching kids to hurt and maim other people who are different than them, you are desensitizing them,” said Dr. George Fouras of the California Psychiatric Association.

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