When British Students Play Video Games, Teachers Will Sic the Cops on Their Parents
Does the state need to save kids from violent video games? NO.
British parents are on notice: If you let your kids play a mature video game, it will not go unnoticed by the state.
This new level of micromanagement comes to us from school officials in Cheshire, England. ITV reports:
Parents have been told by headteachers [the British word for "principals'] that they will be reported to police and social services for neglect if they allow their children to play over-18 computer games, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper reported that a warning was issued by primary and secondary schools who found children had been watching or playing games like Call of Duty and Gears of War or Grand Theft Auto. [Gracious me! How ever did they find that out? They must have amazing research powers!]
The group wrote to parents, saying sexual content and violence and sexual content in the games are inappropriate and could lead to "early sexualised behaviour" and leave children "vulnerable to grooming for sexual exploitation or extreme violence".
Clearly, all those children are in immediate danger and need the state to save them. Now let's see. According to the Pew Research Center, 97 percent of kids 12 to 17 played some type of video game, and two-thirds of them played action and adventure games that tend to contain violent content.
So that means about two-thirds of families would be reported to the police. Maybe the state could just move each child one house to the left, so they could all be reared by someone who is not their parents?
Crime—even child abuse—has been going down as the consumption of violent video games has increased. But pay no attention to that pesky little correlation. Who cares if there isn't any actual problem? Remember the 3 D's of child safety: Deplore! Dement! Demand action!
This post was originally published at Free-Range Kids.
