Fact Sheet on H.R. 669: Protect Children From Video Game Sex & Violence Act of 2003

Easy access to video games with mature content:  The video game industry’s voluntary rating system has not prevented children from buying or renting games with sexual or violent content. 

• 92 percent of children ages 2-17 play video or computer games. 20 percent of adolescents can be classified as pathologically dependent on video games. Source:  “6th Annual Video and Computer Game Report Card,” by the National Institute on Media and the Family (December 2001).
  
   
• In 2001, the Federal Trade Commission conducted sting operations to determine how accessible “Mature”-rated games were to minors.  Games rated as “Mature” by the Entertainment Software Rating Board are intended only for audiences 17 years old and over.  In December, the FTC released their study, which showed that 78 percent of children between the ages of 13 and 16 were able to purchase “Mature”-rated games.

Effect of Games on Children:  Video games with violent and sexually oriented material are brainwashing and conditioning our kids to violence.

• There is an increasing amount of scientific evidence that indicates that playing violent video games is positively related to aggressive thoughts and behavior, and delinquency. Source:  Journal of Personality and Psychology (April 2000);  Psychological Science (April 2001);  Psychological Science (September 2001).
  
   
• On July 26, 2000, six of the nation’s most respected public health groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, found that viewing entertainment violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes and behaviors, particularly in children.
  
   
• Violent video games pose a greater danger than violence in television or movies because:

• the player assumes the identity of the character,
• the player actively participates in the video game,
• video games are played repetitively and can become addictive, and
• video games often reward players for taking part in violent behavior.
  Source:  Journal of Personality and Psychology (April 2000).

• Violent video games teach our kids the skill and the will to kill.

• today’s video games require so much bloody killing that the Marines use them to de-sensitize recruits, to make them less squeamish about real killing.
• children exposed to violent video games may become de-sensitized, and may begin to enjoy the act of killing opponents on-screen.
• violent video games teach children to associate pleasure with human death and suffering because they are rewarded for killing people. Source:  Lt. Col. David Grossman, West Point Psychology Professor (Interview with ABC, March 22)

Violent and Sexual Content in Games:  Mature-rated video games contain content not suitable for children. 

• Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – depict characters having sex with prostitutes, car-jacking soccer moms, attacking elderly persons, and killing police officers. The games even imitate the sensations of a drug high.
   
• BMX XXX – lets players spend their money in strip clubs, showing live-action footage of naked strippers.  The game allows players to create female characters, with full control over breast size and the option to have the character ride topless.

What the bill does:  The bill will create consequences for those who profit from selling these games to our kids. 

• On April 19, 2002, Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Sr. of the U.S. District Court in St. Louis held that video games are not a protected form of speech.  The court also said that even if they are protected under the First Amendment, the government has a compelling interest to protect the physical and emotional health of children, and assist parents to be the guardians of their children’s well-being.
  
   
• Last year’s bill, H.R. 4645, had 35 co-sponsors and the endorsement of:

• Traditional Values Coalition
• Center for Successful Parenting
• The Lion and Lamb Project
• Mothers Against Violence in America
• American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• National Association of School Psychologists

•  H.R. 669, the Protect Children from Video Game Sex and Violence Act of 2003 will impose penalties on those who sell or rent to minors video games that depict:

• nudity,
• sexual conduct, or
• content harmful to minors AND contain graphic violence, sexual violence, or strong sexual content.

• “Harmful to minors” is defined as content that:

• appeals to minors’ morbid interest in violent or sex
• is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, and
• lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.