steve`o

are people only reading the bits that they want to see ???

yet again the system proposed by the goverment WONT STOP PORN or VIOLENT GAMES from beeing distributed as it cannot detect / stop peer to peer networking which is how 99.9% of this stuff is distributed

so its got bugger all to do with porn and games
so stop rattleing on about it
its simply a
"you will only see what we deem fit for you to see senario" forced upon us by rudd in which we dont even get to have a say in,
that is till the next election

Hutch

Please cite your references. Because the last time I checked there was only a load of half-arsed 'papers' funded by far right wing 'family' groups.

Do you understand the lengths your forebears went to, to accord you the rights you're so happy to hand back?

bigAPE

Agreed. Most of the studies have been funded by groups with an agenda. As an analogy think of the Brand Power adverts on TV telling you how good some toilet paper is. Just because it's a 3rd party telling you this and not the company themselves doesn't mean it's true. It's just spin.

As a long time game player I do however feel that on some level there must be some desensitising effect with some children. The medium is too realistic these days for it not to. Gone are the days of a red and grey block firing smaller green blocks at each other. Some of the more immersive games like Fallout 3 (which I'm currently playing) could mess with a young head after a while. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be available just that the lazy furk parents need to monitor, and take an interest in, what their kids are playing.


Yes, but are you prepared to pay that price for all of us without our concent.

That would make you no better than the dictatorships around the world that the dead soldiers we all morn have been fighting for the last three thousand years. The Nazi's, the communist block, more recently Afghanistan, etc, all felt that it was fine to restrict information (burning books) and restrict the actions of the population because it's the price they were prepared to pay. Just look at the Chinese for christ sake. Tell me you don't honestly believe that their approach to governing their country is superior to the democratic approach employed in the West. Granted it's not perfect, but at least we have fundamental choices in the decision we make in life.

That is like saying that any serial killer or similar psycho would not have gone on their bloody rampage if they hadn't watched SAW or Hostel. It takes much more than watching a film or playing a game to act as a stressor capable of removing all innate morality and the reasoning gates the brain uses to filter these types of behaviour. Antisocial narcissistic and/or psychotic tendencies will always have been there and the killer would have eventually acted on those feelings regardless of them playing GTA4 or Silent Hill on an XBox.

It is pure laziness to suggest that parents are not responsible and that the government should step in. In all societies there will always be the feral types, banning video games and/or movies won't change that. Personally I think you're deluded if you believe that this Filter proposal has anything to do with stopping anti-social behaviour.

Notts_bloke

I agree totally it really annoys me when people suggest that 18+ video games should be banned. The simple fact is they re 18+ for a reason and kids should not play them. Parents need to take responsiblity for the kids they decided to bring into this world. If you can't be arsed to look after them and keep a check on what they are up to, you shouldn't have had them in the first place. If you let your kids play violent video games is your problem not society's.

NikiL

Yes I do, I also understand the freedoms that are taken away from us by those involved with antisocial behaviour.

You really should read my post again if you think I'm suggesting parents are not responsible. My point was that there are a large number of parents who refuse to take responsibility for it, and they are a major part of the problem. If you believe I'm deluded then hey, thats your opinion and you're obviously entitled to it - but by the same token I am entitled to mine.

Hutch

Different kettle of fish, but yes, you're absolutely right, parents often seem to shirk accountability. I guess in that sense, my parents were negligent too because I spent a lot of my time as a teenager (and younger) watching the goriest films I could find. If those films had been banned, then all the better. I seem to recall particularly enjoying Clockwork Orange, one of many films that the bloke in the 'video van' acquired for us.

Wol

Without making any comments on censorship it seems to me that it's common sense that constant exposure to violent and explicit films, videos and computer games will desensitise *some* children - and possibly quite a number.

You have to be blind not to see the increase in aggressive and violent behaviour just about everywhere and, although the above certainly isn't the sole reason for it it defies belief that it isn't a significant contributor.

Advertisers spend billions trying to influence us via the same media and, even if the ad industry has developed a momentum of its own, the clients must have some evidence that behaviour is changed by the ads.

annqldau

If they take notice of petitions in favour of freedom of speech they weaken their own argument by acknowledging it can have a purpose.

Maybe that is one of the reasons they constantly come up with reasons why they can't improve the internet speed and system here to help keep it from whole heartedly being take up by the masses.

Hutch

Yea? Would you say it more or less violent now than in, say, 1917 or 1942?

Hutch

annqldau

They don't need as much censorship and it limits freedom of speech if people use their computers less due to the archaic speed here.

Hutch

It's not that long ago that we all had dial-up connections and there was just as much porn floating about online ...

Weird Fish

But the flaw in this argument is that if a government begins to restrict one of our freedoms based on a "few" who abuse the system we are setting ourselves up for a state of abolition. I agree that it is terrible that some kids are affected by video games and movies, but where do you draw the line?

Kids who drink alcohol from an early age are more predisposed to having alcohol problems. Do we then ban alcohol? What about the news? Violence is increasingly visible on many news networks should they also be banned? TV shows showing reckless driving? Make-over shows? Celebrities as poor role models, too skinny, too drugged up, overindulgent, too much surgery, should they be banned from the media? Overpaid loutish sports heroes? All of these also cause kids to mimic behaviour that is morally wrong or uses poor judgement. We could go all out and ban the teaching of science as giving kids knowledge could lead them to build a bomb, who knows?

My point is that you cannot pick on one aspect of modern life and use it as an excuse for poor moral judgement. Nor should you carpet bomb a city because there is one roach you want to get rid of.

Jokerman

That's the basic problem with the moral watchdogs. Don't inflict your own morals on me. Thanks! What the world needs is more personal responsibility not a totalitarian goverment telling us what to think.

rabsody

I guess it depends on your view of your fellow (wo)man though. Whether they would do the 'right' thing given the choice, or whether they have to be forced to do the 'right' thing.