Video games already carry standard parental advisory stickers that tell buyers which age groups they are appropriate for, but US Representative Joe Baca wants more. Baca and US Representative Frank Wolf believe that there are enough studies that show that long-term exposure to violent video games can actually lead to similar behavior. The bill, named the Video Game Health Labeling Act would require all video game retailers to further categorize and label games that have been deemed as extremely violent.
Although both Baca and Wolf cite literature produced by several well respected universities as well as the Pediatrics Journal, the opinions of these experts fall just short of alleging that exposure to violent video games actually causes anti-social and destructive behavior. In their opinions, putting surgeon general labels on video games is akin to the sort of warnings that appear on cigarettes. While some smokers will never develop illnesses as a result of exposure to tobacco products, there is really no basis of comparison between the two.
There have been several studies, one recently published by government officials in Australia, that show that there is absolutely no correlation between violent offenders and video games that contain mature content. The US Surgeon General is responsible for educating and warning US citizens on potentially danger products and behavior, however, gaming may not fall into the department’s jurisdiction. The bill proposed by Wolf and Baca has not yet been voted on, but is is likely that leading members of the gaming industry will be present during the debate.
