Analysis Of Free Speech Versus Kids And Violent Video Games

The article “Free Speech Versus Kids and Violent Video Games,” uses the main idea that video game violence should be allowed under the First Amendment. Within the article the use of censorship is impractical when attempting to regulate the children’s access to games because the parents should be able to select what they believe is appropriate. There is also a system of violence/profanity ranking already intact to allow parents to decide what game is adequate for their child’s age and maturity. Video game violence should be permitted due to society’s First Amendment rights The reason society believes in the control of video games is because they consider violence in video games a danger to the children’s mental wellbeing. There has been a lot …show more content…
Society want to protect the children from the violence the video game depict. To do so they initially made a ranking system. This system provided a letter to allow the parents to see how violet/graphic the content within the game is and determine whether it is okay for their child’s age. The author of the article explains that those who are, “Opponents of the law note that video games already are labeled with a rating system that lets parents decide what games their children can purchase and play. They also argue that video games… are protected forms of expression under the First Amendment to the Constitution” (San Francisco Chronicle). This system allows parent the opportunity to regulate what their children have access to without the unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment. The digital content is permitted to children under the constitution and the California Law would be an exploitation of it. If this law were to be approved it would consequentially cause an up rise of new acts under the same criteria as, protecting children. Callahan rejects the California law because these restrictions on children, “…could open the door for states to limit minors’ access to other material on the ground of protecting children. ‘The state, in essence, asks us to create a new category of non-protected material based on the depiction of violence’” (San Francisco Chronicle). This void of the constitution will cause a whole new problem to arise. Children would lose many of their freedoms under the use of the assumption that society is protecting minors. Violent video games are a freedom that should not be taken away because of the First Amendment rights children