House Panel Wants Better Video Game Ratings

June 14, 2006 — -- Simulated violence and sexual content found in video games are undermining the efforts of parents to responsibly raise their children, according to members of a House of Representatives subcommittee exploring the subject.

The House subcommittee held a hearing to explore whether parents are getting all the information they need to make decisions about the purchase of video and computer games. Some members determined that the surge in popularity of mature games and the targeted marketing of video game makers make it difficult for parents to know what their children are playing.

"Mature rated games continue to be the top sellers and continue to push the limits of violent and sexually explicit content every year," said Rep. Clifford Stearns, R-Fla., the subcommittee chairman.

A study published in the Journal of Adolescence found that 96 percent of boys and 78 percent of girls play video games on a regular basis. The study found that, on average, boys spend 13 hours a week with the electronic games, girls five hours.

Video games are rated by the industry-supported Entertainment Software Review Board (ESRB), which came under attack at the hearing.

Dr. Kimberly Thompson, the director of the Harvard School of Public Health's Kids Risk Project, told the panel that her project has found that games containing violence and explicit content are inconsistently labeled by the rating board.

"The ESRB should make its rating process and the terms it uses in its ratings more transparent, " Dr. Thompson testified.

Testimony submitted at the hearing cited statistics that estimated parents are involved in the purchase of video games for their children 83 percent of the time. ESRB testimony estimated that 74 percent of parents claim to use the industry's voluntary rating system.

ESRB president Patricia Vance said the organization can't police the purchasing habits of every person buying video games.

"We can't force the parents to use the system," she said.

One of the top selling games is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which includes both graphic violence and sexually suggestive content. The maker of the controversial game agreed last week to settle a Federal Trade Commission complaint that claimed players could view secret, hidden sexual content.