Psychiatric Input Contributes To Law Restricting Video Games

California has enacted a law banning the sale of violent video games to children, based in part on the recommendation of psychiatrists and mental health professionals.

Last month California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed legislation barring the sale and rental to people under age 18 of video games that depict serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially “heinous, cruel, or depraved.”

The means the law uses to determine applicable games includes whether a“ reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would find [that the game] appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors.” Manufacturers distributing games in the future for sale in California will be required to mark games meeting the law's definitions for violence with a large“ 18.”

Retailers who sell violent video games to minors, and manufacturers that do not mark such games, are subject to a $1,000 fine. The measure becomes effective on January 1, 2006.

Nationwide, video game manufacturers have followed the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's voluntary rating system and labeling system, which was instituted in 1994. Its ratings range from “EC” for early childhood to games rated “AO” for adults only.

The law was supported by the California Psychiatric Association (CPA), the California Academy of Pediatricians, and the AMA on the basis of research that showed a connection between depictions of violence and children acting violently shortly after viewing such portrayals.

“It depends on their developmental level, but kids who have not reached the level of formal operational thinking have trouble differentiating these games from reality,” said George Fouras, M.D., who is chair of CPA's Child and Adolescent Committee and who testified in the state legislature in support of the bill. “These games teach the kids that certain things are permissible, and they are rewarded for actions that are illegal in our society.”

Fouras said that little research has focused specifically on whether exposure to violent video games influences children's behavior, but studies have found connections between exposure to violent media content and short-term violent behavior in children.

Former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., noted in the 2000“ Report on Youth Violence” that a meta-analysis of studies on media violence indicated that “brief exposure to violent dramatic presentations on television or in films causes short-term increases in the aggressive behavior of youth, including physically aggressive behavior.”

The surgeon general's report also indicated a small but significant long-term correlation between viewing television violence in children and later aggression. The report further noted that while some evidence suggests that more aggressive children watch more violence and might be more prone to violence, stronger evidence identifies viewing media portrayals of violence as a precursor of increased aggression.

The legislation, AB 1179, received a boost after hidden sex scenes were uncovered this summer in “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,” and the game's manufacturer pulled it from stores, according to Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Leland Yee (D), a child psychologist and the bill's sponsor.

Randall Hagar, director of Government Affairs for the CPA, said its members supported the legislation because studies have consistently linked children's exposure to entertainment content with behavior.

Hagar said the industry was not effectively limiting minors' access to these violent games, and a February 14, 2004, study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found a consistent discrepancy between the voluntary rating system used by the industry and the games' violent content.

Video-game manufacturers opposed the legislation primarily on the basis that it would impinge on their free-speech rights and be difficult for retailers to enforce.

Two video-game trade groups, the Video Software Dealers Association and Entertainment Software Association, filed suit to overturn the law less than two weeks after it had been signed. Schwarzenegger said he will fight the suit.

Several other states, including Illinois and Michigan, enacted similar laws earlier this year, prompting legal fights with the $10 billion video-game industry. Courts have ruled against similar bans in other jurisdictions.

Information on AB 1179 is posted at<www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm>.▪