Rep. Jeff Harris asks for fines up to $5,000 for violations.
A group of Missouri legislators Tuesday night watched images of violence such as a man assaulting a police officer, another of a woman with a sword and a third where a man is shot, then set on fire.
The images came from video games that state Rep. Jeff Harris, D-Columbia, displayed to the House Crime Committee that was hearing his bill to restrict the video-game sales to minors.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen anything like that,” said the committee’s chair, Rep. Scott Lipke, R-Jackson.
Harris said he brought the DVD presentation to the committee to show the video games sometimes available to children.
“I’m sorry the committee had to see that,” he said, “but sometimes a picture can tell a thousand words.”
Harris’ bill would make it a misdemeanor to sell or rent violent video games to minors; fines could run up to $5,000.
“I’m just sick and tired of some of the excesses of popular culture as they affect kids,” Harris, the House Democratic leader, said in an earlier interview. “This bill gives parents a helping hand in combating the excesses.”
The more violent video games are already required by the Entertainment Software Rating Board to have ratings of M for mature or AO for adults only.
Under the Harris bill retailers would have to post signs explaining the rating system and provide brochures. They would also need to see a photograph and proof of age before they could sell video games.
Although Republicans control the Missouri House, the Columbia Democrat’s proposal got supportive words from the committee chair.
“I think any kind of legislation that aims to protect our children is certainly worth taking a hard look at,” Lipke said in an interview before the committee hearing. “We need to keep those types of games out of the hands of our kids.”
But Lipke was concerned with the language of the document that ignorance was not a defense in cases where a minor is sold a violent or sexually explicit game without having proof of age verified.
“In the situation of someone having a fake ID, I’m interested to see if that’s going to be enough (legal protection for the merchant) or if it still leaves open a loophole,” he said.
Bruce Bartholow, assistant professor of psychology at MU, testified in support of the bill.
“I think it’s a good idea to limit the extent to which young kids are exposed to violent video games based not only on my research but lots of other research,” Bartholow said in an earlier interview.
Bartholow and his colleagues conducted an experiment to research how people reacted to violent images. The experiment, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, tested 39 undergraduates from ages 17 through 19.
“Basically, we found that people who reported playing a lot of violent video games showed a decreased brain response when viewing violent images compared to people who don’t play a lot of violent video games,” Bartholow said.
“Also we found there was an association between the size of the brain response to violent images and the amount of aggressive behavior that the subject showed in the laboratory when we had them do an aggression-related task,” he said.
John Britton, the Missouri lobbyist for the Entertainment Software Association, said that the bill is unconstitutional.
“The courts have ruled that video games have the same protection as the best of literature,” he said. “If the bill passes, the software industry would sue (the state), the same way we did on the movie bill 15 years ago.”
Britton argued that in a case involving the Interactive Digital Software Association and St. Louis County, the county had to pay $80,000 and lawyers’ fees.
“Harvard, Johns Hopkins and University of Michigan (have done studies),” he added, “all their studies have shown that these (video games) have no impact and if they do it’s miniscule.”
Harris said the bill he is proposing fixes the problem of the vagueness of the language in that case.
Unlike movies, Bartholow argued that games are different because players actively partake in violent behavior and are rewarded for such, which creates incentive.
Liz Tooley, manager of Slackers on Broadway, says that she isn’t opposed to the legislation and said that if the bill passes, her store would comply.
“You should make sure that (violent games) don’t end up in the hands of children,” she said. “That’s why the rating system has helped us so much, but getting it down to the nose with a brochure — that seems a little bit elaborate to me.”
Tooley said she hoped parents would do their part as well.
“But half the time that is not the case,” she said. “You ask for an ID, and the parent will step right up and buy the game for their children.”
Although retailers can be prosecuted if the bill passes, parents still have the freedom to buy mature games for their children.
A graduate student in entomology at MU from Bogota, Colombia, Olga Pincon, says she totally agrees with the bill. Her son Manuel, 11, says that he plays “Star Wars: Episode III” on his Sony Playstation 2 for the most part.
“I’m still worried because sometimes somebody else can buy the game for kids,” Pincon said, “and actually it’s not just the law but the potential damage to the kids.”
Harris says that the issue boils down to respect and proper conduct.
Repeated playing and repeated exposure to this type of thing has sort of a numbing affect,” he said. It “builds up a lack of respect for our traditions and desensitization towards violence and sexually graphic behavior.”