Some UK Schools Are Cracking Down on Children Playing More Mature Games

This is a tough topic seems as I have a little one myself, but I don't have a problem with the school stepping in, in extreme cases. My seven year old has only just been allowed to see Dynasty Warriors level of violence yet I've seen eight year olds playing GTA Vice City in public, with their parents consent. You could argue about what is alright for children to play or not till the cows come home, but some stuff is clearly not ok yet the parents let them.

This is an absolute joke. When my friends and I were kids the big deal was Mortal Kombat. We all played that, none of us grew up to be criminal offenders or ever tried ripping anybody's heads off. I'll always be of the belief that it comes down to parenting and with campaigns like this, the people spearheading them can f*** off.

Right, next they should try and step on the public TV. There are also many shows/films that a child can watch that are pretty much not advised for up to certain ages. But because it is a video game its worse for some reason?

That's disgusting. I work in HR with Schools and Head Teachers are a law unto themselves. A parent has the right to decide at what age a person under their supervision has access to anything. Certificate ratings are to prevent purchase without parental supervision, the parent decides what is suitable. Some of those head teachers will be coercive in brain washing children into blind faith. Some parents clearly are inept at parenting, that doesn't mean that the right step is to prosecute them in the first instance.

Jus tell the kids, If I ever see u doing any of this sh*t in real life NO MORE GAMES FOR A YEAR u lil bish ass. An I will do it

_{@NAZA-187: Watch the bad language, please - get2sammyb}

Do parents generally shield their children from the News? If a child comes into school discussing starving children, child soldiers, rape in the Congo and decides to raise money through comic relief... ok, so hypocrisy strikes.

Interesting...
Both sides have right, but ti is not as simple.
Been a gamer for many years and having 3 kids, I can see the point of the parents. We are responsible for teaching them right and wrong and every kid is not the same with the others. It's not always so simple to say "You are six, this game is not for you". Some kids may be more mature and understand that what we do in games we don't replicate it at real life. Also I don't think that the school should interfere with those matters. If they really care, they should try to explain, not to ban something, which in most cases will just push the kids to try it ( or in our case to play ) even more.
But on the other hand let's face it ,some parents are just stupid an I am talking from experience. I owned a shop with video games and you just can;t imagine how many times someone was buying Resident evil for example for kids under 10 and I was obligated to warn them, but most of the times the response was "But he wants to play it!" just to learn that the kid was wetting his bed and his parents was still letting them to play horror/gore games...

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi My son actually gets really distressed at all the water charity adverts that they show on children's TV because it talks about children dying.

It's fascinating to see the comments here compared to the Nintendo Life article. Nintendo fans apparently think government intrusion into the private lives of families is perfectly okay.

The people here, thus far, seem to understand that this is not the place for teachers to interfere, and that this is not neglect.

Not only is this not actual neglect, it is attempting to fix a perceived problem with an outrageous solution.

Should my son be taken away from me for playing EDF games with me?

If they're going to do this, I think they should take it to its logical extreme--report any parents raising their children on religion for neglect as any holy text contains vastly more gruesome content than even the worst video games. Remember that time God sent two bears to murder 42 children because they made fun of a bald guy? Then they should report any parent for allowing their child to see any news report as the news contains sex, violence, war, prejudice, and all manner of evil content.

My stance is this: if you let your children play M games then don't complain about the content in it. I've heard so many people say "Why would they put that in a video game?" Have you ever asked that about a movie? Would you let your child watch a rated R gangster movie? If not, then why let them play GTA? Don't get mad at a company for putting violence and sexual themes in a game if you don't feel the same way about movies. That's why people like US congressmen get on my nerves. Trying to stop companies from making these games but not even mentioning Hollywood

of course parents should take the responsibility in governing what their kids play , but what are you going to do when the parents themselves are not responsible adults ? "hey ! teacher ! leave those kids alone !" ( and leave them to smoke their wacky baccy and sup on super strength lager while playing GTA ) . the whole thing is wrong , so very very wrong - makes me sad and mad .

@Quorthon

Could it potentially hurt sales of something like GTA V or Call of Duty or Mortal Kombat or any other popular game Nitnendo fans loathe? It could, and evne if it's just a little bit, that's good enough for the Nintendo fans. The comments in the NLife article don't surprise me at all sadly.

@get2sammyb

The thing is, it's not for you to deicde what is or isn't ok for any child that isn't your own. If the parent is absolutely beating the sh*t out of their kid it's one thing where I think intervention is needed. Letting them play a video game that some may morally object to? That's an issue strictly between the parent and child and if the parent feels their kid is mature enough to play it, well that's that.

@Cowboysfan-22 but that's not what this is about. This isn't about people complaining about the content of the game per se, rather just saying that it's not right for kids of a certain age to be playing it. And it seems this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I have to say I can see where they're coming from (albeit I agree this isn't the way to go about it).

Sorry, but in the same way that a responsible parent wouldn't sit their 6 year old down to watch Scarface and the Conjuring, they shouldn't let a child that age play games like GTA and Outlast.

Obviously, as a child gets older say, I guess really from about secondary school age onwards, it becomes less black and white as it is more a case of different children maturing at different rates, and yes I agree it should be more at the parent's discretion to decide what is suitable. HOWEVER, the real problem, and what should be the crux of the matter, is that most of these parents have no idea what is in the games they let their kids play.

As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing at all wrong with the actual content of games, provided that the person playing is mature enough for the content, same with any movie. The problem is a lot of parents being totally uneducated about what is actually in the games to begin with - many non-gaming parents remember the games of yore as blocky and tame, without realising that nowadays they can be equally as graphic or scary (and not suited for young children) as any live action film - and that is perhaps something that does need to change. These guys are going about it totally the wrong way, but there is a valid point buried in there somewhere.

Personally I don't have a problem with this except why just pick video games. Why not adult rated films and TV shows as well.

@SteveButler2210 well maybe I should've made my position clearer. I don't think people should be going around being the video game police. Parents have the right to let their kids play whatever. But if they let their kids play GTA they don't have the right to complain about the game. It's their choice to let their kids play it

@SteveButler2210
I think we could all agree people, in some cases anyway, need to get better educated on these games. But I'm not really sure what else companies can do? I've worked at different stores that sell games and we were always instructed to inform people of the content in the games. Like with any movie, a rating and contents is plastered on the box. At a certain point there isn't much more that can be done. If people don't want to get educated they won't be. And certainly, like you even admitted yourself, what is discussed in this article is not the way to go about it.

Childcare is the responsibility of the parents. They should care. More often than not they don't though, still - some entitled "let's save the world" teachers shouldn't be allowed to mess with a child's private life over what games they play. Seriously?

@Gamer83

It's a surprising difference, but yeah, I have to wonder how much of that is driven by fanboyism. No doubt, if they were looking to call parents neglectful for Zelda, things would be different on that site.

@Scollurio

The content of your post basically states that most of the parents of the world are cruel, neglectful, awful people who don't care for their children.

You not only have a horrific view of the world, but a starkly wrong one.

This is crazy......social services, let's split up the family because little Timmy got GTA V for Christmas. WTF?

@Quorthon
Yup, no question it'd be vastly different. But why stop at GTA? The Zelda games do let you stab your enemies with swords.

@Gamer83

I worked at GameStop and Best Buy selling games, and frequently met parents who cared--a lot--about the content of video games. They'd been swept up in scare stories by places like Fox News and didn't know anything else until I spoke to them. I very rarely encountered a parent who didn't care or willingly bought extremely questionable games for under-age kids.

I recall one parent--with a language barrier--who asked if Saints Row was good for kids. I told him "there's no way kids should play this." I think he bought it for himself, but he still bought it.

I vaguely recall one encounter at Best Buy when a parent asked me how graphic Halo is. I told him it's basically a Teen-rated game with an M-rating for some reason. Halo games do not have graphic violence, are not gory, have no sex, and the language is generally pretty clean. Even naked digital Cortana is basically a Teen-rated image. I think that guy shrugged and said, "that's kind of what I thought." I think he was buying it for a 14 or 15-year-old, and I hardly see the problem there. Halo may be M-rated, but as important as that franchise is, MS is not going to allow them to get so out of hand that they make parents afraid of it.

The key is moderation, most of the kids of my generation watched Terminator 2 during sleep overs and shot each other a few million times in Goldeneye 007 or Quake.

It's usually the ultra sheltered kids with no television and the old testament memorized that have the more warped view of society (no offense to anyone).

@Gamer83

Indeed, the Zelda games have often been extremely violent for their ratings. When I was a kid, I was reading from a book on gaming, and it listed the original Zelda as one of the most violent games therein--citing all the numerous weapons and items available to kill enemies.

So dumb......

@sub12

Nobody holds up signs at funerals about hating homosexuals and wanting soldiers to die as something they learned that from a video game.

I think it's dumb to restrict kids from playing M games. We were all little once, and we all wanted to play GTA, it serves no purpose to not allow your kid to play it, other than to royally piss them off. They're going to hear that kind of language anyway, no reason to shield them from it.

@shellybird27 I can see your point, but you can't really compare GTA then and now, graphic are much more realistic now.

@Quorthon

Those were actually the two outlets I worked for as well. I encountered all kinds of parents. You got those who cared and sadly, I dealt with some who clearly didn't give a damn and just wanted to get something to 'shut the kid up.' All I ever did in any situation was try to give the parent as clear a picture as possible of what the game was about and since I've played many of the games that get questioned, I feel I was pretty good at being able to relay what contents were in the game. At that point it's up to the parent to decide. I certainly wasn't going to say 'no your kid can't play that and I won't sell it to you,' because that leads no where good.

@Gamer83

Right, there are always those parents who simply don't care about video games and no matter what, simply see them as some kid's toy. "This is the 'toy' my kid wanted for his birthday. Whatever."

I got Mortal Kombat II for Xmas one year, and I was certainly not 17 years old. My family got home from the Xmas church service, we opened our 1 Christmas Eve present, and mine happened to be MKII. My brother and I went from church to decapitations within an hour, and we had a blast. We hated church, but we loved the Kombat. It certainly didn't screw us up, and it certainly didn't mean my Dad was neglectful.

It was a video game. He just didn't care about the game itself. Ironically, my Mom fell for the negative media around the games--despite basically raising us on Stephen King movies. She was silly.

This one of those things that simply can't be discussed since it's all only definable on a case-by-case basis. There are too many factors and variables to consider:

• does the child have a loving and caring up bringing
• are the parents fit to care for children in the first place
• is it an abusive home (not necessarily in the extreme sense, but for example do the parents shout at each other a lot)
• do the parents understand video games, have experienced them, and know the vast amount of content that can be in them
• do parents understand games are immersive and can affect different mental states in different ways

It's impossible to enforce anything when one child and family differs so much from another. If a child is depressed, they can escape into fantasy games and play them for days on end. If they are hyper, it can be an outlet for them. If they are anxious, it can trigger other mental states, and so on and so on and so on!

I've been gaming since the age of 3 or so, and I have a small child myself and nieces too. I'll allow my child and niece to play different things, as different things suits their personality. One of my nieces has a vivid imagination so she scares easily. My kid on the other hand shrugs off Assassins Creed. However, as mentioned, some parents simply don't have the knowledge (I know people like this) and think all games are children's toys. They would leave their kids to play violent games unsupervised and complain once they can't sleep due to stress.
It's impossible to police this tbh, but if a parent is unfit to make this kind of decision, I have no problem with them being punished, rather than putting the blame on the publishers and devs.

@Quorthon

Yeah, it's like I said in one of my other comments. When I was 10, MK 1 was the game that everybody was talking about how violent and terrible it was for kids. Fortunately for myself and my friends, none of our parents bought into that crap and I think were confident enough in their abilities to raise good human beings. We all came from good families and while we enjoyed kicking the crap out of each in MK we certainly never went out and tried hurting people in real life.

All situations are different and I'm sure there are some 10 year olds who have no business going near something like GTA, but again, if the kid isn't mine that's not for me to decide.

Here is what I posted on Nlife:

I think the Nantwich Education Partnership could have tackled this differently.

About two years ago, the primary school my children go to sent a letter home to all parents warning about the effects of under age children witnessing / playing COD & GTA as these games were being acted out in the playground. The letter ended reminding parents of their responsibilities and no threats were issued at all.

Now as parent who has been gaming since the spectrum 48k!, I have grown up alongside the games industry and know how to set up parental controls on all devices. The Wii U & 3DS's are fully locked out and have age limits in place. The only thing that is missing is a timer that monitors gameplay and switches the game off automatically like the Kindle Fire.

There a number of 18 rated games in my collection (mainly PS4, but a handfull of Wii U), but these are played when the kids are in bed and my kids know that 18 rated games are for daddy only.

The problem comes when parents don't censor what their children are playing and watching and don't research how to put parental controls in place.

I know Game has a policy of not selling games to under age children as I have seen this put into practice on a number of occasions.

To be honest what we're discussing here is the same when the whole "video nasty" debate blew up in the 80's

@NicolaHayden war is constantly in mainstream news during the day, they teach all sorts of brutal history and literature in schools, sometimes peoples logic goes out the window. IMO mother knows best even when she doesn't, Head Teachers live in a bubble like politicians, footballers etc

Not a bad thing, children should not be playing video games with blood and gore.

This is not about teachers overstepping the mark this is teachers safeguarding themselves against the recent government decision that those in a position of authority could face up to 5 years in prison if they don't report incidents that a child could be in a position of danger or neglect. Any one with an ounce of common sense would agree that a child playing a game, wherein they have to physically torture another human being, is not good grounding. Let's not pretend that these kind of games don't affect the children in some form or another. You only have to go online, or look on YouTube, and listen to these children. I also played more mature games when younger but the maturity level was for a bit of gore and light swearing. These days you can go torture someone, pay for sex or other sexual favours, get raped (if you happen to end up in a modded lobby) it's not something I would deem suitable for impressionable minds. I expect head teachers have the same viewpoint and would like to keep their jobs.

Outside of the school board pushing its boarders too far, I don't see this as being too bad. Negligent parents buy their children Mature rated games, then proceed to complain that said games were violent, and/or had content not appropriate for a younger audience. If the parent is unable to make better choices for their children, I suppose it falls on the school too.

I work with primary school age children and I don't find 7yr olds sitting talking about shooting people in the face in CoD or how many people they ran over in GTA or what they called someone over the mic particularly appropriate as even if their parents do allow them to play the games it's exposing other children around them to language and imagery they are kept away from. Schools calling in outside agencies might be heavy handed but games are age rated for a reason and parents continue to ignore it. Games are immersive in a way films and TV are not and their is the matter of kids becoming increasingly desentisized to violence and blurring fiction with reality...not in a sensational horrific news worthy way but lots of smaller mundane ways of them losing empathy for others. Parents should be trusted to monitor what their children are allowed to see or do but some parents do a rubbish job at it.

@NomNom

By all means, supply us some solid numbers, perhaps from the ESA. How many parents are buying games negligently for their kids? How many of them have no idea what they're buying? How many of them are complaining about it?

Because what you think is dangerously common, is not.

Yeah right, bc I just watched two dude UCF almost-kill each other, for free on cable or on the air waves!

CNN or Fox Fox just reported on a mother slaughtering her three children.

Because video games made them do it!

Bad parenting or not. This is not the world that I grew up in. When I was a child, I'd beg to play in the neighborhood until sun -down. Never did I have to worry about a drone dropping in to sneak a peak or drop a load; it's sad that we no longer live in that world.

Always hoping and praying that cooler heads will prevail.
Always hoping that if you have a problem with me, then you approach me instead of some authoritative agency.
We use our guns to protect our children while others use their children to protect their guns.
Cooler heads will prevail.

Hey I love this law, I might end up in a multi player lobby with adults for a change and call of duty will go out of business and game companies will have to develop new ip. Winner winner school dinner.

I really don't see the problem as long as they ain't stupidly young! I have been playing gta since I was in year 6 and you don't see me going round being violent or stabbing people 😂 If you know your kid is mature enough and know that they know it's only a game then I think it's fine.

Really depends on the child and how mature they are, the parents should certainly supervise their children when playing violent games.

But in respect there are much worse stuff on TV.

Dear teachers,

We pay you so you can teach the little kittens how to read and write. Not so you can spy on what videogames they might be playing after school.

Stick to your jobs, or I will spray your furniture and hiss at you.

Yours purrfully,

SuperCat

It's probably fair to treat things like GTA about on the same level as porn. If a teacher caught a kid with some hardcore porn, would they be obligated to report it?

If their playing on school grounds I could understand letting the parents know it's inappropriate material and that it should be left at home. This is going a bit far. Though I do think parents need to be more aware of what exactly their kids are playing. I remember growing up resident evil, mk, your more fictional gore was ok, but my parents drew the line on gta 3. I wasn't allowed to play it, and out of respect for how they felt about the game i never brought a single gta into the house even when I was 18. On college break I wouldn't play it at home either. It was the only game they put their foot down on so I figured I could respect that without issues. My friends laughed, but it wasn't a huge deal for me.

Now here's my thing though. I kid shouldn't be playing gta till 15 or so, depending on their maturity. My favorite situation I've seen was during the gta v midnight release. A mother, with a 12-13yr old kid was there, and buying her kid gta. OK, to each their own I thought, not my kid so who am I to say something. Then, when gamestop had us all line up, people were swearing, talking amongst themselves about some things, and this kids mother asked not to have to stand in line. Why? She didn't want her kid exposed to the conversations being had in line (mind you, none that you won't see or hear in gta). I overheard this and thought to myself what? Your buying your kid gta, but you won't let him stand in line because people were swearing? Yes. Because that makes sense.

Parents should definitely be made more aware of and better educated on the ratings so that they may make better-informed decisions, but even as a bluff reporting people for neglect is a huge accusation. By all means, schedule a meeting, send out pamphlets, CPS is something you should only bring in if your absolutely sure something is wrong.

This is just too much of a grey area anyway. At what point do we stop reporting these "signs" of neglect? What constitutes a "child" in this case?

Nevermind that not all mature-rated games are equal, and many studies have proven violent media isn't harmful, and is actually beneficial in some ways. Some, like Halo for example, barely deserve it and are just somehow too much for a teen rating.

All in all, I think its more important parents are given the proper tools to make decisions, not have outside forces set their own guidelines to enforce based on what they feel is acceptable.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
Ratings are on games to prevent the sale to underage people, which is why its even illegal to sell a parent the game if the store knows it's for a child. If people honestly believe that a child should not only see but act out vicariously through gaming the atrocities committed in games like GTA V then I despair for our society. I Was playing Call of duty the other day, with friends all over 25 and a parent came onto the chat to tell us to stop swearing? I pointed out the irony of her request and threatened to report her to Social Services and she vanished, wonder why?

@ImNoNoob in don't see the difference between playing cowboys and Indians and call of duty. Hypocrisy. Why do books not have ratings. Hypocrisy.

@Melucine
I can't quote but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that even up to the age of 12 some children and most up to age 10, couldn't reliably distinguish between reality and make believe. So NO it's not upto parents to do as they wish, these are human beings that are being shown horrific images and allowed to act them out through physical input! nobody can surely think an 8 year old, should be torturing a human being in GTA V, can they?

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
I can't remember acting out terrorist atrocities and using strong even sexually explicit language, during my games of cowboys and Indians, can you? Your argument is flawed in every way and smacks of an ill informed parent that's defending there choice to take the easy option and say yes to everything there children ask for. The next time you See a child pretend to be a dinosaur or a wizard, think what it'll look like if they pretend to be Trevor from GTA V.

@ImNoNoob My kid is 7 and can understand whats reality and whats not, Of course I am not saying I am letting him play or even watch, when I play GTA, MK or similar games, but I think he can play something like Scott Pilgrim. Keep in mind that I grew up with games and I know how to handle them , I talk a lot to him about whats real and whats fantasy and let's be honest some cartoons for his age are even worse than a fighting game.

@Melucine
I have 3 kids myself and am mid thirties, so I can also make educated choices about what my children can and can't watch/play/do. But rules need to be enforced for the morons that buy any film or game that there child asks for, because "all my friends have it mom!". I for one applaud these head teachers for making a stand against idiotic parents that let there child do what they want and then blame everyone else when there child becomes an uncontrolled nightmare.

@ImNoNoob I mentioned call of duty I did not mention GTA V. Cowboys and Indians is playing out of the american genocide against native Americans. If you can elaborate on my flawed views then please enlighten me.

@ImNoNoob Same here 35 this year with three kids
I agree to what you say, but the problem is that is not always so simple to just call the police. If a kid talks about how it plays a mature game, but his/her behavior is great, should teachers interfere? Sure you can say that we dont know how the kid thinks and it may snap one day, hitting others or worse having a new gunfire incident, but good a teacher should notice when there is a problem with it and then talk with the parents not the police.
One more detail, is it illegal to play a game not for your age or just to buy it? If it is just to buy it, then you can't really call the police since you dont know who got it. I know it doesn't really matters for the kid, the fact is still that he/she played, but laws are laws.
We all know that they are morons out there, rising kids and when those kids may become a treat to others we must do something, before it is too late.
I hope I made myself clear, since English is not my native language

@Melucine
You're right it's not illegal to play the games. I believe it's like with smoking, alchohol And movies, it's illegal to buy underage. If something is illegal to buy when underage I'm going to assume it's illegal to own if you're underage. I believe there needs to be more education for parenta, maybe adverts during soap operas and xfactor etc. I think we basically have similar views, Just from slightly different standpoints.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
You stated earlier " A parent has the right to decide at what age a person under their supervision has access to anything". That surely included GTAV, point one proven. And your views are flawed because surely you wouldn't let your child or agree with anyone letting their child watch Taliban beheadings, pornography or films like Hostel for example. am I wrong? Or Like I first stated, are your views are flawed? And my point about the cowboys and Indians is just an illustration of how a child can act out what they see without truly understanding context, which is why I mentioned GTAV.

@ImNoNoob children understand context, it has to be taught. A parent should have the right. I didn't say that any choices they make are the right choices. I watched the Fly at age 5, it game me nightmares, it didn't though ruin me. I watched alien aged 10 and loved it. I'm a pacifist, atheist, I've never harmed anyone physically or mentally, I don't brain wash children into blind faith, I have human morality, it isn't taught. You are born with it. Those with mental impairments can lack human morality. There are various reasons including poor parenting that can lead to immoral behaviour. My own opinion is that most young people in the UK would make terrible parents but that's not for Head Teachers to police. If a child is bahving immoraly then the appropriate steps can be taken. Criminalising parents for having differing views is walking a fine line.

@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
I agree with you in lots of ways, unfortunately the stupidity of some parents has left me jaded. I feel the only way to stop morons from damaging their child is to put in place rules and educate parents about what is and isn't appropriate for a child to experience whist you are responsible for there development. The rules would be there to protect the majority of children who should never see the atrocities of this world until they are an adult and can no longer be protected from it. We shall agree to disagree on this one, must really do some work. Nice having a debate, enjoy your day 😉

@ImNoNoob
Sorry to interject, but Its not actually illegal to buy them, its the same as with R-rated movies, a parent/guardian must be present or its a no-go. The whe point of it is to make sure the parents know about it first.

The problem isn't kids being able to play such games, its that many people don't understand much if anything about the ratings, or simply don't care. The latter isn't bad when its just parents using their own judgement, but you can't have that with the former, which a lot of anti-violent game proponents are guilty of as well.

Cracking down on things without proper awareness and understanding won't help, the difference between games or movies and smoking and alcohol is people know they're bad for you. There's also studies that show violence in games don't harm children (middle-school age ones anyway), but rather reduce aggression and stress, even in kids with disorders such as ADHD or depression. Its not exactly cut 'n dry.

@ImNoNoob a lot more children need to be taken away from their parents but its not really feasible, plenty are too ignorant to learn. In the UK we need more time in education and from an earlier age. Unfortantely education is already swamped in money and it readily gets wasted.

@Zombie_Barioth 1 research paper that suggests vaguely some link between supposed violent games and violent crime will hit headlines, 12 that suggest otherwise will be ignored.

@Zombie_Barioth
I'm from the UK, this website of you want to read it explains the PEGI system. http://www.videostandards.org.uk/VSC/games_raltkings.htmlo
basically age ratings 3 and 7 are advisory, 12,16 & 18 are enforceable by law. Meaning it's illegal to sell to anyone under those ages. Unfortunately most retailers turn a blind eye if mom is stood with a small child holding Resident evil 4 saying "is this the one you wanted Tommy"?. I think most of us agree to varying degrees that something needs to change for the sake of the industry. either better education for parents, better labelling, more enforceable laws, or all three.

@ImNoNoob

By all means, show when "more laws" has ever fixed a problem. I'm pretty sure it never has.

After all, murder is illegal and people still do that. Making murder illegal doesn't stop it. Making it illegal to sell certain games won't stop kids from getting them.

Hell, in the US, we have a prime example (that we seem to have failed to learn from) about how certain laws make things worse. During the 1920's, we had stuffy religious buffoons outlaw alcohol, which instantly led to a rise in organized crime--and way more alcohol use.

@Fath

That's not remotely fair. For one thing, GTA is sold on it's storytelling, which just happens to be in a violent, underground capacity. No different than the movie Scarface.

Hardcore porn is sold as straight porn. It is not sold for the stories "that just happen to have sex in them." It's just for the sex.

@Quorthon
In the UK guns are illegal and we have like 1% as much gun crime as the US, that's an example for you. Also I'm pretty sure if murder wasn't illegal we would be In a much worse position. I'd say what stops laws working are flower holding morons that believe people that live outside of the law should have the same basic rights as people who live within it and make it their mission in life to blame everyone and everything except the criminal themselves. Anyway we are venturing way off topic now. Hope I've answered your question sufficiently.

@Quorthon "I play it for the stories, honest!" Sounds like a porn defense to me

It was probably unfair of me to single out GTA, since I don't think the source here really does, but generally speaking I don't think kids are generally drawn to the games in question for the deep and soul-searching storylines they present. Adjust the degree as you will, but I still think there's merit in looking to restrictions on sexual material in debating restrictions on violent material (or other mature subjects), and the violence (et al) in some games out there gets pretty graphic.

@ImNoNoob
I would, but your link is broken. I did my own search and it turns out the PEGI is indeed voluntary, except for in a few countries. The PEGI board apparently agrees that violent games don't cause any long-term or lasting effects too.
http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/26#question_7
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130826123134.htm

Its handled the same way as the US it seems, its technically not illegal, but without a parent present or in one of those countries that do enforce it the retailers can be fined. They don't turn a blind eye, they just can't legally withhold sales.

The only regulations I think we would need are making it mandatory to display the ratings board in stores, and perhaps make following it mandatory too. A higher rating for the worst offenders might work too, one that's treated similar to selling alcohol, meaning the "with a parent" loophole won't work while avoiding the AO stigma.

Okay too many comments to read up completely. Just want to say I agree 100% its the parents decision and those teachers have zero right making threats like this. It would be much more appropriate to send a letter to the parents explaining the contents of certain popular videogames if you feel this strongly about it.