A recent survey from What They Play, a parental advisory website, revealed that parents seem to be more worried about their children's exposure to videogames than alcohol, pornography, or violence. Furthermore, a second survey by the group showed that parents considered content showing sex and sexuality as more offensive than depictions of violence.
Here's an excerpt from the What They Play press release, courtesy of GamePolitics (external link):
Nearly 3,000 respondents in two separate What They Play polls concluded that drinking beer and watching pornography were less objectionable activities for children than playing certain video games. Further, viewing violence was more acceptable than seeing content involving sex and sexuality within games.
The first survey What They Play took was conducted from April 4-10, 2008, and asked 1,266 participants what they were most offended by in videogames. Here's the breakdown, according to the poll:
- a man and woman having sex (37 )
- two men kissing (27 )
- a graphically severed head (25 )
- multiple use of the F-word (9 ).
More than 1,600 respondents revealed they re more apprehensive about their child smoking marijuana (49 ) and playing the video game Grand Theft Auto (19 ), than watching pornography (16 ) and drinking beer (14 ).
While the usual social issues (alcohol, drugs, and porn) are all present in many a parents' list of worries, it seems videogames are slowly emerging as a social issue that many parents fear can be detrimental to their kids. While it's probably a good thing that videogames are becoming more emergent in the social consciousness, the representation of games in the public eye (especially if Rockstar North's GTA is the only game people can remember) leaves much to be desired.
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