British Group Threatens Police Intervention If Students Play Violent Video Games
A group of British schools is threatening legal authorities on parents of students discovered to be playing R-18 video games like "Grand Theft Auto."
The Cheshire's Nantwich Education Partnership in England has sent out letters to parents of students in a total of 16 schools warning them to supervise their underage children's gaming habits or face a visit from the police.
The school system particularly warned parents about the action-adventure video game "Grand Theft Auto," which features adult themes like violence, mature language, alcohol consumption, sex, and crime.
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According to the letter, video games like Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto" titles, Epic Games' third person shooter "Gears of War," and Activision's first person warfare, "Call of Duty" may result in "oversexualized behavior" on the part of children under 18 years.
In particular, the video game "Call of Duty" has been involved in negative controversy after far right terrorist, Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in the 2011 Norway shooting and bomb attacks, admitted he trained himself for mass murder via years of "CoD" gameplay.
"If your child is allowed to have inappropriate access to any game, or associated product, that is designated 18+ we are advised to contact the police and children's social care as this is deemed neglectful," the letter added.
The clear guidelines from the 16-school group, while considered threatening, laid down its intention for discipline not only for the students, but for their parents, as well.
With the link between video games and violence in children still under debate, and the Internet full of potentially unsuitable levels of sexual content and violent material, it may be difficult for parents to constantly police their children's online usage and video game consumption.
According to Pear Tree Primary School principal Mary Hennessy Jones, the school system is moving forward to help parents keep their children safe from extreme violence and early sexualized behavior in a digitized world.
