Thursday, April 21, 2011

Video Games Come Out On Top in Enforcement Rankings


Well, this really goes against the alarmist cry about how violent video games are corrupting our innocent youth.

The Federal Trade Commission in the States conducted an undercover shopper survey, where 13 to 19 year-olds were recruited to enter various outlets unaccompanied, and attempt to purchase entertainment items like movie tickets, video games, and DVDs which were all rated for adults only.

The big takeaway was that the lowest rate of sales of restricted materials to minors occured with video games.  Only 13% of the shoppers successfully purchased the forbidden products.  This, compared to the 64% of kids that were sold a music CD labelled with a Parent's Advisory sticker, warning of explicit lyrics.

Also interesting is the break-down by retail outlets.  When it comes to selling M-Rated games to minors, Walmart was the worst offender.  So, when it comes to grandstanding about the morality of violent videogames today, Wally World is the best.  When it comes to actually investing money into proper training so salespeople don't let kids get their hands on adults-only products, they're the very worst.

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