U.S. Will Consider Single Rating System

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Okay, the question of the day is this….do you think a universal rating system would make things better or worse? I mean, how hard could it be to make one system cover everything?

U.S. regulators will consider a single ratings system that would warn parents of programming on television, video games, and wireless telephones that could be inappropriate for children, officials said. The Federal Communications Commission will begin the inquiry after an agency report to be delivered Aug. 31 to Congress on media blocking and rating techniques, said two commission officials.
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1) does a rating system beat old-style parenting?
2) without #1, does a rating keep any of this out of your childrens' hands anyway?

With the parenting style I see today, I doubt it matters at all...
 
Perhaps if everyone used what was already available, and parents would actually raise their kids, we wouldn't need this shit.
 
That will be terrific, that will allow people to hate only one system instead of the multitude of corporations. ESRB, RIAA, MPAA just to name a few.
 
wait....wireless telephones that are inappropriate for children?

What, are the phones shaped like anatomical bits?

"Hold on, i've got a booty call on my HTC Touch-Me Pro 2"
"Oh yeah? I got a convenient friend no matter where I go with my LG Chocolate Thunder 3000"

There's only one way to resolve ensuring your kids are watching what they should be watching - be a fucking parent and whoop the shit out of them when you catch them watching things they shouldn't be. Take the TV out of their room and keep it in the living room. They're less likely to try and beat off to Skinemax in a place where they don't have privacy.
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
wait....wireless telephones that are inappropriate for children?
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Try "programming on wireless telephones" as in the 1.5 billion iPhone app downloads so far, not to mention tons of downloadable content from networks.

If it doesn't include movies then it's pointless but at least there could be fairer comparisons between media types at the same rating level. The question changes from "Are video games harmful?" to "Are PG video games more harmful than PG TV?"
 
Keep the government out! Not needed. The independent organizations are doing a fine job without the "help" of the government. This is just a doorway into censorship.

Back away, not today, Disco Lady.
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
Take the TV out of their room and keep it in the living room. They're less likely to try and beat off to Skinemax in a place where they don't have privacy.
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Less likely, yes, but it sure didn't stop me! Do, or do not, there is no try!!!!

(even had houseguests sometimes...)

Wait, what's wrong with kids beating off to Skinemax anyway?
 
What is stopping them from not rating a game the feel that is too violent and basically banning the game.
 
twonunpackmule said:
Keep the government out! Not needed. The independent organizations are doing a fine job without the "help" of the government. This is just a doorway into censorship.

Back away, not today, Disco Lady.
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Not to mention wasting money on a system already working for the most part. How about taking that money and SAVING IT FOR THE DEBT.
 
They can do it, but it will be a huge system that has to account for everything.

So you can have E, PG, PG13, etc but then some things will either get lumped in even though it doesn't really fit, or will require its own special rating.
 
twonunpackmule said:
Keep the government out! Not needed. The independent organizations are doing a fine job without the "help" of the government. This is just a doorway into censorship.

Back away, not today, Disco Lady.
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exactly. That's too much power and control for one institution.
 
Why don't we improve parenting and education, so kids and teens will be able to tell the difference between right and wrong, fantasy and reality... Also have parents give a shit enough to get their child help if he or she is exhibiting psychologically unstable behavior, instead of ignoring it (or not even spending enough time around their child enough to see it), then saying "our child was such an angel, I don't know what made him/her do something so horrible, it must have been video games/movies/rap lyrics/devil worshipers!
 
UrielDagda said:
Why don't we improve parenting and education, so kids and teens will be able to tell the difference between right and wrong, fantasy and reality... Also have parents give a shit enough to get their child help if he or she is exhibiting psychologically unstable behavior, instead of ignoring it (or not even spending enough time around their child enough to see it), then saying "our child was such an angel, I don't know what made him/her do something so horrible, it must have been video games/movies/rap lyrics/devil worshipers!
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you can lead a horse to water....
 
Tolyngee said:
1) does a rating system beat old-style parenting?
2) without #1, does a rating keep any of this out of your childrens' hands anyway?

With the parenting style I see today, I doubt it matters at all...
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Parenting or not, nobody can keep up with everything that's being launched, be it movies, games, or whatever.

Rating systems help parents say yes or no to their kids without needing to research the shows every time something new comes out.

Parenting skills have nothing to do with rating systems. Bad parenting would be "sure I'll buy you GTA4" knowing it's rated M
 
Steve said:
Okay, the question of the day is this….do you think a universal rating system would make things better or worse? I mean, how hard could it be to make one system cover everything?
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Barring a constitutional amendment, it's highly unlikely this will ever be enforced, even if Congress passes a law.

All in all, this seems like a waste of time and money. Besides, if you can't figure out the ratings on games, movies and TV shows, you can't, or don't, read.
 
twonunpackmule said:
Keep the government out! Not needed. The independent organizations are doing a fine job without the "help" of the government. This is just a doorway into censorship.

Back away, not today, Disco Lady.
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Bingo

or

+1

or whatever the kids are saying these days.
 
nilepez said:
Barring a constitutional amendment, it's highly unlikely this will ever be enforced, even if Congress passes a law.

All in all, this seems like a waste of time and money. Besides, if you can't figure out the ratings on games, movies and TV shows, you can't, or don't, read.
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When has the constitution ever stopped them before?
 
ryan_975 said:
When has the constitution ever stopped them before?
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It had nothing really to do with the Constitution.. Ratings are only supposed to be for guidelines and selling stuff to minors directly.. It doesn't stop parents for buying it for their kids.

A lot of kids can do just fine regardless of violence or sex in video games, if their parents took the time to bring them up with a proper value system that teaches them to value human life, and that there is a big difference between entertainment and reality. Of course just like anything else, there is no magic way to stop all violence... Some people are just born with that propensity, and no teaching or enacting of laws will stop them from doing something heinous.
 
Its really all about parenting, but most of america will NEVER allow blame to be placed on themselves sooooooo, we have to do stupid stuff like this
 
I guess I don't have an issue with it, but just saying PG or R isn't enough. Something I've seen things on TV do ratings that show what's there.

E (acceptable to whole family)
GV: Graphic Violence
BN: Brief Nudity
DU: Drug use
CV: Cartoon violence
etc. etc. etc.

Would it be more confusing than PG or R or whatever to have a product rated GVBNDU? Maybe, but then you could actually tell what the product is offering and make an educated decision.

I'm certainly all for better parenting (although I'm married without children at the moment), but an intelligent system that could better educate the idiots that surround me couldn't hurt.
 
Tolyngee said:
1) does a rating system beat old-style parenting?
2) without #1, does a rating keep any of this out of your childrens' hands anyway?

With the parenting style I see today, I doubt it matters at all...
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Well, the ratings are intended to be a guide for parents to know what content media contains. Parents still make the ultimate decision as to what media with what ratings their kids are allowed to have.

twonunpackmule said:
Keep the government out! Not needed. The independent organizations are doing a fine job without the "help" of the government. This is just a doorway into censorship.

Back away, not today, Disco Lady.
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This is not a doorway into censorship. Avoid the slippery-slope fallacy.

BravO))) said:
What is stopping them from not rating a game the feel that is too violent and basically banning the game.
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The fact that they have no real economic or political motivation to do so?

BravO))) said:
Not to mention wasting money on a system already working for the most part.
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This I agree with. I don't think a universal system is necessary; the ones already in place do their job well.
 
I love how posts on [H] that have anything to do with the government these days brings out the tinfoil hat crowd.

- No, a new government-run universal rating system wouldn't necessarily be horrible / costly / {insert adjective here}. It would probably be a lot like the current independent and individual ratings system, just with a single ratings system.

- The USA federal government isn't like that of Australia or Germany. This wouldn't lead to censorship. People think of FCC creating guidelines for content on government-owned airwaves (such as no swears or porn) and they instantly start trying to apply it to a million other areas too, which just doesn't happen. In Germany, they routinely ban games. This hasn't ever happened in the U.S., as it's pretty damn unconstitutional (and there is no branch of the federal government which really has the power to do so anyway). Government censorship of such games would be too. Yes, sometimes state governments try to restrict games sales for certain age groups. But outright government-mandated censorship or banning just wouldn't happen.

- Is a uniform system necessary? I don't think so, but I do think it's an interesting idea / debate.
 
I think all rating systems should be abolished. They're essentially state run censorship.

Beyond that, who cares if it's unified? It's practically arbitrary anyway. Sex garners me an R rating but mass violence, pg-13. Spin the wheel of ratings! If you're curious what something is, check it out for your kids. Chances are good that a G rating could have ideas far more dangerous than any imagery or sex scene a government spook would coo at.
 
PWMK2 said:
- The USA federal government isn't like that of Australia or Germany. This wouldn't lead to censorship..
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When you rate something, that is inherently censorship, because a vast majority of the population takes it seriously and this restricts its audience.
 
Attean said:
When you rate something, that is inherently censorship, because a vast majority of the population takes it seriously and this restricts its audience.
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Rating: "This product has swears in it."
Censorship: "We will stop the release of any product with swears in it."

Yeah, totally the same thing. :rolleyes:
 
they have so many tools in place now to aide parents but alas people are too lazy to effectvely use them and then they wonder why their kids are all messed up.
 
PWMK2 said:
Rating: "This product has swears in it."
Censorship: "We will stop the release of any product with swears in it."

Yeah, totally the same thing. :rolleyes:
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I don't think you know what censorship means. It's not just deleting something from the public, it's also suppression of it.

Rating systems are a form of suppression. Is it mild? Yes. And obviously it's something the public in this country has come to accept. Hell, we're raised with it all around us. But it's spoon fed bullshit which I think is not only pointless, but ultimately counterproductive for society. People need to think for themselves, government censorship doesn't help that.
 
Attean said:
I don't think
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Based upon the below statement, you got that right......

Attean said:
Rating systems are a form of suppression. Is it mild? Yes. And obviously it's something the public in this country has come to accept. Hell, we're raised with it all around us. But it's spoon fed bullshit which I think is not only pointless, but ultimately counterproductive for society. People need to think for themselves, government censorship doesn't help that.
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A rating system is not a form of supression, it is a tool to be used by responsible parents/parents who do not want to expose their kids/themselves to something that is unwarranted......

Do you know what censorship is?

Here are a few examples

1. Bleeping out swear words in movies
2. Not publishing a book because it contains material someone does not like.

A rating system is something like this:

M for mature audiences
G for General public
E for everyone
NC17 no children below 17

So.....tell me what are they teaching people in school nowadays if one cannot tell the difference between censorship and a rating system?
 
does the current system really need to change? is it that broken? Like someone else said, people need to start being better parents and most of this would be a non-issue anyway. Our tax dollars at work :rolleyes:
 
Attean said:
I don't think you know what censorship means. It's not just deleting something from the public, it's also suppression of it.

Rating systems are a form of suppression. Is it mild? Yes. And obviously it's something the public in this country has come to accept. Hell, we're raised with it all around us. But it's spoon fed bullshit which I think is not only pointless, but ultimately counterproductive for society. People need to think for themselves, government censorship doesn't help that.
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Telling people what type of content a movie contains is censorhip?

Oh brother...
 
Tolyngee said:
1) does a rating system beat old-style parenting?
2) without #1, does a rating keep any of this out of your childrens' hands anyway?

With the parenting style I see today, I doubt it matters at all...
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i agree. wtf does a kid care if he sees that something is rated R? do you really think he will say, "oh im not suppose to watch this movie with all it's killing and sex and swearing".
hell no, the kid will watch that.

personally i have no problems with kids viewing material that is rated R for example, depending on how young they really are.
If you are a teen (13+) then I think you should be able to watch anything, as long as you are responsble enough to watch such a thing.
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
Based upon the below statement, you got that right......
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Nice, the personal attacks are out of the bag already.
YeuEmMaiMai said:
A rating system is not a form of supression, it is a tool to be used by responsible parents/parents who do not want to expose their kids/themselves to something that is unwarranted......
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It's a subjective rating system. What you want to expose your kids to and I want to expose my kids to are two completely different things. The R, pg-13, whatever rating, is arbitrary and is government suppression of free speech, technically speaking. I don't understand how you don't see this. Yes, it is a tool for parents and its always bandied around as such,
A rating system is something like this:
YeuEmMaiMai said:
M for mature audiences
G for General public
E for everyone
NC17 no children below 17

So.....tell me what are they teaching people in school nowadays if one cannot tell the difference between censorship and a rating system?
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What is a mature audience? Is that an age group? Do some Disney movies offend your sensibilities if you're Hindu - should they still be rated G?

You looked one layer deep at the issue then wrote up a haughty reply, good job.
 
I feel like I could summarize my view better than that last rant:

Current rating systems don't just tell you the contents of a movie, they attempt to delimit an audience. For the government to tell anyone else what they can say or hear from someone else, I feel is beyond their abilities and does more harm than good.
 
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