FEATURE: Irish parents ignore age ratings on violent and obscene computer games

Many parents ignore age ratings on violent or obscene games, as advice from the self-relegated retailers often falls on deaf ears as parents buy 16+ and 18+ games for children.

BBC research published late last year states the average age of gamers in the UK at 28 years old, but retail staff in Dublin agreed that the majority of people looking for adult rated games are children.

Surveys of game players in both the US and the UK may put average age of gamers well above 18, but again according to the BBC research into game player’s habits, higher percentages of children play games more often. In addition, 70% of younger gamers aged 6-10 favoured ‘action adventure’ games, in the age group 25-35 the popularity of this genre dropped below 50%

In a striking similarity to underage drinking, one game shop staff member said that when children are refused they sometimes ask other shoppers to buy the game. This wasn't echoed by staff in other shops, but this may have been because of the store's location on one of Dublin's busiest shopping streets.

Ger Connolly, Deputy Film Censor, at the Irish Film Censor’s Office (IFCO) commented, “Our own research of parents' attitudes would suggest they are very concerned as to the suitability of anything their children are watching”.

Parents are still buying these games for their children, even though an IFCO survey on parents’ views recorded ‘drug taking’ and ‘violence’ as the topics that cause parents most concern. With age ratings, 83 percent of parents replied ‘drug taking’ was ‘very important’, followed by ‘violence’ at 75 percent. Including the percentage of parent who said these were “fairly important” pushes the percentages beyond 90%.

For age classifications of games the Irish censor’s office subscribes to ‘PEGI’, a voluntary pan-European age ratings system. Ireland is represented by the Deputy Film Censor on the board of PEGI, but the voluntary system has no legal basis in Irish law.

“We strictly enforce PEGI, we treat it as its mandatory” said commented Michael Finucane, Commercial Director, GameStop, one of the largest Irish games.

“As with all entertainment mediums, not all content is appropriate or acceptable to all people” commented a spokeswoman for Microsoft, maker of the Xbox 360 games console, “We believe in the rights of parents and caregivers to make educated choices for their families on the appropriateness of a game's offerings”. Microsoft help families make these decisions Microsoft actively supports and abides by all game rating systems in effect in the different parts of the world.

Publishers – such as Microsoft, Sony, and Rockstar – only have to voluntarily submit a game to the Irish Film Censor’s Office if the game is “deemed prohibitable”, which includes games which containing obscene or indecent matter or possible incitement of crime.

The UK uses a similar system. However, in the UK more games are referred to the censor to be legally classified. Across the border in Northern Ireland games rated for over 18 end up with the recognisable red ‘18’ circular logo from the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

In the Republic, it’s different. The recently released ‘Vice City Stories’ for the PlayStation Portable, the latest title in the well-known Grand Theft Auto series, only received a PEGI 18+ age rating. ‘Gears of War’ for Xbox 360, which includes screen filled blood-splatter after chain saw use, also appeared on Irish game store shelves with the dull black and white age rating.

With games publishers the situation appears to be if in doubt sent it to the BCFC, but it’ll pass in Ireland using the voluntary ratings.

Cllr. Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, a Labour councillor on Dublin City Council and a primary school teacher says, “Children shouldn’t be able to buy” these type of games. Saying it was “ridiculous” Ó Ríordáin expressed surprise when we outlined the PEG ratings weren’t mandatory. But he said “It’s difficult to legislate in this area when some parents turn a blind eye to underage drinking and smoking”.

Ó Ríordáin said it “does have an impact, too much freedom is not a good thing, children need boundaries”.

“In my experience shop staff are very good,” said Philip Mudge, a spokesman for the National Parents Council. He said he has witnessed parents buying adult games for children, agreeing it is “difficult to see how to legislate for this”.

Mudge said if a clear reason behind the ratings were on boxes it would be easier for parents to determine the content of a game. The PEGI age rating system has indication logos including ‘drugs use’ and ‘violence’, but these rarely appear in full on packaging or even online. 

With the latest Grand Theft Auto game the ‘violence’ and ‘bad language’ logos are shown on PEGI’s website, but there is no indication of drugs, sex references, and gambling which feature heavily in the game.

Referring to PEGI, Mudge says, “It should be mandatory, but it wouldn’t make much difference as most major retailers are enforcing it”

“We keep a log of refusals,” said Michael Finucane of GameStop as he explained if a member of staff sells adult games to a minor disciplinary action is take, this is now outlined in the companies terms of employment. 

“Retailers have a responsibly” he said, adding, “Every parent has responsibilities, if a game is 16s or 18s it’s for a reason, but not for a second would I lecture someone on parenting”

It’s rare for debates on violent or obscene games video not to descend into controversy, high emotion and misleading statements.

The game ‘Manhunt’ was blamed for one teenager stabbing another in the UK; tabloid media reports forced the police to state the game was not part of their investigation.

But tabloids are not the only outlets to mislead while controversy is played out. When the Youth Council of Ireland recently called for a boycott of the “shocking" game, Canis Canem Edit, otherwise known as ‘Bully’. An Irish Times article on the story said the game “depicts a schoolboy tormenting a homeless”, however the player-character, the schoolboy, actually makes friends with the homeless man.

The Irish Times article also made much about an obese girl and “another overweight child with a weak bladder" in the game – it failed to point out the player has to protect these character to progress.

Another recent controversy saw the horror game ‘Rule of Rose’ feature in main news bulletins when European Justice and Security Commissioner, Franco Frattini, call it "obscene cruelty and brutality". The publishers of the title have cancelled the UK release, effectively cancelling the Irish release as well.

PEGI had passed ‘Rule of Rose’ for release; the justice commissioner however said the ratings weren’t strong enough to protect children. If that is something for parents or government to decide remains to be seen. 

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