At any given time, somewhere in the world, a Rockstar game is causing controversy (think Man Hunt, Grand Theft Auto et al…). This time around the culprit is the update to ‘Bully’, which has already been banned in Brazil – deemed too violent for young children and teenagers by Judge Flavio Rabello. The ban makes it illegal to import, distribute, sell, or promote the game in Brazil, either online or through traditional retail outlets.
Today, parenting and education experts in Australia have savaged the Australian release of this controversial video game based on schoolyard bullying, which features animated blood and violence, sexual themes, crude language, and alcohol and tobacco use.
The game’s rating is listed on an Australian government classification website as M, meaning it does not carry the age restriction attached to the higher MA15+ rating.
Parenting Australia chief executive Jane King described the game as “disturbing” and said it should never have been released.
“It’s scary, it’s outrageous, it’s gross,” she said.
“I do think the classification system needs to be reviewed. I would be very concerned if my 13-year-old son played a game like that.
“I think the message of solving violence with violence is extremely disturbing.”
Ms King encouraged parents not to buy the game.
Young Media Australia president Jane Roberts said the game was a more inappropriate “mark II” of the original Bully game released two years ago.
“I’m not sure about what the developers of this game don’t get,” she said.
“We have had major efforts right across Australia in schools trying to get the message across that violence doesn’t solve anything.
Australian Education Union president Angelo Gavrielatos said teachers worldwide were vehemently opposed to the game and the union had joined a coalition of eight teacher organisations from countries such as South Korea, the United States and Britain denouncing its release.
“What we are concerned about is the continuing production and development of such games that glorify violence and bullying,” he said.
“There’s a point where the corporate world must take some responsibility to regulate these games. In a world where the issues of bullying and violence are a concern, the production of these games is not acceptable.”
A spokeswoman for the Australian Classification Board said the game was approved because the themes were “moderate in playing and viewing and were justified by context”.
“During the game the player is not encouraged to attack innocent bystanders or undertake acts of bullying and is not rewarded for doing so,” the spokeswoman said.
“The missions players undertake are generally about thwarting acts of bullying, exploitation or discrimination. If the player does bully another player out of context a punishment type bar increases and when full it causes the character to be apprehended by authority figures.”
Some views …
http://www.northernnews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=949633
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iJ55y3SqHmauQzDd3Sd0iqO8hwiwD8VV88GO0
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/04/04/gta-iv-cnesored-for-release-down-under
What do your students think?
J
