August 7, 2007 -
Yesterday the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) announced its support for game issue-oriented videos created for the upcoming CNN / YouTube Republican Presidential Debate.
Everyone who submits a game consumer-oriented video question in accordance with YouTube's guidelines for the debate will receive a free T-shirt from the ECA.
Think it's not important?
Think again. Those on the other side of the issue are making debate videos as well.
Joystiq's Ross Miller offers even more reasons to make a video.
Comments
I would vote for you :)
By and by, can any gamer ladies out there make a video backing the video game industry? I haven't seen any... So far, just mens protecting it and this lady attacking it...
Here is what she wrote to me after I asked her questions about her video:
Dear [redacted],
I want to thank you for your time. I very much appreciate the time and effort you took to write your letter to me.
I think there will always be a debate as to what people think is explicit and not explicit. My video was posted to be a catalyst for expanding the discussion.
You are so right...legislation does not nurture children but a leader with a strong moral compass combined with a good heart can inspire young people to have high self esteem and confidence in themselves. Although our past leaders are not perfect the words (coined by my friend, Norman Cousins who was one of Kennedy's speech writers)...spoken by President Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country"...inspired millions and empowered them to believe that their efforts could make a difference.
Children want to know that they make a difference. That they are valuable, strong and resourceful. They want to know that they are loved and valued and that they have the power and creativity to take part in designing their local environment and community at large.
I am asking this question on video to see what kind of response I might get in terms of how seriously a candidate might approach efforts to uplift and motivate youth (and all ages).
There are many points I could address in your letter but I think what I would just prefer to do is honor the time and consideration you put into your communication...and to honor your right to have a different point of view. (In some areas...I quite agree with you and other individuals who made postings on my video).
[redacted personal criticism]
I really want to wish you well. I love your sincerity and the manner in which you articulate your point of view. It is clear you have genuine peacemaking skills and those are some of the most important skills you will need when you embark on the journey of being a parent.
[redacted personal criticism]
I really wish you well...and hope you have a wonderful time sharing your enthusiasm for gaming with your future children...but most of all have a wonderful time sharing your love with them because I can tell you will have a lot of that to share with them. They will truly be lucky kids.
Wishing You All The Best,
Sharon Anne Fox
The stuff I redacted were some personal comments upon me, and aren't really related.
Needless to say, I can't really say this is "the other side" as she has her own campaign for another reason...
www.stopshiftingblame.com
(website coming soon)
im hoping that this question wont ever see the light of day hold on someone at the door oh its mr reality . . . .
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she's a Romney supporter planting an easy question for him to dish out a canned response to. It's a cornerstone of his campaign.
I want to see a candidate who will pledge to fight for constitutionally protected speech, even if they don't necessarily agree with the content. Ultrareligious conservatives like Brownback and his ilk would ban Harry Potter books for teaching kids witchcraft and black magic, if they thought they could get away with it.
Silly soccer moms like the one in the video are the ones that empower politicians to think they have a chance at breaking the most important right our founding fathers believed in. (and hey, if it gets defeated in the courts, it was 'activist' judges shooting down a 'common-sense' law, right?)
I wonder, as a teacher, how she feels about the government trying to impose 'creation science', 'intelligent design', and other pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo as part of a child's education. After all, you can't 'nurture childhood' by telling a kid they share 99% of their DNA with chimps. They will grow up to act like monkeys!
This is what we're up against. Paranoid blame-pushers and ignorant bandwagoners. This should not be a hard fight to win once we get vocal about it.
And now a word from our news corespondent Morbo:
"Government doesn't work that way! Good night!"
So far I have Brownback, Clinton, Lieberman. Any other big names you can pull from the GP archives? I will be working on a video and want to hit all the big names.
Thanks,
~J
"If that were the case all those laws wouldn’t have been passed in the first place."
And guess who the biggest supporters of those laws are? Yup, parents. Same with any scapegoating that has ever happened. The only people who support these laws, are parents, or people who think they should be allowed to tell parents how to raise their kids. IE parental wannabes, or people who believe their children are perfect, and it's just everyone else who is incapable of raising their own kids.
Ask any WASP mother about their children, and how they were raised. Now ask the same question, but about the neighbor's kids. Yeah outside negative influences will be mentioned, but it'll usually fall back to criticism that the neighbor parent is "letting" the kid be exposed to it, or that they "raised them wrong, so they can't help it if they're influenced".
The ONLY time outside influence is the majority blame, is when it's happening to YOUR kids, because the only other thing you could blame is your upbringing methods or genetics, which obviously the parent wouldn't want to do...
It was shown on CNN. They already replayed the Democratic one once, and they'll probably replay it again closer to the Republican debate.
Vote for LightWarrior for president!
>_>;;;
It'll never get chosen, but at least I'll be able to say I'm politically active.
If that were the case all those laws wouldn't have been passed in the first place. Gamers are the de facto scapegoat for all society's wrongs ever since Mortal Kombat first came out. Before that it was LARPers. Before that it was rock fans. Before that it was comic books. Before that it was witches. It's never been the fault of the parents.
I'm willing to bet $5 that our questions never get asked, and that the questions of how to regulate games do.
-.- But I'm pessimistic about politics anyway.
-What are you going to do for my welfare?: (insert welfare plan that would never go into action)
-What about crime? (I'll do a lot if you get me in office)
etc. etc.
The Democratic YouTube debate already happened, last month. There weren't any questions on games, but there was a pretty ugly spat sparked between Clinton and Obama that continued for a while. :)
"lets be honest shes just asking for someone to tell her that her problems are not her fault"
As a parent, you like to believe that you are doing the best job you can in raising your kids. Admitting to being a bad or inadequate parent is a hard thing to do.
On the other hand, society puts any faults in your child squarely on your shoulders as a parent, when really it's a combination of many things. A bad kid is not necessarily entirely the fault of bad parenting.
"maybe im over reacting wouldnt be my first time. but it just seems like shes complaining “i saw something bad and its up to you to make sure nothing bad ever happens again” "
I'm pretty sure that's what she's asking too, but she at least worded it in such a way that there's wiggle room to talk about "providing tools to parents" without resorting to "I'm gonna tell people what they can and can't buy/make"
Why not legislate against bad parenting, why are bad parents never an issue when someone shoots up a school or stabs a nurse?
I've seen more people try blame Harry Potter for child violence than I have bad parenting.
Oh that's right, you shift the blame over to the easiest target, that way you avoid all responsibility just like you did when raising the child..
Good game America.
maybe im over reacting wouldnt be my first time
but it just seems like shes complaining "i saw something bad and its up to you to make sure nothing bad ever happens again"
lets be honest shes just asking for someone to tell her that her problems are not her fault
We need to stay away from the "US vs THEM" mentality... it indeed takes a village yadda yadda...
"Shoot the Germans, anyone?"
My father in law played that one. :)
The one thing I *do* like about her question is that it's pretty open-ended. It doesn't ask "how will you regulate the industry", even if that's what it implies. So it leaves it open to the candidate to talk about educating parents to use the tools available, if that's what the candidate supports instead of regulation...
Actually it may be a debate video. Specifically CNN has taken to accepting Youtube video questions for republican candidates during it's airing of republican presidential debates.
tnx for sharing spam
BITCH
@Black Manta, Gameboy
I'd just like to add to your points in that I wonder what methodology this woman used to conclude her students are getting more violent. Did she see them point their fingers and shout "bang" at each other, and assume they got if from Halo? Kids have been playing games like that ('Shoot the Germans,' anyone?) way before their were video games, TV, or Ron Jeremy. Did she catch two students kicking each other and assume that learned it from Jet Li? Again, schoolyard fights are hardly a recent phenomonon.
Also, how does she conclude that it's the media that's responsible for her students' behavior? I mean, heaven forbid trouble at home (parents divorced, fighting, etc.) might have something to do with it.
To reiterate, not only it she ignoring the chicken-egg argument, it would also seem that she is focusing primarily on one factor and treating the others as secondary. Now, unless she elaborates on this matter, I can't be sure. None of us can be sure. It would be great if she came on this site like many critics have recently.