Stephen King hits out at anti-videogame bill

A proposal to restrict the sale of violent video games in Massachusetts has caused famed horror author Stephen King, who admits he is no fan of video games, to speak out against what he refers to as the government's surrogate parenting.

"According to the proposed bill, violent video games are pornographic and have no redeeming social merit," he wrote in an Entertainment Weekly column. "What makes me crazy is when politicians take it upon themselves to play surrogate parents. The results of that are usually disastrous. Not to mention undemocratic."

Designated HB 1423, the state legislation would limit the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18. "Which means, by the way, that a 17-year-old who can get in to see Hostel: Part II would be forbidden by law from buying (or renting, one supposes) the violent but less graphic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," King pointed out. "If there's violence to be had, the kids are gonna find a way to get it."

Instead of a state-mandated restriction on violent game sales--many of which have been found to be unconstitutional in the past--King suggested that parents make an effort to take a more active role in raising their children as video games are not the only readily available source of violence in America.

"There's a lot more to America's culture of violence than Resident Evil 4," he explained. "Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find objectionable...and then explain why it's being forbidden. They also need to monitor their children's lives in the pop culture--which means a lot more than seeing what games they're renting down the street."

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More than 70 percent of Americans playing video games

"A report today from the NPD Group, a New York-based market research firm, reveals that 72 percent of the U.S. population played video games last year, up from 64 percent in 2006.

And among the people playing games, 58 percent said they played online.

The online participation included everything from children's game sites and casual word, card and puzzle games to the hard-core role-playing games such as "World of Warcraft" and online racing and combat games through consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The number of online gamers relative to the total U.S. population is 42 percent so far this year, up from 40 percent in 2007.

In breaking down the online participation, NPD reported that "The PC platform continues to be the driving force in online gaming, with 90 percent of online gamers stating they use a PC to play games online, 19 percent claiming they use a video game system (console or portable) and 3 percent claiming they use a cell phone.

"Four out of 10 online gamers are ages 2-17, driven heavily by kids ages 6-12. Kids ages 2 to 12 are driving more than 25 percent of online gaming, while 18-24 year olds only represent 10 percent of online gaming.""

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On college campuses, video games move into classroom

"Attention parents: The video games that drive your kids to distraction could soon become a staple of higher education.

For a growing number of college professors, computer games are no mere child’s play. Instead, such games are seen as a 21st-century tool to promote critical thinking, social collaboration and even civic participation to students raised clutching joysticks since they learned to walk.

"The experience kids can have in a game world are more authentic than those they can have in a classroom," said David Shaffer, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"These new technologies are fundamentally changing what it means to be educated," added Shaffer, author of "How Computer Games Help Children Learn."

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