Angela Conway: Australian Family Association

[MUTANT SPUD]

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2172270.htm
As the debate on video game classification debate heats up in Australia the religious right is on the march with the same old grab bag of ill informed sound bites and scaremongering. Angela Conway is the spokeswoman for The Australian Family Asociation http://www.family.org.au/ which styles itself as a sort of conservative think tank.Here's her latest comment on the issue
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/27/2200410.htm?section=business
I heard the soundbite:The Australian Family Association's Angela Conway says violent video games can exacerbate mental health problems and any changes to classifications would be dangerous.

"It there are problems with that young person already, then this technology will turn them into a lethal killer," she said. while I was driving this morning and I nearly crashed my car. These tactics, while common to right wing groups are unhelpful and misleading, I haven't heard anyone mention allowing pornographic games to be sold in Australia and I thought the problem here was that the censors were banning games only because of a lack of an appropriate classification for violent material.As I've posted before we are able to buy 18+ European games here, the problem is that they are re packaged as 15+ games which is misleading to parents and gamers alike.

[kurisu7885]

Damn, that suddenly makes Jack Thompson seem sane.

[hans moleman]

ANGELA CONWAY: Repeated playing of games like that could alter brain structure and change neural pathways and produce people with more violent impulses. And, perhaps changed attitudes to women as well. So, there's a problem with just you general adult population. Ah, and then, on top of that we've also got adolescents who go through massive amounts of brain development through that time and in a lot of game playing with extreme content, very extreme content, and, you know, we're not sure what could happen. But, certainly the evidence is pointing to worrying conclusions.

Um... lol... brain structure alteration?

Got tinfoil hats?

I'm not a fully functioning psychotic guitar virtuoso after nine years of gaming yet...

[MUTANT SPUD]

Damn, that suddenly makes Jack Thompson seem sane. Yaaargh! You Reckon?...god its worse than I thought. I'm going to send her a nice letter and ask her to detail her sources for this "evidence' she keeps quoting and lay some facts on her..stay tuned. I know emails are quicker but I'm Old School to the core (crosses arms and makes devil symbols with hands)

[D'sparil]

Good luck ;)

[MUTANT SPUD]

I tried a different approach in the end, this is the body of the letter I sent yesterday, if its going to be read by anyone in her office then they would have done so by now so I won't feel bad about posting it/Dear Angela,
I write to you to express my alarm at your recent comments regarding the classification of video games.
As a parent, keen gamer and fellow conservative I am concerned at your use of inflammatory and at times poorly informed rhetoric regarding the effects of violent video games on the community.
I have recently become involved in the campaign to effect a review of censorship regulations and I believe that the key to change in this area relies upon careful consultation between community groups, the gaming industry and government.
Your comments of today asserting that violent games will turn vulnerable young people into “Lethal Killers”
were sensationalist and counterproductive to the efforts of more moderate campaigners.
I would like to prevail upon you, recognising your standing in the community, to express your views in a more moderate and considered fashion when giving media interviews.
I look forward to your reply and if I am able to assist you with accurate, up to date information on the effects of Gaming on our youth and Gaming generally I would be more than happy to do so.

Note the thinly veiled yet gentle jibe at the end, I hope she takes me up on the offer...or maybe I don't...either way I'm pretty proud of this letter.

[Pominator]

nice letter, but these guys (and women) tend to have their heads so far up their... well you know, that they will probably view you as a minor annoyance given that your views conflict with theirs, I am still trying to get my spam filter configured to make sure that anything coming from LPAC doesn't get in to my email inbox, I am pretty sure I am not a wife beating, murdering, british assassin terrorist who the queen converses with daily over myspace...

[hans moleman]

I don't think we can convince these types, they just cant handle our level of understanding... their heads would explode.

I'm just glad the porn industry supported that other group, the ACL... it just shows how hypocritical they are.
(Not that i mind the porn industry's other exports, besides lobbying... mind you) ;)

[MUTANT SPUD]

I don't think we can convince these types, they just cant handle our level of understanding... their heads would explode.

I'm just glad the porn industry supported that other group, the ACL... it just shows how hypocritical they are.
(Not that i mind the porn industry's other exports, besides lobbying... mind you) ;) You mean this? http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/863/863506p1.html
Fiona Patten's a piece of work isn't she, hypocritical and opportunistic.

The latter, perhaps the more surprising of the two groups in opposition, stated "…we believe that there's too much violence out there and there are more pressing issues for the attorneys to consider such as the regulation of the X-rated film industry."