Survey find that 97% of American Youth play video games

[Demontestament]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/09/16/videogames.survey.ap/index.html?eref=rss_tech

Interesting read for those interested

[GamesLaw]

Analysis available here:

http://www.gameslaw.net/2008/09/17/pew-internet-poll-is-good-news-for-game-policy/

Perhaps the most striking thing from a policy standpoint is the level of parental interaction. 90% of parents either sometimes or always know what their children play, 72% check the rating before allowing children to play, and around 80% believe gaming has either a positive, or no influence on their child (62% no effect, 19% positive).

This brings into sharp contrast the issue facing legislators who want to regulate gaming: How can legislators claiming to represent their constituency act to protect their constituents, when the research shows that the people are doing a good enough job of it themselves? This data therefore is highly influential in the policy debate because it provides an immediate counter to the legislative charge that games need to be regulated for protection. The police power of the state has no right to be invoked when there is a clearly lesser restrictive means of accomplishing the policy goal. If the goal is to protect children, then this data goes a long way towards establishing that parental responsibility is a more effective and less restrictive mean than invoking the police power.