Do you agree that there should be laws protecting kids....?

Question

Please read this article and then comment. Thanks!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070117/national/violence_media_children_2

For those of you too "click weary" I'll post the first paragraph here to give you an idea of what this is about:

"Canadian children are being exposed to far too much violence in music lyrics, video games and on television and need to be protected by laws similar to those that restrict the sale of tobacco to minors, a coalition of teachers and parents said Wednesday."

You can't protect your children from everything. If you were a parent you'd know that. And it used to be that NOTHING vulgar, offensive, or with sexual content appeared on tv before 9 PM...somewhere along the line that changed.

You think when you buy a game rated for kids or teens it would have no violence but it does.

Besides, look at the crap on the computer kids can access. With laws like this in place, then they can force rules for the internet too.

How about make the GOVERNMENT responsible first...because everyone goes running to them for their right to show their boobs, have sex with whomever, etc...this seems to imply to anyone that it's ok to put this crap all over TV stations and the radio too.

How about that rapper from Detroit who is sueing the Canadian government for 300 million because they "delay" him every time he crosses the border...geez I guess that criminal record a mile long has nothing to do with it and that SMUT he passes off for music....tell me what is a song that says "get down on your knees *****" allowed to hit the airwaves at all!! The disgusting ******* should be in prison instead of suing for the right to air that garbage. Dickheads like Howard Stern don't help the cause either.

You guys are so naive. You do need government. Parents are doing thier part if you read this article it doesn't mean anything without the government backing this.

They are elected by the people and owe it to our country to maintain a level of ethics.

Government sets laws for the people. That's its role. That's what is wrong with kids today they have no rules at all. You will suffer for it. One day the world and it's mess will be yours to handle.

SO DUAL, are you saying government should remove the age restrictions on drinking, the driving restriction on age, and the age of consensus on when children marry?

What a great idea! Let's leave that to all those responsible parents who do such a great job as it is...and to their bratty children who argue it's their right...then let's fill them up with booze, give them the car keys and hell marry them off at 9....what a pain kids are after all...out the house and get a job you lazy good for nothing!!!

I CAN SEE YOUR PARENTS are looking over your shoulders right now too restricting you from all this smut online....tell they from me I'm proud of the wonderful job they're doing!!!!! Keep it up!!!

Answer 1

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Answer 2

Smells like censorship to me.
The government should not be in the parenting game. Protect children to the level that the net does not cover adults as well.
This effected the Music industry in the '80's with the "Tipper Stickers" that claimed explicit lyrics and the like claiming to "protect children." What it did do was paint giant targets on the records and Cd's that had the label.
Parents would sue, Malls and chain stores would ban any record with a label, record companies would force artists to re-record clean versions of Cd's in order to sell in Wall Mart or the mall.
This effects the adults in areas that do not have many places to buy good music. This effects the artist who has to release edited music for fear that a parent will not screen what little Johnny is listening to.
The same thing happened to Comic books and the Comics Code Authority in the '50's, and Movie ratings. Did you know that the director is not even told WHY a movie gets the rating is gets; it is just given a "R" and returned. They cut a little, and re submit it.
"R" with no explanation.
It reduces the quality of the work.

Parents should protect the children, not the game creators.
If they fail, it is the parents who are to blame, not everyone else.

Answer 3

I agree that we shouldn't be sending pics to each other, but that's a typical teenager for you. teens everywhere are having sex and getting pregnant these days; everyone knows that. we don't arrest or charge a teen couple when they have a kid and obviously had sex in order to do so, so why would we do that when teens aren't even actually doing anything in person, just talking about it? registering a kid as a sex offender for doing what almost teen does at some point or another, ruins their life. i think sex offenders should be the people who go out and rape kids, not two teens sexting with both of their consent. I mean, most teen couples end up doing something or another; for example I read in a magazine once that this 17 year old boy got arrested for sexting his girlfriend of two years, and he was registered as a sex offender. that's really too extreme.

Answer 4

This wouldn't be an issue if parents took a more proactive role in the raising of their children.

I always get offended when I hear of concerned parents trying to limit violence, sexuality, language and other in media that their children should not be exposed to in the first place.

A parent should be rigorously screening the TV their children watch, the music they listen to, the games they play. Often when a child is impressionable enough to be tainted by such exposure they are also to young to access it themselves.

A 7 year old isn't going to be the one purchasing the violent video games or subscribing to channels that are certainly not appropriate
for children. A child is rarely ever in control of the radio. If you are going to allow your child to be babysat by the television have the sense to block out every channel that play inappropriate shows. There are plenty of child friendly networks out there to choose from.

Answer 5

I think we have enough laws protecting children in Canada. What we need is the parents to pay more attention to their children with their daily activities. The government can only enforce the laws and advise on the child safety issues. The basics starts with the parents to protect their children. When it comes to music, cable and satellite T.V and the Internet........that's why we have something called parental guidance. You can't expect government to do the parent's job everyday. The laws are there...now the parents should spend some more time with the children and monitor their activities.

Answer 6

you are missing the entire argument. We do not need government to meddle in our lives as they do in Canada. It should be the responsibility of the parent to monitor what thier children do. We have "ratings" on our television programming and our video games so what is it that you want? Jail time for a television crew for "play" shooting a bad guy in the midst of a crime?

Answer 7

So we again need the gov't to take the role of the parent....There are enough restrictions and laws on the books now that everyone is one step from being arrested.
Since we all need less gov't...it should also include making unnecessary laws or restrictions when it should be the parents responsibility.

Answer 8

we don't need any new laws to protect children what we need is to let parents actually raise children, to have the ability to correct the errant decisions of children without the fear of the government to retaliate against the parents that have the best interest of their children at heart.

Lets address your issues,,,,

1.)It use to be that before 9pm.... Yes it was that way, there was CENSORSHIP on the TV Broadcast, because the government wanted to protect the people from free speech, then came cable, and it ended the choke hold of censors on free speech over the tv, Solution:: Get rid of cable and get only the local broadcast channels again.

2.)Games rated for kids: I have examined those games, i CLOSELY read the labels for content (Not just the title) and decided that i was not going to purchase it for my grand child. Solution: Don't buy the stuff you don't want your kid to have.

3.)Besides look at the crap on the internet: Yes you as parents can restrict YOUR children from sites on the internet. This is YOUR job as a parent if you choose to do it. It does take supervision and the computer in a public area of your house. There are many software options to assist parents too. Just as you would shield YOUR children from real areas of cities YOU too have the responsibility to shield them from sites on the internet.

4.) I don't like RAP music either, but, i will defend the artist RIGHT to free expression. I served in the US Army for many years, I firmly believe in the constitution and the bill of rights, I will not attempt to thwart his rights to that speech, just as i will not thwart your right to say that you want government in your every intimate detail of your life. Saying that a person should go to prison for free speech is ludicrous. This is not the old Soviet Union. Calling fellow citizens that you disagree with names is quite childish.

5.) You guys are naive. :: Quite the contrary, I was in law enforcement for many many years as well as the military. I have seen oppressive governments that have laws like the ones you advocate. There is already enough government interfering with proper discipline of parents raising children. If kids have no rules at all it is because of PARENTS not PARENTING!!!!

6.)Governmental Ethics: We have a government full of the worst type of people, liars, thieves, murderers, war mongers, child moslesters, and that is just the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, Who know what lies in wait at the State levels.
Are these the kind of people that you want raising your children?
As for me I say ney!!

In short: It is the PARENTS that have the children, they are the PARENTS responsibility, they are not the responsibility of the government to protect from the real or imagined dangers of society. There are many satisfactory laws that do protect children and yet maintain a balance of civil rights for the citizens of majority (that means; those of legal age). Minors have restrictions as well they should. But, ultimately it is the failure of the PARENTS when a child goes bad. Not of the Government. Remember your rights end at the end of my nose. Don't tread on my rights. I WON'T TREAD ON YOURS!!!!

Answer 9

How about their parents not letting them watch?

More government control is NOT what we need.

How about protecting your own children, instead of relying on the government? TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!!

However, I DO believe the rap music is responsible for 95% of the crime in our big cities. But I still think the parents should take a more active role in what their children listen to.