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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Video Game Classification needs reform to protect children says Assembly Member
August 10, 2008 12:00 AM
Responding to a government consultation on the subject, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Heritage spokesperson, Peter Black has called on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to hand over the classification of video and computer games to the British Board of Film Classification so as to protect children from inappropriate content.
Currently, all video and computer games are rated by the Pan European Gaming Information body (PEGI). Only those that it considers should be rated '18+' are then also rated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). While any age restrictions placed by the BBFC are legally binding, those placed by PEGI are not. This means a game rated by PEGI at '16+' would not receive BBFC classification and would not have any legally binding age restriction placed on it. Games which have been rated 16+ and have no other classification include shooting game Call of Duty 4 and female based fighting game Dead or Alive 4, both of which have no legally enforceable age restriction.
"There is a very strong case for the British Board of Film Classification to be the organisation that classifies games in this country." said Mr Black. "The Pan European Gaming Information body have done an effective job, however, most children do not purchase games themselves and instead ask adults to purchase on their behalf. Adults are familiar with the British Board of Film Classification's '15' and '18' symbols and know what content to expect in them. They are not familiar with the other symbols or what content they apply to."
"This is not about banning violent games but instead ensuring that adults do not unwittingly buy these games for their children. It will also assist shop assistants in knowing who to sell a game to and when such a sale is inappropriate. In my view many people are confused by the present system of classification and are prone to buy games for their children which may be violent or contain other adult content without knowing it. Using a tried and tested standard of classification for both games and films will help to educate consumers and better protect children."
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