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172 Comments
- mnemy, on 03/07/2009, -6/+108Are you ***** kidding me? You're trying to regulate what parents allow their children to do in their spare time?
The government should only intervene if parents aren't treating their children correctly. Such as not feeding them, etc. - Branchex, on 03/07/2009, -2/+98This is taking nanny state laws to a whole new level.
- Recusant, on 03/07/2009, -7/+65NOT the answer. Throwing parents in jail is NOT going to help their kids playing "mature" games. Shut the ***** up, NZ.
- FUR10N, on 03/07/2009, -0/+35As much as I hate it when stupid ass parents let 9-yr-olds play CoD, this is not the way.
- NikoKun, on 03/07/2009, -3/+35wtf is up with New Zealand lately? they've been passing a lot of bad laws... -_-
- ursername180, on 03/07/2009, -1/+29Not to mention that the article is marked with "graphic content".
:| - Metavised, on 03/07/2009, -1/+26And I wanted to move there once I got my degree.
Are these sorts of things common in New Zealand? - TDTech, on 03/07/2009, -3/+27Not surprised. A law was passed in NZ where you cannot punish your children with a smack no matter what they did. A parent was actually fined after one of his kids was a bit eager to cross the road and the kid received a slap on the hand, public reported it and he got a fine >_>
- inactive, on 03/07/2009, -2/+21Not sure if trolling.
- inactive, on 03/07/2009, -2/+17Censorship=Lame. Parents can choose when their kids are ready for an "M" Rated game or "R" movie way better than the government. Hell, half the people I know would be disturbed by a lot of the games and movies I enjoy, and we're talking repressed adults here.
- marklestrange, on 03/07/2009, -2/+16US - the only English speaking country in the world where 'liberal' can be used as an insult.
Thank The Spaghetti Monster, despite the number of ignorant right wing zealots, there is least a significant minority who have a brain.
We live in one world - everyone's politics affects everyone else.
You couldn't get isolationism to work for you in the 20c how the hell do you think you are going to do it in the 21st! Have you ever been to another country? Have you even left your state?
The big problem is US politics affects the rest of us so much.
So feel free USA to comment on anything you like - in Europe and Oceania we consider this free speech - even if I do not actually agree with your post mnemy. - NSResponder, on 03/07/2009, -1/+14"KIDS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO PLAY THEM"
Then don't let YOUR kids play them, *****. Whatever nanny-state ***** like you would like to believe, a country goes to hell when parental authority is overruled by the government.
-jcr - inactive, on 03/07/2009, -8/+21Bad Parents are one of the biggest problems facing society
I would bet that 90% of people in prison today had bad parents - Surferess, on 03/07/2009, -2/+15This seems like a rather unscientific, oversimplification of the problem.
- eldt, on 03/07/2009, -1/+13New Zealand, better than Old Zealand.
- OPR8R, on 03/07/2009, -0/+11He's trollin'
- DirtyVicar, on 03/07/2009, -0/+11This is a ***** article. All I see is an interview with the "chief censor"' where he discusses his interpretation of the law. There's no mention of the actual law or how it came into existence.
"The fear of getting caught shouldn't be the motivating factor for you obeying the laws," said Bill Hastings, NZ's Chief Censor.
Er, at 3 months prison and $10,000? Oh yes it is; it's an elephant in the living room trying to make us obey the law. - Regulator980, on 03/07/2009, -2/+12Here's Adam Sessler's take on why kids love M-Rated games:
http://g4tv.com/thepile/videos/37055/Sesslers-Soap ... - iumentum, on 03/07/2009, -0/+9Actually having foreigners come in droves would probably be good for the economy. That's why immigration has a skilled migrant category. They look to admit those who would bring skills to NZ where they would otherwise have shortages. NZ is also currently losing aproximately 5,000 Kiwi's a week to Australia (over 50,000 last year), due to stronger wages in OZ and more job opportunities. That's more than 50,000 citizens that will not be putting money into the NZ economy. Fortunately, NZ is bringing in enough immigrants to counteract the loss.
The economic recession and unemployment rate that has lately started to settle in is due to the world financial crisis, which stems from the rediculous financing schemes in America that brought us to this precipice in the first place.
So please, by all means, come to NZ, bring your money and skills. I'm an immigrant (as of 2 1/2 years now) and aside from holidays, I have never gone more than a week without work here.
For those Kiwis that believe they are struggling to find a job due to all the foriegners taking them - I went to a technical school under a one year course right here in NZ, without the benefit of a student allowance I might add. You can too. As a side note - a recession is a wonderful time to return to school and further your employability. - Slyer, on 03/07/2009, -0/+9People in NZ are really easy going, it has all these laws that it can call on if necessary but they aren't readily enforced.
The anti-smacking law for example, the vast majority of people don't actually think smacking is a bad thing, it's just there so we can charge people who are being abusive.
You aren't legally allowed to tape a program off the TV or radio for example, everybody does it, nobody cares and nobody gets fined for it. - inactive, on 03/07/2009, -1/+10ever since kids act as brats.
- velocity92c, on 03/07/2009, -2/+10I'm all for this. In the past week I've had 3 or 4 parents or older brothers of 12 year olds get on their kids mics and bitch at me for cussing in their children's matches. The ***** game is rated M and is meant to be played by those 18 years of age or older. Not that I give a ***** if kids play it, because I played M rated games when I was young as well, but my parents sure as hell never would've done something so idiotic. Even at 12 years old I wouldn't have let them.
- pingudownunder, on 03/07/2009, -0/+7I think the Kiwi government is having a race with the Aussie govenrment on which can get the to the title of "Ultimate Nanny State" first.
- inactive, on 03/07/2009, -0/+7They see me trollin', they hatin'...
- RonBurgundy76, on 03/07/2009, -0/+7Yeah, who gives a damn about actual evidence, right?
- pikelet, on 03/07/2009, -7/+14I don't see this as a bad thing. Kids shouldn't be playing mature games, end of story. I'm not sure on whether the violent video games affecting behaviour theory is right or wrong. I did play 'violent' games as a kid, but nothing more graphic than an ordinary FPS - shoot people, minimal amount of blood, usually sci-fi based. I didn't play GTA, for example, until I was in my mid teens.
It's not the monkey see, monkey do theory I have a problem with - I just don't see why kids should be playing games with such mature themes. An FPS about saving the world from aliens - violent, yes, but usually not gratuitous and based in fantasy. Prostitution, gang violence, realistic warfare..why do they need to see that? What happened to having a certain amount of childhood innocence?
It's the themes and the level of violence that bother me, I guess. You have to look at games on a case by case basis. I'd let my kids play Half-Life, but probably not Call of Duty. However, if I thought they were mature enough to handle it, I wouldn't stop them - CoD 4 honestly made me a bit uncomfortable, though. I'd rather they play something that is less like 'real' warfare. In the same vein, I'd discourage games like America's Army. Now THAT creeped me out.
I think that overall it should be up to the parent - but ***** hell, there are some dumb-ass people having children these days, so I can't really oppose this law. If you don't want the government to nanny you, shape up and be responsible. Sometimes you have to put up with things that don't benefit you, for the greater good.
..plus come on, this will never be enforced anyway. Hoepfully it'll make parents think twice about what games their kids are playing though, if only in fear of the law. - runsurfswim, on 03/07/2009, -2/+9I think this is terrible. If you do not, I am interested in your reasoning.
Under what circumstances to you believe that the government has the authority to interfere in our affairs? On the basis of an vague group of studies? Regardless of whether or not video games cause affect children detrimentally, shouldn't that be up to the parents to decide for their own kids? Kids, as people, obviously mature differently, and have different reactions to the same stimuli.
Hopefully this would never appear in an American state, where we have the right to Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. A kid playing video games in no way impairs another person's liberty or pursuit, so why should his or his parent's be impaired? Shouldn't one be incarcerated for committing a crime, not for engaging in activities that suggest criminality? Should we also incarcerate parents if their children's dreams are violent, or if they watch Robocop, or if they read A Clockwork Orange?
WHY AREN"T PEOPLE UP IN ARMS ABOUT THIS CENSORSHIP?
This is not a liberal vs. conservative issue. Conservatives obviously have a problem with being told how to raise their kids, because they think they can do it better than the state. But liberals demand the right to the freedom of thought. A right which the conservatives have been lampooned as taking advantage of rarely. Despite the liberal utopia of government raised offspring, any type of censorship should be scary. We demand our right to privacy, speech, and the consumption of mind-impairing products(and I am referring to video games here, not weed).
...
Wow, I got a little overworked there. But, i wish more people were, too... - aaronjason8992, on 03/07/2009, -2/+9its become a ***** nanny state. ***** New Zealand. BTW I live here, and hopefully move out of here ASAP.
- inactive, on 03/07/2009, -1/+7i think the brits beat both of you to it.
- inactive, on 03/07/2009, -0/+6First the online disconnect bill, now this... what do you suppose could be next?
- kozie, on 03/07/2009, -1/+7People who care about THEIR children won't let them play these games. It's those people who don't "care" who let them.
That's their own free will, the state should not be meddling with your privacy like that.
Seriously. I don't like those games and I don't want my kids to play them, but this is going WAY too far and setting precedent for a lot of really bad stuff.
Just glad it's not happening in the U.S. - xdesdx, on 03/07/2009, -3/+9seriously people have a look at your country first before picking on nz
- pikelet, on 03/07/2009, -1/+7Good parenting is educating your kids about the world so they don't play games like GTA just because it's so 'edgy' and 'cool'.
- iumentum, on 03/07/2009, -2/+8To the point,
Yes, there are a lot of silly laws and notions put up for consideration and some of them pass. For example: Hitting your kid in any way, including spanking, is now technically not legal, so if I parent spanked their kid in public, someone could report them to the police. However the government has said officers will apply descretion individually in deciding whether a case is grevious enough for prosecution. It is very much different from america in that it is not a hands off type of government, and you'll find this is something unique to Americans and their concept of government, that is that it should interfere as little as possible, where as in Europe and other places government is seen as a process of making society better through regulation. That's just from my personal experience and I'm sure I don't speak for everyone's point of view. On the upside, Gov't in NZ is much smaller and adaptable. People are generally more positive about it and interaction between the populace and the gov't. Things seem to get done with more ease than within the US gov't. and a lot of positive legislation does come from that as well, such as nuclear free, GE labeled foods, etc.. - Tarl, on 03/07/2009, -0/+6Get those ***** off Xbox!
- pak314, on 03/07/2009, -0/+5From now on its only immature games for kids.
- kozie, on 03/07/2009, -1/+6Jailing parents is not going to solve the "problem".
- pikelet, on 03/07/2009, -1/+6The new law is far better than the old one. Under the old law, a mother got away with beating her child with a horse whip because a jury somehow deemed it 'reasonable force'. Sure, the new law is not perfect, but I prefer it over people who beat their kids (have you noticed we have quite a problem with this in NZ?) getting away with it by claiming 'reasonable force'.
- ElectricNZ, on 03/07/2009, -1/+6HA!
I've lived in Auckland, NZ almost my entire life. UK, Aus and US being a police state? Maybe.
But NZ? Hell the ***** no. Here, what we consider the "far right" is so far left compared to what Americans would consider a left wing government.
The police are either laid back as hell, or ***** pansies. Police patrols are unarmed and aren't even allowed to use tazers. - pikelet, on 03/07/2009, -0/+5Electric is right, NZ is pretty chill. If you ever watched the nightly news here you would laugh your head off. If the leading story is 'WEATHER BOMB IN AUCKLAND! IT MIGHT GET A BIT WET AND WINDY TOMORROW', I don't think we have much to worry about. I mean, look at these top stories for today in our largest paper: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/headlines.cfm?c_ ...
A grandmother beating up a teenager who broke into her house with her rolling pin made the national news. I am not kidding you. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id ... - saminfused, on 03/07/2009, -0/+5Hey, our chief censor =/= our majority views. This law will never appear or pass. The smacking law is in force because we have a child abuse problem in NZ. Seriously terrible ***** happening here in that respect if you read our papers.
- chchrob, on 03/07/2009, -2/+7Shock horror..the "chief censor" wants his work enforced. A a citizen of New Zealand I am not exactly shaking in my boots.
- maikrosaft, on 03/07/2009, -2/+7why so many people hate this? State should not interfere in people's day to days activities as long as they are not harming others. However, parents have responsibility toward their kids, when they fail to fulfill them State have the right to intervene. It's that simple. You can't just say let kids play what they want. Remember, parenting is not only about feeding your children and giving them enough clothes.
- Riccallo, on 03/07/2009, -0/+4Don't know about the rest of the world but here in the UK there is massive amounts of evidence showing that problem children come mainly from broken, one parent, low income families. Thing is, whereas lots of people want to claim poverty is the problem it's really not, it's that these people ARE bad parents. My Mum is a teacher and is often asked by parents to tell their kids when to go to bed, she often has to explain to them why it's not good to just feed your kids chocolate and crisps, that no matter how much they whine, if they're actually hungry they WILL eat real food. The stories really make you think and demonstrate that these people are terrible parents and that most of socities ills (Again, this is the UK, can't speak for anywhere else) stem from people who have had terrible, half arsed parents.
Poverty is not an excuse for being a crappy parents and letting your 5 year kids watch 18 rated movies and play GTA, something else a lot of the kids at her school do. I don't agree with this law, there are kids that can watch/play voilent media and not then go off on a killing spree. But I am SO sick of kids going out and beating on people, causing criminal damage etc and then their parents moaning it was because of the games they played, the movies they watched. The movies YOU let them watch, the games YOU let them play. It always reminds me that episode of the Simpsons that shows Ned Flanders' parents trying to get him to behave as a child;
"We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!"
And yeah, kind of off topic I know. - inactive, on 03/07/2009, -3/+7New Zealand still is one of the best places to live in the world.
- jivatmanx, on 03/07/2009, -0/+4Yep, brits win. There's so many examples of theirs: Cameras everywhere, requirement of passports for buying cellphones, government pedohpile testing, DNA database of schoolchildren, the lastest one is:
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/displ ...
Children get scanned with facial recognition software every day as they arrive at school. - haharr, on 03/07/2009, -0/+4amen to that. and still one of the best places to raise kids too.
- djbutnot, on 03/08/2009, -0/+3It's not a new law. It's from the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. This is NOT NEW. You could always be prosecuted for showing restricted content to minors.
- RonBurgundy76, on 03/07/2009, -1/+4Go ***** yourself, you pretentious *****.
- crowbarred, on 03/07/2009, -0/+3Oh how i love my country ... oh look .... a beer
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