Actually, several presidential candidates were asked their opinions on video games and other aspects of the media and how they affect the American public – especially kids. We’ll share a bit of Barack Obama’s comments with you because, well, he’s from Illinois. And we love Illinois around here.

Question: To date, nearly 10 states have considered legislation to keep violent video games out of kids’ hands. Would you support this type of legislation at the federal level? What other strategies would you support to keep the video game industry and other media companies from marketing and selling inappropriate content to children?

Obama: …I would call upon the video game industry to give parents better information about programs and video games by improving the voluntary rating system we currently have. Broadcasters and video game producers should take it upon themselves to improve this system to include easier to find and easier to understand descriptions of exactly what kind of content is included. But if the industry fails to act, then my administration would.

And even if the industry does do some responsible self-policing, there’s still a role for the federal government to play. We need to understand the impact of these new media better. That’s why I supported federal funding to study the impact of video games on children’s cognitive development.

You can check out the rest of Obama’s response as well as responses from other presidential candidates both Republican and Democrat at the link below.

Common Sense Media

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