Comment on Parents Sue Gaming Companies Over ‘Video Game Addiction’, Because That’s Easier Than Parenting
Zeth0s@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I won’t read the article with such a stupid title.
In other situations they call it victim shaming. There is a reason laws exists to forbid gambling for minors. Many video games are built as loopholes to circumvent such laws. Publishers and producers must be punished for this. Parenting is not a relevant topic here, as we are talking about society.
In a society the distribution of parenting capabilities has large variability, and it does not always depends on the parent itself, but on environmental factors (such as work-related stressors).
As society we need to fight any predatory business model that exploits society and individuals weaknesses.
Lmaydev@programming.dev 7 months ago
Many games work on the exact same feedback loop as gambling. Squeezing as much dopamine out of your brain as they can.
Big companies spend a huge amount on psychologists to make their games as addictive as possible.
The same way my parents had no idea how dangerous the internet could be in the late 90s, many parents won’t know about this.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 7 months ago
You are also not allowed as a parent to enforce your child not playing after a certain age. It will depend on the country, but where I live you are, among other things, not allowed to forbid social contacts of your child unless there is significant harm involved. No judge would see “they are playing video games at their friends house” as serious harm.
Lmaydev@programming.dev 7 months ago
Where do you live? I’ve never heard of anything like that.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 7 months ago
I live in Germany. You can read about the law here, for example:
Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch
dragonflyteaparty@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Social contacts or social contracts? Does gambling fall under this? I could see someone arguing that some of these games are essentially gambling.
ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 7 months ago
Actual gambling is for adults (18+ and I think casinos are 21+). So when parents can proof the friend of their child is actively involving the child into that type of gambling they could potentially forbid the contact.
But Fortnite for example is free for kids 12 and older. There is nothing you can legally do about your child visiting a friend and playing Fortnite there.
You also can’t stop your child from coming into contact with games on smartphones other people bring to school.