Bam Aquino: No to Blanket Ban on Video Games

In light of the recent school shooting in Tacloban, there have been remarks from Malacañang that President Bongbong Marcos Jr. is open to completely restricting violent online games due to their possible influence on minors.

This is due to the fact that one of the perpetrators was a minor who played an online game designed for users aged 18 and above.

Senator Bam Aquino, who is the current head of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, weighed in and disagreed with the President’s sentiment, noting that it is not a good solution.

“Video games have been around for 50 years, but they’re always a convenient scapegoat whenever there’s an incident of violence,” he said.

Aquino further stressed that multiple studies in the past have shown that there is no correlation whatsoever between video games, violent as they may be, and real-life violence such as school shootings.

While Aquino is against a complete ban, his solution is a stricter enforcement of age limits for video games with mature themes, including violence, similar to how we rate movies and restrict admission according to age.

“In video game stores and online stores, our rules should be a little stricter when it comes to children and their access to mature video games,” said Sen. Aquino.

In addition to this, the senator also mentioned that video game developers who create games targeted at kids should be held accountable for keeping their users safe from online predators who can approach children through their platforms.

Of course, the bulk of the responsibility still falls on us. The government can impose all the regulations and whatnot to keep Filipino children safe in general, but while we wait for those policies to take effect and protect our kids, there are measures we can take at home.

For instance, instead of letting children go to online computer shops to play, we could encourage them to play at home on their personal devices.

This way, we can monitor the games they play, ensure they are playing on age-appropriate platforms, and better protect them from online predators.

Sen. Aquino said, “There are many games that are not for children. Maybe what we can clarify is that, if there is anything that should be stricter, it is children’s access to mature video games.”

In the end, Aquino recognizes the significance of video games in our society, calling them an art form and an entertainment medium that does not cause violent behavior.

Don't know how to talk to your children about school-based violence? Read this.