Bastard Video Games!
When I was a child the dawn of video games was upon us. Many was the day when I would head down to the local liquor store and play Asteroids or Missile Command or some other game. That is, I would do so for about an hour on Saturdays.
After that meager hour of video games I was forced to return home to an afternoon and evening spent with my parents. Often, I was sent to my room to do a book report or other weekend homework that I had been assigned by my teacher.
If I had no homework my parents would still send me to my room for an hours worth of reading a book that they had chosen for me. It was there that I read many classics like Moby Dick or Old Yeller.
To say that I hated being forced to read would be an understatement. Still, I had nothing else to do and I had to give a report to my parents on what I had read. So, it did no good to fake it for an hour. So, I read.
I am thankful that my folks made me read. It opened a whole new realm of existence to me. It helped me to become better at reading. And, very importantly, it helped me to expand my vocabulary.
Back then parents were parents. They took an interest in what their children did. They made certain that I was inside at dark and that I did my homework. If I failed to do certain things I was met with punishments more terrible than death. Yes, I got a spanking. Usually it was with a belt. Five smacks to a bare ass will usually make a child stand up and pay attention.
Beyond my parents I had teachers to keep me in line. Back then a teacher could actually tell a child when he had done wrong. Back then we got honest to goodness grades - red marks on our work when we had answered questions on a test incorrectly. Back then if we were acting like an ass we were told as much; often sent to detention for our errant ways.
In the modern world it is not so. Today teachers are no longer allowed to use a red mark because it stresses out the kids. Instead of grades they hand out happy faces or other things so that the child won't feel so badly about being a lazy ass who is unwilling to study.
In the modern world parents can no longer use a belt to discipline his child. No, parents are no longer allowed to leave stinging marks to remind the child just how badly he fucked up. In the modern world parents no longer put a time limit on how long children can spend playing video games. No, instead they plop their child down in front of the TV so that they are not bothered. Then they bitch and moan and holler at the poor education their child is receiving.
And it is thanks to so many modern parents that we have idiot legislators like the ones in Illinois who have decided to make it illegal to sell video games to children that contain too much violence or explicit sexual content.
It gets better, of course. The legislators have not determined exactly what constitutes too much violence or explicit sexual content. No, they are leaving that up to the store clerks to determine if your child is old or mature enough to handle this content.
Thank you very much, but no thanks. It's thanks this sort of bullshit that I am expected to give my kid a "time-out" when she fucks up. It is this sort of bullshit that has led to teachers being completely impotent as disciplinarians. It is why kids don't learn for shit in school.
Remember when teachers could smack a kid for being an asshole? Kids stayed in line back then. They didn't get crazy and beat up their teacher. Instead, they knew, if they wised off, they were going to get smacked. And then, when they got home they would be smacked again.
Now, if a teacher puts a red mark on a paper they are out of line and "insensitive to their students needs. If a parent hits his child for being a fuck up they are horrible parents who are often locked up.
And what is the motto of those fuck heads who decided this? Hitting them might hurt their self-esteem. You're damned right it will. They aren't supposed to feel good about being lazy fuck-ups. They are supposed to feel like shit.
And, as if they haven't already eroded the parent child and parent teacher relationship they want to put some high school drop out piece of shit in charge of what my kid can buy? I think I'll take a pass on that bit of legislation.
The Illinois Governor (Rod Blagojevich) actually had the gall to say "In today's world, parents face unprecedented challenges in monitoring and protecting their children from harmful influences. This bill will make their job easier".
No they don't! Parents don't have to go out and hunt down food to feed their family for the winter. They don't have to go out and chop down wood for their fire. They don't have to build their house out of lumber that they cut down with an axe.
How is there "unprecedented challenges in monitoring and protecting their children from harmful influences"? How is it so hard that we need to enlist the aid of some high school drop out with the IQ of a hedge? All you have to do is walk into the room and pull the plug. That's it! Turn off the TV. Turn off the video game. What more do you need to do?
I've got a newsflash for all of you government assholes: the government is not supposed to raise our kids and neither are store clerks at the local mega store! Parents are supposed to raise their children - not YOU!
Hey, here is a novel idea: rather than waste tax dollars on voting to stop selling games to kids that might be too violent or sexual, how about doing your jobs? How about getting the hell out of my living room and start running the government efficiently? Is that too much to ask or would it cut in to the time you spend fund raising and getting undeserved raises?
Stupid question. Of course it is.
