FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: LYNN BECKER OR JESSICA CATLIN
December 13, 2001
PHONE: (202) 224-5653
Kohl, Lieberman Call on Nation's Retailers to Stop
Selling Adult-Rated Video Games to Children
Latest Video Game Report Card finds glaring holes
in enforcement of ratings at point of purchase
WASHINGTON – Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) today called on the nation's retailer to meet its responsibilities to parents and stop selling violent, adult-rated video games to children.
Kohl and Lieberman made their appeal in conjunction with the release of the 6th Annual Video and Computer Game Report Card, which found glaring holes in the enforcement of game ratings at the retail level. A sting operation conducted by the National Institute on Media and the Family found that children as young as seven-years-old were able to buy "Mature"-rated games two-thirds of the time.
In a letter sent to the CEOs of 34 major retail companies, Kohl and Lieberman noted that sting operations conducted by the Federal Trade Commission over the last two years underscored the seriousness of the problem. Last year the FTC found that kids were successful in purchasing "Mature"-rated games 85% of the time. In a report released last week, the FTC found little change, with kids succeeding 78 percent of the time.
"The apparent unwillingness on the part of retailers to help parents is deeply disappointing. Some retail chains continue to insist that consumers do not care about lax enforcement of the ratings at the point of sale. However, the National Institute on Media and the Family reports that 93 percent of parents believe that it is a retailers' responsibility to keep these age-restricted products out of the hands of children," Kohl and Lieberman wrote.
The Senators noted that some major retailers have adopted policies to restrict the sale of M-rated games to children. But they said the sting operations show that those policies are not being consistently enforced, and that many companies have not adopted policies or even acknowledged the problem.
To give parents a helping hand, Kohl and Lieberman urged the retailers to work with the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) in developing a standard, industry-wide policy to ban the sale of M-rated games to children and an action plan for implementing it.
"No one expects the industry to be 100 percent perfect in enforcing policies barring kids from buying Mature-rated games. But a 22 percent effectiveness rate is not nearly good enough," the Senators wrote. "We urge your company to make this a priority – from the executive office suites to the floors of your stores."
The Kohl-Lieberman letter was sent to the following retail companies: Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Beyond Corporation, BJ's Wholesale Club, Blockbuster Video, Circuit City, Cyberian Outpost, Egghead.com, Electronics Boutique, Fry's Electronics, GameStop, Good Guys, GTS/Beamscope, Hastings Entertainment, Hollywood Video, Kay Bee Toys, Kmart, Media Play, Meijer, Fred Meyer, Milton Meyer, Micro Electronics, Movie Gallery, Office Max, Sears Roebuck, Shopko, Staples, Target, Toys-R-Us, Waldenbooks, Wal-Mart, Wherehouse Entertainment, The Wiz, Zainy Brainy.
NOTE: What follows is the full text of the Kohl-Lieberman letter.
Dear Retailer:
We write to express our serious concern about the retail community's lack of action with respect to the enforcement of interactive entertainment ratings. Over the past year, a number of national retail chains have enacted policies to restrict the sale of "Mature"-rated games to children. However, it appears those policies have often not made it from paper to practice. Even worse, many companies have yet to enact policies or even acknowledge the problem.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made clear the seriousness of this problem. The original FTC report on marketing violence to children, released in September 2000, found glaring holes in the enforcement of the ratings by retailers. Specifically, kids were successful in purchasing "Mature"-rated games 85% of the time during a sting operation. At that time, very few retailers had policies and the statistics, while abysmal, could be explained.
Since the publication of that initial report, many retailers have adopted policies to restrict the sale of "Mature"-rated games. In spite of these public pledges to parents, the FTC's one-year follow-up report, which was released last week, shows that the retail community has largely fallen down on the job. The FTC found that 78% of kids could easily purchase "Mature"-rated computer and video games at retailers nationwide. While this is an improvement, it is hardly significant.
The apparent unwillingness on the part of retailers to help parents is deeply disappointing. Some retail chains continue to insist that consumers do not care about lax enforcement of the ratings at the point of sale. However, the National Institute on Media and the Family reports that 93 percent of parents believe that it is a retailers' responsibility to keep these age-restricted products out of the hands of children. Clearly parents care about this issue and would like to see some important changes. Toy chains have a particularly high burden to ensure that children do not have easy access to age-restricted products. Parents should be able to expect a family-friendly shopping environment when they take their children to a toy store.
On behalf of those parents, we strongly urge your company to contribute to, endorse, and adhere to an industry-wide policy to limit the sale of adult-rated games to children. We would encourage you to work with the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) in developing a standard policy and an plan of action for implementing it. The ideal approach would include three elements: employee education, consumer education, and point-of-sale restrictions.
No one expects the industry to be 100 percent perfect in enforcing policies barring kids from buying "Mature"-rated games. But a 22 percent effectiveness rate is not nearly good enough. We urge your company to make this a priority – from the executive office suites to the floors of your stores.