National Institute on Media and the Family benefits from video games
Posted on October 13th, 2008 – 9:25 AMBy Randy A. Salas
A Minneapolis-based group that regularly targets video-game violence has received $50,000 from an unlikely source: video-game companies.
The National Institute on Media and the Family recently received the grant from the ESA Foundation, a charitable organization created by the game industry to fund efforts that help kids. The institute says it will use the money to create eSafeZone, “an interactive site that uses the latest technologies to help adults and kids understand the benefits and dangers of the Internet, while providing them with a dependable and safe place to learn and connect online.”
Said David Walsh, president of the institute: “While there are some parents who know how to create their own Facebook or MySpace profiles and spend time learning about the latest trends, many parents are not familiar with the social media environment. We are in a powerful position to leverage the interests of countless parents, educators and community leaders as they navigate our constantly changing technological world.”
A cynic might criticize the National Institute on Media and the Family for complaining about video-game ratings and violence on one hand and then benefitting from sales of the games, even indirectly (the grant money comes largely from specific fundraising efforts by game makers), on the other. Or that cynic might think the charitable arm of the Entertainment Software Association is simply doling out the money to placate the institute, like throwing a steak to a barking watchdog.
But is this any different than, say, asking smokers to pay high cigarette taxes to help fund public-awareness campaigns that smoking is unhealthy? Maybe if the National Institute on Media and the Family and the ESA worked together more, they could come up with meaningful ways to ensure that video-game ratings work as they are intended.
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