A little less then 50% of all people in every country in the world are going to be "dumb."

It's the result of living in a universe that relies so heavily on the bell curve.

Also. I'm pretty sure the Automobile was either invented by the Swiss, French or a guy from Belgium living in China.

America just found a way to make them effectivly and market them to the world.

Don't forget Filo Farnsworth and the TV though, without that we wouldn't have videogames.

Hmph!

I really should stay out of this thread. I guess I'm going to be flamed for this. But here goes...

While it most certainly appears that they found the most extreme opinions (and judging from the comments, they probably showed the wrong picture while gathering those opinions), I'm pretty sure that isn't the same thought MOST Americans will have. But, speaking for myself, it isn't too far from it.

As a parent, and proudly American (obviously a dumb one!), I will not let my 11 year old have this gun. Why? Because I believe it will make him more violent.

Now let me give you the basis for my belief. Two years ago, a friend of his came over with a PS2 game demo disk. The demo was for a game rated "E10". Since my son was close to being 10, I figured it would be OK.

After observing them having a fun time for a few minutes, I decided to sneak a videotape into him room and videotape my child and his friend, thinking this would be one of those moments to capture.

And what I saw was a change. I watched as these children became more and more violent and aggressive the longer they played this game. You can hear it in the change of their vocal tone first. Then the words became more aggressive, "I'm going to KILL these people." Then intentional physical contact started happening. And when one of them hit the other, I put a stop to it and showed them that tape. I showed them how their violence escalated while playing this seeming harmless game...Rampage. Yes, a stupid, stupid game to get violent over. I wouldn't have believed it happened if I hadn't seen it myself.

I've also read studies where they show that younger children are less capable of separating the real world from fantasy. Whether it be video games or movies. And I've seen this myself as well. A coworker has a daughter that won't go into the bathrooms at school -- because she's afraid there will be a troll coming in (she saw the first Harry Potter). And of course my daughter is afraid "Spikey Goo" (a monster from Monster's Inc) is going to get her. Now, obviously a teenager is going to be able to separate fact from fiction a little better than a 6 year old. But it isn't just teenagers who will be playing with the Wii Zapper.

So us "Stupid American Parents" like me will choose not to purchase this type of item to even have in our household. Because when my son gets older, he will have the maturity to separate fact from fiction. But my younger son will probably also be playing the Wii, and will still be under 8. And I don't want him having access to the toy that his older brother leaves lying around.

I also know that there are boneheaded parents out there (in ALL countries) that are too drugged, drunk, or otherwise ignorant of their kids and don't notice the kinds of things like this. Nonetheless, I believe others should be restricted just because I believe it isn't for my family, because this is a free country and it should remain that way.

@JMan:  You certainly have a right to your opinion, but how is this different from than toy guns, playing cowboys and indians, teaching your child to hunt, etc. 

I used to play guns when I was a kid, played Duck Hunt on the NES, played lethal enforcers on the SNES, and I detest guns.  I am sure I said things like "I shot you, I killed you, you're dead, I am going to kill you," it doesn't mean I would ever have done it in real life.  There has never been a study done that showed a correlation between violence in video games and violence in children, infact the opposite has usually been the result (explinations for such are usually similar to the 'emotion chambers' in Brave New World'.)

Again, its your right to deny your child this product, but it is also your responsibility to diferentiate fantasy with reality.  Does your kid read Harry Potter?  Does he think he can cast magic?  Did he watch Sesame Street?  Does he now look for green monsters in garbage cans?

EDIT: Let me modify that, I can't say NO study has been done that showed a correlation, but no unbiased studies I have ever seen have showed a correlation

from the US Department Of Justice: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/viort.htm 

@JMan - congratulations on being a parent. That is what you should do. I don't think any of us have said anything about the overall idea of parenting, but the idea of banning the product because of this belief it will make violent kids. Your solution of just not purchasing it is the right one, banning is what is stupid.

Now I personally disagree with you to a certain degree. I feel that the rating systems on games/movies should be a guideline, but ultimately its up to the parents to decide which is actually appropriate for their particular child. As we all know some kids are just more mature than others, and can easily define what is appropriate in fantasy game land and what is appropriate in real world. I for one watched 'R' movies and had no limitations to anything growing up. I have never 'started' a fight, only defended myself. I would never conceive killing another human or being cruel to anything living. Hell, I actually catch spiders and most other insects and release them outside if I find them roaming in my home. I also teach my children this fundamental right to life as well.

Again, thank you for not being stupid and parenting.

CrashMan said: @Wojtas: I agree. I think we all need to agree that judging people by their country of origin is an ignorant thing to do, and that all of our respective country's governments and people do stupid things (Many European Countries: Banning media, Poland: Banning the word 'gay' in schools, Germany, Japan: WWII, US: the last 7 years,etc, etc, etc) Just out of personal curiosity Woj, is there still animosity in Poland toward the Germans?

Well there are a couple aspects to your questions, let me start off with the political aspect: 1. Poland's current government is a joke. The worst thing that could have happened to Poland after we broke away from the Soviet Union. Right now the ruling cabinet is nationalistic to boot. We are kept being fed lines that Germans are trying to detsroy Poland in some political way, enough said that the prime minister and president treat Germany as the whole evil of the world. 2.  Social aspect. We don't give a damn about what the government says. We laugh at politicians that try to make us belive what i wrote above. In national poles more than 80%, on average, polishmen claim that they see the Germans as friends. So basically we left the past behind us.  3. Young people's aspect. Sometimes we meet german kids that have the whole "we're better than you" attitude. We shut them up with reminding them that they killed off half of our nation 65 years ago.We also meet german kids that are afraid to talk to us because of our countries history. We tell them that it's a whole new world now, so don't worry about it. And then we meet kids that are exactly the same as us, they just speak a foreign language. And we get along just fine. 

 

I never said I would spit on you, i said if you spit out your ignorant insults to my face i would kick your ass.

and what do think wasnt invented by americans?

^The phone, airplane, atomic bomb. the rest i'm not sure would have to check them out.

Quit the bickering dgm6780...we ended this discussion a while ago.

What kinda history they teach in Poland?

so who did invent the nuclear bomb???????? USSR? you still got some communist brainwashing left in you?

airplane? come on tell me who invented the airplane then.

and both alexander bell and Elisha Gray are americans. they are the 2 that the debate centers on when it comes to who invented the telephone.

and kenobi was i bickering? i corrected him in his assertion that i said i would spit on him and the asked him to clarify what he thought wasnt an american invention.