|
Executive Order No. 1, 2000
CONSOLIDATED CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
COUNTY OF MARION
STATE OF INDIANA
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 1, 2000
PROHIBITION OF VIDEO GAMES WITH VIOLENT CONTENT
FROM CITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY AND PUBLIC PROPERTY
WHEREAS, the content of numerous video games consists of mild or strong animated or life-like violence, including, for example, replica firearms used to shoot and kill human beings, and other means by which the video game player may decapitate, dismember, and/or commit other violent acts on human beings; and
WHEREAS, studies show that youths who play violent video games display higher levels of hostility and anxiety, and that children who play violent video games repeatedly are conditioned to overcome built-in resistance to acting-out violently in response to these emotions; and
WHEREAS, studies show that children script scenarios based on the violence depicted in the video games they play and use these scenarios when attempting to resolve conflicts; and
WHEREAS, many violent video games help children develop the precision motor skills required to carry out violent fantasies; and
WHEREAS, the video game industry affixes certain stickers to coin-operated video games, including yellow stickers for video games with mild animated or life-like violence and red stickers for video games with strong animated or life-like violence, but despite these ratings, coin-operated video games with yellow and red stickers are still available locally to children of any age; and
WHEREAS, it is the policy of this administration to empower parents to choose whether these violent video games are appropriate forms of entertainment for their children, and to limit the unsupervised access of children to violent video games; and
WHEREAS, it is further the policy of this administration to encourage the passage of an ordinance to implement appropriate and effective restrictions on youth access to violent video games and to encourage all other municipal corporations and public entities within Marion County to comply with the terms of this Executive Order in advance of the passage of such an ordinance;
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Mayor of the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, and as successor at law to the Board of Commissioners of Marion County, it is hereby ordered as follows:
- The placement and/or maintenance of any violent video game upon public rights-of-way, sidewalks, or other real property or easements that are owned or controlled by the City of Indianapolis or Marion County, Indiana, or any department, office or agency thereof, is hereby prohibited.
- The owner of any violent video game maintained on such public property on or after the date of this Executive Order by virtue of any license or permit previously issued by the City or any of its departments, shall be notified of this Executive Order and shall voluntarily remove the violent video game, or the City shall institute proceedings to have the license or permit revoked.
- For purposes of this Executive Order, "violent video game" means and includes any coin-operated video game, or other video game that is available for access by the general public and that has, or under the current practice of the video game industry should have, affixed to it a yellow sticker for mild animated or life-like violence or a red sticker for strong animated or lifelike violence.
DATED this 13 day of March, 2000.
|
