Are age restrictions an effective way of protecting young people? [ENDS 07/03/2010]

[Seatherny]

I think they should remain.
Its basically:

If you keep them then it does reduce violence as I know some peoples parents wont let them play 18+ games if they aren't 18+.

If you remove them, it means 10 year olds will be exposed to more violence.

[Pyroka]

Mmmm I think they should be moved around, this generation has seen kids young as 11 getting pregnant and starting families, somethings gotta give way. The sexual intercourse law should be a guideline not a law, because tbh whos gonna report illegal sexual intercourse? :S police cant really enforce it lest its in a public place, drinking should stay 18 because well yeah, this is the UK we're talking about why bother changing it they're gonna get drink somehow. The rest can stay the same too tbh, no point.

[Phil]

They are effective to a cetain extent when it comes to movies and games etc. People may not be happy with this but in a lot of places you will get away with it which just isn't acceptable. They were made to be broken.

[iJoe]

Some clash with each other as pointed out quite funnily on what I think was mock the week

The age for legal sex is 16 but to watch porn is 18

So you can have sex at 16 but can't look down when you're doing it

They definitely shouldn't be scrapped though, although they are disregarded sometimes, they're also adhered to a lot, most places won't sell alcohol to under 18's so therefore cutting that down, under age kids drunk in a pub is just annoying when they can't handle it

They're the only two I think there's a definite need for, maybe films as well.

[Romanity]

What with the internet, I believe age restrictions have lost the power they once had. Anyone can be a 18+ DVD from Amazon... with no form of ID.
That and the fact there is a loophole in the law, that prevents shops being prosecuted for selling DVDs and games to underage people.

If they want to make them effective, they need to do it universally.

[GommeInc]

What with the internet, I believe age restrictions have lost the power they once had. Anyone can be a 18+ DVD from Amazon... with no form of ID.
That and the fact there is a loophole in the law, that prevents shops being prosecuted for selling DVDs and games to underage people.

If they want to make them effective, they need to do it universally.

Or, they could invent a new parental control system, which runs alongside a web browser that scans the content of pages (or online stores can put an image/sign that the scanner can understand on the webpage) which immediately blocks you from making a sale if the image indicates something like an 18 game. It won't work for the obvious reason that shops just want to make money, and that it isn't really their business to turn away customers, so your example and my example are both flawed, but both decent ideas

[Romanity]

Or, they could invent a new parental control system, which runs alongside a web browser that scans the content of pages (or online stores can put an image/sign that the scanner can understand on the webpage) which immediately blocks you from making a sale if the image indicates something like an 18 game. It won't work for the obvious reason that shops just want to make money, and that it isn't really their business to turn away customers, so your example and my example are both flawed, but both decent ideas

The thing with all these parental controls is that most parents don't know how to use them...
They need something simple, and to show parents what effects they have etc...

[Wig44.]

Yes they should remain in place, while not that effective they are still effective to a point and are the most effective thing you could get. The thing that annoys me though is the way people are defined as Adults at the age of 18 yet have to pay adult train fares - legislation should be brought in to stop companies such as Merseryrail doing that.

Agreed, stagecoach (try to) charge me an adult ticket yet if I walk into a shop and try to buy alcohol they will refuse me service.

Also, at the risk of being facetious, why can you have sex at 16 but not watch pornography until you are 18? :S

[Grig]

No matter what they try and actually do- the trend will still continue. Raise it to 21, people will find a way. Lowering it is not a solution for sure, as all these things are different in terms of how ready ones organism is to intake such things in a way that will not be that bad. Sure you may argue what is the difference between a 16 year old or an 18 year old drinking? I would say quite a significant one, as the 16 year old is still developing and is also mentally not the same to an 18 year old, thus being drunk on a regular basis is not good.

[Wig44.]

The brain stops developing at a very young age ( im sure its under 10, will get back to you on that) and then starts developing agan at ~21 until ~25, unless you meant maturity etc of which there isn't a huge gap between an 18 yr old university student and a 16 year old college student in my opinion, they can both be exceptionally naughty!