The European Commission came up with a marvelous idea. They are proposing to put red buttons in video games. This allows young children or parents to push the button so they can stop a video game they are playing when it becomes to scary or violent. It was a Dutch Liberal who proposed this last week.

I was flabbergasted when I heard this on the news. What are they thinking? Is this what a European government needs to occupy itself with? I find it very paternalistic. Don’t parents know there is already a red button on a computer? It’s called the power button. Switch on, swith off.

Are we living in a society where we can’t take the responsibility to take care of which games our kids will play? I thought we were trying to make our government more effective. If so, I do not see how silly rules likes this should become law.

I see the need of parents being advised which games might be too violent for their kids. But a red button, that is just one step too far.