Play Meter

UP FRONT
Reagan's endorsement enforces
the industry's willingness to cooperate
I couldn't believe my ears the other day when I
heard on the news that President Reagan voiced his
approval of video games. With all the misinformed ,
misguided politicians running around these days trying
to enact laws that would ban or restrict the playing of
video games by our nation's youth , it was an absolute
delight to hear the President of the United States speak
out in favor of young people playing video games.
It' s time for our politicians and legislators to stop
playing legal guardian for our nation's youth and get
back to the business of enacting intelligent, effective
legislation . Perhaps this statement made by our
nation's President will bring a lot of these people back
to their senses.
The problems of truancy and juvenile delinquency
existed long before video games came along and will
continue to exist even if video games are banned from
the face of the earth . Problems such as these are best
handled by parents, schools, and local law enforce-
ment agencies-not politicians.
What this industy needs to do is to keep getting the
message across to the general public as well as to the
politicians that this industry is ready and willing to
cooperate with parents and civic leaders in every way
possible. Let them know that we are just as concerned
as they are about young people sneaking away from
school and stealing money to play video games. God
knows we don't want kids going to these extremes to
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play our games, but we also don 't want to become
unemployed because of it either. Show your concern
by posting signs and reporting children playing video
games during school hours. Contact the parents or the
local authorities whenever a child comes in to play with
a suspiciously large sum of money. Make every effort to
keep troublemakers and other " undesirables" out of
your establishments and report them as well to the
proper authorities. Prove to your community that you
are a responsible citizen as well as a responsible busi-
nessman. Understanding and cooperation can go a
long way in preventing small problems from becoming
big problems.
More than ever before , we need to work with our
local authorities and civic leaders not against them.
They need our help as much as we need their help. And
the sooner we all realize that, the better off we all will
be. And now that we've got the President of the United
States on our side, I'd say we 're well on our way.
~~
Ralph C. Lally
Editor and Publisher
PLAY METER. April 1 5. 1983