December 14, 2005
Stockholder organizations are putting pressure on U.S. retailers to adopt stronger guidelines to keep "mature" (M)-rated video games out of the hands of youths.
Earlier this month, the National Institute on Media and the Family said that after 10 years, the video game industry has gotten its cumulative grade up to no more than D+.
Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc. and other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) outlined the recommended guidelines, saying there is growing concern that retailers have not done enough to prevent sales to minors of video games containing graphic violence, strong sexual content and racist themes.
After working with major retailers that already have policies and programs in place, including Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, and Circuit City, ICCR shareholders pulled together the "best practices" from these policies into one set of guidelines, and are calling for their strict implementation.
"Retailers must proactively create and implement clearly formulated, well-monitored and effective policies to ensure the sale of age-appropriate video games to consumers," said Julie Tanner, Christian Brothers corporate advocacy director.
The newly recommended guidelines address in-store and online violent video
game sales and call on retailers to:
• Post video game sales policies prominently in stores and online;
• Display signs and brochures to raise awareness among parents and
others;
• Restrict advertising of M-rated games in youth-oriented media;
• Establish an online method of checking the age of buyers;
• Train employees on the video games sales policy;
• Program cash registers to reminder cashiers about age rules;
• Conduct "mystery shopper" programs and other internal audits; and
On May 19, 2005, Christian Brothrs and its co-filers announced that they had withdrawn a violent video games shareholder resolution filed with Best Buy Co., Inc., since the company agreed to publicly outline one of the toughest violent video game policies introduced by a major American retailer to restrict the sale of mature-rated video games to children and teens.
"While we've seen improvement among retailers on this issue, much more work needs to be done," said Cathy Rowan, co-chair of the ICCR Violence and Militarization of Society Working Group. "We are urging all video game retailers to create and enforce video game sales policies that reflect the best practices in the industry to ensure that M-rated video games for audiences ages 17 and older are not sold to minors."
Christian Brothers Investment Services manages more than $4 billion, combining faith and finance in the responsible stewardship of Catholic financial assets.
ICCR's membership is an association of 275 faith-based institutional investors, including national denominations, religious communities, pension funds, endowments, hospital corporations, economic development funds and publishing companies. ICCR and its members press companies to be socially and environmentally responsible.
The full text of the ICCR guidelines is available online at www.cbisonline.com and at www.iccr.org.
In recent years, members of ICCR, including: The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Sisters of St Francis of Philadelphia; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Sinsinawa Dominicans; Boston Common Asset Management, LLC; Trinity Health; Adrian Dominican Sisters; Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel, OR; Benedictine Sisters of Cottonwood, ID; and Christian Brothers Investment Services have addressed retailers in corporate dialogues and shareholder resolutions to develop, strengthen, and implement their policies.
