In the news: The Byron Review reviewed

Back in October, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown commissioned psychologist Tanya Byron to report on children, the Internet, and video games. Byron is best known for presenting the TV show House of Tiny Tearaways, a BBC Three reality TV show about problem children.

Now the results of the Byron Review are in, and the national press is spinning it in a variety of ways. A rundown of some of the major players follows:

The Times

This former-broadsheet-turned-tabloid is leading with the story on its front page with the headline "Computer Games to Get Health Warnings." According to the News Corporation-owned newspaper, video games are now going to have to carry cigarette-style health warnings. GameSpot's own reading of the report found no such conclusion and instead found that the "warnings" called for are merely notifications that consoles have parental control functions that must be set before use. The paper notes that the report was commissioned in response to "moral panic" about games and concludes that they can harm the "development of children's beliefs and value systems and desensitise them to violence."

The Times describes Byron as a "clinical psychologist and television parenting guru" and later in the article points out that she is also a Times columnist, in case her credentials were still in doubt.

Byron also calls the current game-rating system by the British Board of Film Classification "confusing and not tough enough." She called the Pan European Game Information system "ineffective." The psychologist also wants to see all gaming consoles fitted with "blocking mechanisms" so parents can lock their kids out.

The report continues inside, over pages six and seven, which reported that unnamed game publishers "were prepared to live with plans for rigorously enforced ratings if it averted censorship and kept the £18 billion industry on track."

It also quotes Keith Ramsdale, a vice president of Electronic Arts, as saying, "Why is there a thirst for violent games? For the same reason that there is a thirst for violent films, books, and TV. We're not out of line with other entertainment forms."

The Times also let its own game reviewer, Nigel Kendall, have a say. He pointed out, "Not all gaming is bad. It can be as engrossing as a novel or chess." However, the paper loses points for its posed picture of a butter-wouldn't-melt 6-year-old attempting to play one of the Grand Theft Auto games and for saying that the "original Manhunt was blamed for the murder of a boy, aged 14, in Leicester in 2004," when in fact the police stated that the game was not a factor in the case.

The Sun

Moving down market, red-top The Sun has hidden the story away on page two and focused on the Byron report's findings regarding the Internet. The headline reads "Clamp on net's violent videos: Web Watchdog Bid to Protect Children."

According to the Currant Bun, "A powerful Internet watchdog to guard kids from porn and violence will be demanded today." It also called certain Web sites on the Internet an "online menace" and said that Byron would be calling for cinema-style ratings on game discs, showing age gates of U, PG, 12, 15, or 18.

Byron is also apparently going to call for a UK council for Child Internet Safety, which will bring together "Whitehall departments, kids' charities, and the online industry" to make the issue a "government priority."

The Daily Telegraph

The Telegraph ran this story on its front page, with the headline "Curbs on Computer Games to Protect Children." The article also talks about "cinema style" ratings to be recommended for games.

Writer Toby Helm also quotes "sources close to Dr Byron" as saying that the report will stress the need for parents to realise that "just because a game is called a game does not mean it is appropriate for children."

The report is 224 pages long, according to the paper, and will recommend steps including an information campaign for parents to ensure that they are not "outmanoeuvred" by children when making decisions about what content is appropriate for them on the Internet or in games.

Byron is quoted as saying, "Parents are afraid to let their children out, so they keep them at home but allow them to take risks online."

Metro

The free morning paper favoured by commuters has the story on page two under the headline "Computer Games 'Need Warnings.'"

The short article states, "Some titles desensitise children to violence, the study said. These games could be forced to carry cigarette-style warnings in future."

It also states that under the proposed changes, retailers who sell games to underage children should be fined or face up to five years in jail.

It concludes, "Games such as Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV have been criticised for their violent content."

The Guardian

This Berliner-sized newspaper has led with the story on the front page and brought out the big guns in the form of its political editor, Patrick Wintour, who wrote the story.

The headline proclaims, "Parents to be Shown How to Protect Children Online: New Codes of Practise for Social Network Sites and Video Games."

The Guardian story focuses on the divide between kids and their less tech-savvy parents in the understanding of new technology. In the article, Byron calls parents "the Internet immigrants" and calls kids "the Internet natives."

It also reports that Byron has proposed that the game-classification system currently in place in the UK should be completely overhauled.

The Daily Mail

Everyone's favourite tabloid, the Daily Mail, was sold out in the local newsagent, but never fear, the Byron Review article is also available on its Web site.

The headline is "Computer Games to be Given Tough New Cinema-Style Age Ratings: Shopkeepers Who Sell Games to Under-Age Children Face Prison."

It called the current ratings system "piecemeal and partly voluntary" and stated that under methods proposed by Byron, "age guidance would be clearly printed on its sleeve in a way that can be understood by parents who are not computer-savvy."

Byron is quoted as saying, "I'm making some pretty tough recommendations to the Prime Minister, to the government, about the video game classification system and about the Internet generally and how we can empower parents and teachers and all adults to help children be safe."