Parents supply computer games illegally

Parents are supplying restricted or banned computer games to their teenage children, a report released yesterday shows.

Almost two-thirds of the 15- to 17-year-olds surveyed had played games which were either R18 or banned outright.

One-third of those who had done so had been provided with the games by their parents.

The report, Underage Gaming Research, released by the Office of Film and Literature Classification and the Department of Internal Affairs, was based on a survey of 331 secondary school students.

The teenagers were asked whether they had played any of a list of 26 games, 24 of which are R18 and are therefore illegal for the students to play and two - Manhunt and Postal 2 - have been banned because they have been judged objectionable.

The study found that 62 per cent of the students had played at least one restricted or banned game.

The Grand Theft Auto series were the most popular games. Only a small number of the teenagers had played the two banned games.

Chief Censor Bill Hastings said the Classification Office did not ban or restrict games lightly.

"Parents who allow their underage children to play restricted games are breaking the law and doing their children a disservice."

Internal Affairs deputy secretary Andrew Secker said department censorship inspectors inspected between 400 and 500 games shops a year.

A New Zealander had been prosecuted for attempting to distribute Manhunt.

"The Manhunt prosecution seems to have greatly helped with compliance," Mr Secker said.

"Since that case, sellers contacted by the department have co-operated very quickly."

- NZPA