This blog is reprinted with permission from Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.
Tell Nick: “Naughty” Games are Not for Young Children
Nickelodeon, the children’s media empire, is promoting sexualized and violent video games to children as young as preschoolers. Its popular gaming website, AddictingGames.com, features games such as Candy the Naughty Cheerleader, Bloody Day (“Back alley butchering has never been so much fun. . . . How many kills can you rack?”) and the Perry the Sneak series, where gamers take the role of a peeping Tom trying to catch revealing glimpses of scantily clad and naked women. Nickelodeon promotes, and links directly to, Addictinggames.com on its Nick.com website for children and even on NickJr.com, its website for preschoolers.
TAKE ACTION! Tell Nick: Stop Promoting “Naughty” Games to Young Children.
After some of the games – and Nick’s links to them on its websites for children – were featured in this YouTube video and this report on Good Morning America, Nickelodeon pulled a few (e.g. Vanessa Naughty Pics and Whack Your Ex). But Nickelodeon was clearly more concerned about protecting its reputation than protecting children. They continue to link to AddictingGames.com on Nick.com and NickJr.com.
AddictingGames.com, which boasts about its large collection of “naughty games” and “shooting games,” continues to features many games with sexual and violent content, including the following. All descriptions are taken directly from AddictingGames.com: Stick Figure Penalty Chamber 2: “Small, black, stick figure death can happen in so many different ways! Do you choose shotgun to the face, or acid in the lungs?”
• Naughty Classroom – “Hot for teacher?…Here’s your chance to fulfill your ultimate childhood fantasy. Naughty Classroom will leave you begging for more homework.”
• Dark Cut 2 – “More macho surgery! No anesthetic. No antiseptics. Just rusty knives, corn whiskey, and lots of blood!”
• Foxy Sniper – “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. Fear me, because I am a crack shot! Assassination isn’t just a job; it’s a way of life.”
Please take a moment to demand that Nickelodeon stop promoting sexualized and violent videogames to young children. And be sure to let other parents know what Nick is up to. Please spread word to friends and family and promote this campaign on Twitter and Facebook .
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration. CCFC is a project of Third Sector New England in Boston. For information on how to take action against Nickelodean, visit CCFC’s site.
See also: ‘Nickelodeon teaches kids to spy on women and shoot kittens’
May 24th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Disgusting.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Nickelodeon directors,
Our little darlings are being dished up blood guts and you are perverting natural curiosities. I am not going to play these naughty little games with you till your programs have been washed, hung and censored.
I expect better from an organisation that claims to place kids first.
May 24th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Contact Nickelodeon: feedback@nickaus.com.au
May 24th, 2010 at 9:38 am
I let my kids watch Nickelodeon all the time! They have some great programs. What are they thinking with these ones???
May 24th, 2010 at 9:39 am
Thank you for bringing this to our attention Melinda.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:03 am
If you want to contact Viacom (the company listed at the bottom of their website), here is the link below:
http://www.viacom.com/contact/Pages/default.aspx
May 24th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Your kidding me RIGHT – What the heck are these people thinking. I cannot beleive grown, appartently mature and educated people think this rubbish is OK. NO WAY is it OK. Melinda, if you read this, please let people know what they can do. This is so so upsetting.
May 24th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Thank you for bringing my attention to this Melinda. My daughter just turned 4 years old and I regularly let her use the nickjr.com website, along with the nickjr.com.au website. Quite often I find she has clicked on random links and pops up other windows, so this was a huge shock to me. You would think being on a site dedicated to preschoolers, it would be safe to leave your child unattended to play.
I have checked out the Australian version of the site, and so far I have been unable to find any links to addictive games, so at least I can continue to let her use that site.
May 24th, 2010 at 11:43 am
So glad you have raised this discussion here Melinda! My daughters were playing an online ‘dress up dolls’ game a few years ago that my husband and I deemed ‘safe’ enough. Much to our horror after through the history, we discovered that with one click of the mouse, they had clicked onto these other games – Perry the Sneak and the Naughty Classroom (as above). When Perry manages to see the nude woman in the shower 10 times, he is rewarded by climbing through the window and jumping into the shower with her – his eyes bulging amid love heart shapes. These ‘games’ get through filters as they’re not considered ‘pornographic’, but the perverted messages they send kids is just as, if not more, dangerous! We had to explain to our girls that it’s not OK for anyone to be ‘perving’ through the window, or trying to look up the teacher’s skirt, despite the fact the game REWARDS the player for getting an eyeful. I have since created a ‘favorites’ folder of safe, pre checked websites that my kids can use online, although wherever possible I encourage them to get outside and play ‘real’ games. Parents need to be vigiliant when it comes to their kids being online – even when they think they’re safe!
May 24th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
[...] Nickelodeon’s lessons for kids: stalking, shooting and sexual fantasies | Melinda Tankard Reist [...]
May 24th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. My kids don’t use Nickelodeon and won’t be.
Disgusting and inexcusable.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
“Nickelodeon is the world’s leading entertainment brand for kids with the company’s portfolio extending across television, online, mobile, theme parks and music. Nickelodeon has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does.”
“Nickelodeon strongly believes in the family unit with Nick Jr. encouraging and providing ‘family viewing’ opportunities for toddlers and their parents/care-givers. Nickelodeon provides a safe universe for kids 5 to 12 years where they can chill out and have a blast, while their parents relax in the knowledge that their child is enjoying entertainment in a ‘kid-safe environment”.
Did they forget to consult their standards and practices (above) when designing this sackful of sexualised smut.
May 24th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
STALKING…
KID-SAFE ENVIROMENT….
I didn’t realise they were compatible?
May 26th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
This is why parents should be supervising their children’s activities and not blaming gaming companies knowing full well the games rating was far above their child’s age.
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Oh you have GOT to be kidding. Is nowhere safe? I’ve written to Nickelodeon:
Attention: Content Director
We are disgusted to see that Nickelodeon is promoting AddictingGames.com to children.
Nickelodeon is geared specifically for children, so we are disturbed that you are marketing games with a distinctly sexual and violent content.
Games like “Naughty Classroom” that encourage children to have sexual fantasies about their teachers are completely inappropriate. This is blurring the line between childhood and sex – so what if a sexual predator – a pedophile – approaches a child for sex? Well, Nickelodeon has told them that not only is it completely acceptable, but that it is DESIRABLE.
Stop allowing these disgusting commercials on your network NOW. You are normalising child sexual assault and confusing the minds of our children, with serious results.
We will be telling everyone I know with children to stop letting them watch Nickelodeon because you do not protect children from sexualised and violent images and concepts.
June 16th, 2010 at 6:56 am
[...] Tankard Reist blew the whistle on sexualized video games offered on the Nickelodeon kids’ tv website a few weeks [...]
June 16th, 2010 at 7:29 am
Went and checked out the game, very sad stuff. The assault on women continues. To the silence of the Liberal Progressive feminist groups.
June 16th, 2010 at 11:09 am
Nickelodeon has always been about subverting our kids. Many (liberal) people were OK with it because it was subverting them in a _good_ way (in their view) by indoctrinating them with a liberal worldview. Smart parents caught on to this– even if you’re a liberal, do you really want your kids to be liberal because they’ve been brainwashed to be liberal? Wouldn’t you want them to be thinking, reasoning individuals? Sadly, many parents never really understood where Nickelodeon has been going for many years now.
Of course, that’s only one aspect of it. The other is profit. They’re much more concerned with capturing your kids’ minds and turning a buck as a result, than any supposed desire to educate or illuminate. You can bet they make money off of these games, and that’s the bottom line. This is just the latest in a natural progression for Nick.
June 16th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Margaret Manzi, Impeach Hussein. Impeach Hussein said: Nickelodeon’s lessons for kids: stalking, shooting and sexual fantasies http://bit.ly/c5VHLh via @AddToAny [...]
June 17th, 2010 at 3:04 am
we nd a class action law suit against nick and jail time for these people.
June 17th, 2010 at 11:39 am
AddictingGames.com is now blocked on my home network.
June 18th, 2010 at 12:43 am
It’s funny how we get squeamish over cartoonish images but have no problem telling our kids to support bigotry, war, environmental destruction and torture.
June 18th, 2010 at 2:17 am
I’m not surprised, unfortunately. For years now I’ve seen stuff on Nick that really angered me as a parent. One of my big pet peeves is having actors and musicians on their annual Kid’s Choice awards show that have NO place being on a kids show. It is not unusual to see actors who are pop-culture popular – but have never done any childrens programming whatsoever.
There are a few shows on Nick my kids really love, but I am increasingly moving toward turning our cable OFF.
June 18th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
[...] Tankard Reist blew the whistle on sexualized video games offered on the Nickelodeon kids’ tv website a few weeks [...]
June 26th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
[...] think again – its homepage links to a sister website called AddictingGames.com that features racy, sex-focused video games like “Naughty Babysitter,” “Booty Rider,” and “You da [...]
July 7th, 2010 at 4:25 am
So nick is run by mtv networks which pays hookers to get boozed up and fall in love with rock stars whose minds are so blown they cant get up in the morning with out having a stroke. Look whats happening to disney as they have their teens banging stripper poles at “kids” choice awards. Is it really the networks fault or the people who buy their crap. All i can say is stop filling pervs pockets full of money and do something about it. How many of u actually read to your children. Stop letting the television raise your kids.
August 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 am
Unbelievable. It’s all about the dollar, morality and integrity are becoming extinct. I agree with Chucks comment, stop letting the world and television raise your kids! We need to pray hard for this country, we are headed for destruction!
November 7th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
I am sick of people blaming parents!!! The games were developed to target young children by the ease of play. Many of these games on the site are for toddlers too so a parent would expect this to be a safe sight. Even if only teenager-related material, parents should be able to have some faith and trust in these companies and game sites. Is nothing safe for kids anymore? I have parental controls and other blocks in place, then frequently check on my 13 year old, but this is ridiculous. These blocks do not stop this type of content! Teenagers want independence at this age and if exhibiting trustworthy behavior, we should be able to give them a limited amount. If I was to at first walk by and see him playing one of these games (and he is on this at first seemingly safe sight), I would not realize. In fact, I stumbled across an article and this prompted me to take a closer look. The result was shocking even though a couple have been taken off. Appalling. Guess I can’t give my teenager any freedom due to people trying to market stupid games that teach filth to kids his age and much younger. Most of the filthy games a 2 year old could play as it’s just a click action. Appalling!