There’s been a lot of barking lately regarding video games, including MADD’s recent call for changes in the new version of Grand Theft Auto, in which you have the option of driving while three sheets to the wind.

The latest salvo fired against a video game is aimed at the popular virtual world Second Life.

According to CNET News.com:

A Republican congressman who has sponsored legislation banning access to social-networking Web sites in schools and libraries has found a new target of displeasure: Second Life.

Rep. Mark Kirk, who is seeking re-election this year, staged a press conference at a library in his suburban Chicago district on Tuesday to highlight what he called the "dangers" of the virtual world to children. Flanked by local officials, he also released a letter asking Federal Trade Commission Chairman William E. Kovacic to "take action to warn parents of the similar dangers and sexually explicit content found on Second Life."

Kirk said he was appalled that Second Life has no age verification features built into its registration process, and he claimed that there are "countless locations" outside of the service's teen-designated area where virtual prostitution, drug deals, and "other wholly inappropriate activities" occur.

According to a Chicago Tribune report, Kirk recounted an aide's failed attempt to create an avatar on the site as a 10-year-old -- and a subsequently successful attempt to log in as an 18-year-old.

"Sites like Second Life offer no protections to keep kids from virtual "rape rooms," brothels, and drug stores," Kirk said, according to a press release. "If sites like Second Life won't protect kids from obviously inappropriate content, the Congress will."

Second Life creator Linden Lab, for its part, released a statement, according to various local news reports, saying, "Members of the Second Life community, including Linden Lab staff, actively monitor against minors accessing the (adult portion of the) service." But Kirk said company officials have acknowledged that it's possible for teens to get into the adult portion of the service, and vice versa.

… Kirk's comments were yet another attempt to drum up support for a bill, which he reintroduced last year, known as the Deleting Online Predators Act.

This plea from Rep. Kirk just seems silly to me. As always, I’m anti-censorship. Let the nerds play their virtual games.

But I am the father of an 11-year-old son. I can see a bigger picture. I see idiot parents letting their kids go anywhere on the Internet and play any video game. I fear for the fragile innocence of these pre-teens, call me a bleeding heart.

I really do wonder what this generation will be like as adults. So while Rep. Kirk’s plan is ludicrous, I don’t think we can depend solely on Second Life monitors to keep kids out of the adult areas.