Nils Bühler

The Jugendschutzgesetz (JuSchG, youth protection law) allows for an exception of the otherwise strict restraints on censorship in Germany. The responsible authorities maintain a list – often simply called the “Index” – with media that, in their estimation, are harmful to the healthy development of children (JuSchG §15 Art. 2 Nr. 5, §18 Satz 1). Media on this list must not be made available to children in any way, be advertised or sold openly. Reviewing the decisions on games of the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften (BPjS, the federal inspection authority for youth corrupting publications) of the 1980s uncovers how political, religious and elitist opinions shape what is considered harmful to the mental health of children and how the power to rule what is deemed harmful can have repercussions on the image of a medium. Politically charged games, for example Raid over Moscow, do not seem to have an impact on the psychology of children that differs from other games of the time, but the BPjS still deemed them to cause cramps, anger, aggressive behaviour, nervousness, difficulty in concentration and headaches (cf. Mühlbauer 2010). The decisions of the BPjS represent the relationship between games and the government as well as the political parties involved at that time. Studying the index therefore can provide a contextualizing overview of the relationship of politics and games as well as stigmata of games as mental health hazards.

Panel 3 - Effects