"Recently
I've noticed that my children, a 6 year old, 8 year old, and a 10
year old, have been getting more and more interested in video games.
All 3 of them were lobbying me to get them an xbox one for Christmas
this past year and so now we have one in the household. I've heard a
lot of things from friends and on the internet about violent video
games and the effects they can have, so I've been making sure to keep
an eye on what they're playing. With this new addition to my
household I've started doing some research of my own, and there are a
LOT of studies on the relationship between violent video games and
aggressive behavior. This is pretty concerning, the amount of
studies on the subject alone puts up some red flags. I don't want my
kids to play some game where they shoot someone and get it in their
head that that's an ok thing to do! I've seen a multitude of studies
linking violence in games to higher levels of aggressive behavior.
These are games! They're for kids, they shouldn't be tailored in
ways that support these violent tendencies! One study in particular
that I found was linking video games to bullying, and that's a big
deal! I have friends whose children have seriously hurt themselves
due to bullying, and I don't want my children doing something that
will encourage that behavior! Beyond just the violence though, I've
also seen several articles about the rampant obsession surrounding
video games. That's yet another concern I have with this medium, I
want my kids to get out there and live their lives, not stay cooped
up inside all day. Clearly there needs to be some change in the
video game industry if this is the effect it is having on our
children, I won't stand for it and neither should anyone else.”
-
Suburban Susan
Good Games Inc. Replies: "We understand your concerns for your children, but we must refute the idea that these games are made for them. There is a rating system in place on these games to prevent the exact type of games you're talking about from falling into the hands of children who are not properly equipped to deal with their content. Video games are not a medium for children anymore, the average age of gamers in 2014 was 35. This issue is one of control, not of content. So when these sorts of game fall into the hands of minor, the blame falls to retailers and parents for failing to control the access to that content. Parents have a duty to control what sort of content their children are exposed to, just as you wouldn't let your child see an R rated movie, you shouldn't let them play an M rated game. This is not the job of the developers to control, this is the job of parents like you, Susan.”
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