Stop Blaming the Games

Video games get a lot of flak. They get blamed for everything. I guarantee all of you have heard statements along the lines of, “video games kill productivity”, or “too many games make you dumber”. Basically, all the old sayings about how tv would rot your brain have now carried over to video games. One of the worst, however, is how video games are making kids more violent. Or not just violent, how games are corrupting kids in general.

When I worked at a nameless, multimillion dollar videogame retailer, I cannot tell you how many parents would come in griping that video games were turning their children into monsters. “Oh little Johnny won’t stop swearing since he started playing that Grand Theft Auto. I can’t believe they make that game for kids.” Or “Billy seems a lot more violent after getting that Mortal Kombat game, he won’t stop hitting other kids! They shouldn’t make these kinds of games for my little baby.” This happened more times than I could count.

There are so many reasons this is a poor argument. First of all, any time a child acts out, are you going to turn around and blame games? For instance, if a 4^th grader swears, how do you know for sure it is because of a video game? What’s to say that he didn’t hear it on the playground, or tv, or a neighbor, or even one of the parents? Let's be honest; many of us can attest that we heard some of our first swear words from our own parents. For me, my dad working around the house was a great way to learn so new swear words. There is no way that a video game is the only medium that could have influenced or affected the child. The same thing applies for the violence argument. One of the most popular televised sports in the US is UFC, which is literally watching grown men beat on each other for hours at a time. Even most kid’s cartoons have the protagonist beating up the bad guy.

More importantly, it is not the developers fault for how someone’s child turns out. One may list these games as an influence, but even that is not a fair argument, for one, very simple reason. To understand that, one only has to look at the ratings. For those of you who were not aware, every video game, whether released in the US or abroad, is subject to impartial review, and is rated on its content. In the United States, any video game published is reviewed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB. Just like any film is rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA, all games have a rating as well.

In a nutshell, any movie rating has a video game parallel. The 4 main ratings you will see are E, E10+, T, and M. The Everyone rating, or E, is the video game equivalent of a G rated movie. Anyone in any age group can play these games without issue. E10+, or Everyone ten and up, is like a PG movie. Pretty much anyone can play, but it’s recommended for at least 10 years of age. Like at a theater, a minor can see a PG movie unattended, just as a preteen can buy E10+. Next is T, for Teen. This is your PG13 movie basically. Once again, no ID is needed, but it’s recommended that the player be at least 13 or older, due to the slightly more mature content. These games usually have a little more violence, or some suggestive themes. The last major rating is M for Mature. These games are like rated R movies. The content is not intended for anyone under the age of 17. Just as you can’t buy a rated R ticket without a parent or valid ID, rated M games require the purchaser to be at least 17 years of age, and must present a valid ID confirming age. In fact, if you do not have an ID, the retailer reserves the right to deny the sale of any rated M game. These games are strictly for adults, often times more graphic than any rated R movie.  Sure, both movies and games have higher ratings than M and R (those being NC17 and AO, respectively), but those ratings are rarely ever used. In a rated  R movie, even there a limit stands as to just how much one can put in the movie, before they move it to Not Rated, or NC17. With video games, once it hits a certain point, it’s rated M. Consequently, some rated M games can be significantly more violent and graphic than others. .

In addition to checking the ratings, it is vitally important that parents understand the nature of the game. So using what we know about ratings, let us see why blaming games for how kids act is not a fair judgment. I would go so far to say it is an invalid argument. Say, for example, little Timmy sneaks into a rated R movie. Now, in most cases, as the parent, would you be mad at the Quentin Tarantino because Timmy knowingly went to see a movie he knew was not allowed, or do you punish Timmy for blatantly disregarding the rules? Same with video games. If 10 year old Jeffrey plays Grand Theft Auto V, arguably the most graphic game (containing full nudity, frequent violence, glorified crime, a torture scene,blatant drug abuse, etc) every made, do you write angry letters to Rockstar Games for publishing it, or is Jeffrey in trouble for playing games he knows he shouldn’t?

Sadly, many parents resort to playing the blame game. Even worse is when the parents buy the game for their children. Many uninformed parents believe that because it is a video game, it is for kids. Not so, as the majority of games are targeted towards young men ages 18-35. But these parents will buy games like Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Battlefield, then turn around and blame the developers for making these games in the first place. I say it is the parents fault. They should take the responsibility to monitor what their children are playing, and make sure not to buy games that are not appropriate for their childrens age range. Growing up, my mother monitored every game my brother and I played. She would check the ratings, and would restrict my purchases as necessary. Even then, she would go in later to see if maybe we snuck in games that were not allowed for our age group. If she found a rated M game, she would confiscate it, and we would lose various gaming privileges for a set amount of time as punishment, as it should be. Instead of blaming others, my mother took the time to make sure what we were exposing ourselves to was appropriate for our age. More parents need to take that responsibility on themselves instead of blaming the publishers, developers, and retailer. If you wanna read more about the ESRB rating system, check it out right here.
//endrant