Violence & Video Games

"Pediatrics for Parents"; the effects of video games on children: what parents need to know?

The ESRB issues more than one thousand ratings per year. Five percent of those games are considered to contain mature content (Clements, 2012). Additionally, only an estimated eighteen percent of games sold, throughout the year, are designated with mature ratings (Clements, 2012). This low percentage could impact the reasons why legislation has not taken action against mature content published within video games. Research has proven individuals younger than seventeen are typically unsuccessfully able to purchase video games designated with a mature rating (Clements, 2012). Additionally, those under the age of seventeen typically receive the mature rated game as a gift from a legal guardian or a friend, which bypasses the guidelines set forth by the ESRB.

One of the roles of the rating systems were to control the amount of sexual content, rate the games based on the content that was in the game, and to state it in the advertising and the game box. Even with all the commotion over the mature games, most parents do not allow their children to play. A graph compiled with information form the ESRB site from a survey they gave parents shows the differences in how often parents allow their children to play mature games.

According to the latest study 84% of parents are aware of the ESRB rating system. 64% regularly check a game’s rating before making a purchase. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) conducted the same research and found that 89% of parents are involved with the purchase or rental of a game for their child. 87% are aware of the ESRB ratings, but only 73% use the ratings either “all”, “nearly all”, or “most of the time” when buying the individual games. 93% of parents believe that the ratings are easy to understand. There is a 24% difference in the parents who know the ratings and the ones who actually use

It's ridiculous to punish a game rating company for the lack of attention being paid by the customer. It's clear that ESRB is doing their job when employees at gaming stores are stopping customers from buying games when asking how old they are. Parents want a different company to rate games, but not only will they not be as effective as ESRB, but one can almost guarantee that the new company would run into the same problems ESRB does. Providing quick glances at rating symbols and giving detailed lists, ESRB has given customers every opportunity to know what game they're

The effects of video games on the development of children and teenagers minds has been a controversial topic for many years. For example, Mortal Kombat was a video game created years ago that included intense blood and gore for the time period in which it was created. Therefore, the Entertainment Software Rating Board was created. ERSB’s goal was to create a rating system for video games. Different video games have different ratings depending upon the content that the ERSB thinks is okay for a specific age group. These ratings were established purely to make sure that small children did not see or hear things that they shouldn’t for their age. The rating system goes as E (everyone), E+10 (everyone 10 and up) T (Teens), M (mature 17+), A (Adult only). E rated games meant that those video games had content acceptable for anyone and everyone, even small children. Those games were mostly cartoon made. If the video games were specifically meant for children, they were most likely based off of children’s movies or shows. E+10 rated video games contain slightly more violence in them. Hence why they are rated for anyone 10 and up. These games only have slightly more violence because by the age of ten, they have been introduced to more adult content. However not by much since they still don’t fully comprehend the difference

In the 90’s there was even enough media attention to video game violence that the United States Congress had a hearing on issuing age appropriate labels, much like in movies, to video games to warn parents of the contents of a game. Each of these matters have only helped further tarnish the reputation of video games, and draw worse misconceptions about them.

From Math Games for kids to blood and gore video games have a lot of different sides to them. Video games are decided on by the player. Saying that games cause violent behavior in kids is inaccurate. We as people decide who we are and what we will do with our lives. A digital screen and a controller can’t make us any more violent than we already are. Blaming violence on a simple sixty dollar piece of plastic is unfair. Games are rated early childhood to Adult only. This means that what we play is up to us and we are in control of what we choose to have around us. This also means that if you are a parent and you buy a rated M game for your seven years old it is your fault. Video games do not influence violent behavior in kids because there are multiple positive facts about video games that are proven while most negative data on video games aren’t proven and are just speculation, it reduces stress and the chances of the player bullying others.

Violent media is everywhere in this generation of technology. The violent med wouldn’t effect children if some regulations were made but still need children would exposed. Craig A. Anderson professor of psychology at Iowa University examined children behaviors with different media. Anderson stated, “About 90 percent of U.S. youth aged eight to eighteen play videogames, with boys averaging about nineteen hours a week.” (Anderson). This high percentage of children videogames cause them to see a variety of different games including ones that are not even meant for this to play with. Videogames similar to movies are rated. The rating of an “E” means it’s intend for every one of all ages. Anderson stated, “ ‘E’ videogames have more than 30 percent of violence descriptor in them, and more than 90 percent of ‘E10+’ games contain violence descriptor” (Anderson). Of course the more graphic violence it is rated higher, to prevent young children from playing it but the games meant for

In addition, high rated movies and games were found to be easily accessed by under-aged children. Furthermore, different ratings systems for each medium (television, movies, music, and video games) make the ratings confusing, because they have little similarity or relationship to one another.

It’s a meticulous duty keeping your children safe, but it’s part of good parenting. On the PBS website in The Video Game Revolution section, a story written by Pamela Eakes, Mothers Against Violence in America, she wrote, “A recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) shows that more than 90 percent of parents don't monitor ratings on the video games played by their kids. Many are unaware that a ratings system for video games even exists, and children probably know more about the rating system than their parents do.” I am a mother and a grandmother and I was unaware of this feature that would inform you of how violent a video game

There is a common misconception that video games “brainwash” kids and do nothing but damage their intellect. Although that is not the case, video games have been proven to improve one’s everyday motor skills and even improve vision. Some parents may believe that their son/daughter will grow up to be some sort of lonely psychopath due to video games, but that is not the case. The truth of the matter is that video games do little to no damage to kid’s brains. There are many more things that improved rather than decreased. There is even scientific evidence to support of this. With tests showing gamers develop the ability to use the smaller and faster portion of their brain to process situations and make decisions. It was also apparent

In today’s world, most videogames are required to have an age restriction for who is and who is not allowed to play them. Common ratings consist of E for everyone, T for teen, and A for adult. These titles are placed on all video games to be visible to purchasers. How do stores and video game producers keep track of which individuals are purchasing these games and if they meet the age description? Simply, they do not. This allows an open window for all ages to purchase any game, no matter the rating. Some households often discourage their children to purchase unnecessary games, when others take action and stand their ground when coming to the labeled ratings. Video games started off as being a hobby for individuals or a group of people for

of parents believe that the parental controls available on all new video game consoles are useful. Further, parents impose time usage limits on video games more than any other form of entertainment:

With the amount of violent video games saturating the market it is difficult for parental figures to monitor their children’s consumption. Many children these days play violent video games constantly. We have access to video games on our home consoles, computers, televisions, smartphones, and tablets. Today it is easier than ever for a child to download a violent game over the internet and have access to it anywhere. Many families seem to be uninformed about the affects video game violence may have on their children.