How many parents
would let their children kick a prostitute to death for
fun? How many would buy a potentially addictive substance
for their children and encourage them to use it in their
own living room? The answer to both of those questions,
according to the latest MediaWise Video Game Report Card:
more than you would think.
Of course, video and computer games are not all bad. Many
of them are educational, family-friendly or just good clean
fun. When parents do a good job of limiting the amount and
content of games their children play, video games can be
a healthy part of a child's life. But many of the most popular
games kids play are not appropriate for young people, and
parents have no idea. Our survey showed less than five percent
of parents knew about the content of the most popular game
on the market. Even more alarming, the latest research shows
video games have a more profound, potentially more harmful,
effect on kids than we ever knew. Recent studies reveal
video games having a powerful impact on children's brains.
The most popular video game in America right now is Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City. In it a player is rewarded for beating
a prostitute to death after having sex with her. The game
is rated M-meaning children under 17 should not play it-but
because most retail stores do not prevent children from
buying M-rated games and most parents are not aware of the
content in the game, many children as young as eight-years-old
play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Spokesmen for the video game industry have said that as
the video game audience matures, we can expect to see more
mature games like Vice City. If senseless objectification
and violent victimization of women is the industry's idea
of mature, we're in trouble. In fact, brutal violence against
women in video games is not new. What is new is that depicting
women as victims and objects occurs in the most popular
games. Because the technology has improved so much in the
last few years, the images are horrifyingly realistic. This
attitude toward women is a disturbing trend and parents
need to know about it.
Making matters worse, several recent events, some painfully
tragic, have highlighted the growing problem of video game
addiction. One young man killed himself after playing a
game for 36 uninterrupted hours. Anecdotal reports show
parents neglecting their children in favor of video games
and children unable to complete schoolwork because of their
addiction to video games.
We now know from a growing body of research: video games
have a powerful impact on kids. It's time to do something
about it. As parents and educators, we need to make sure
our kids play the right games for the right amount of time.
David Walsh, Ph.D. is the president and
founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family.
For more information on media and to find KidScore®
ratings of popular video games, visit www.mediafamily.org.
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