"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, I mean, even if not much has really been proven, the fact that there have been so many studies on the subject puts up a few red flags, right? 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! A good portion of the things I've seen link 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! Why are companies even making games like this? Can't people have fun playing games without violence? I've even found some stuff saying that playing violent games can lead to increased bullying behavior, I don't want my kids to grow up like that! After finding all of this out, I'm seriously considering returning that xbox that I bought them."
- Suburban Susan
Good Games Inc. Replies: "I understand your concern for your children, but I 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 industry is no longer tailoring to just children, so when this sort of content falls into the hands of underage children, the blame is on the retailers and the parents for not following the rating guidelines and allowing them to obtain games unfit for them, not on the developers for making those games."
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