by Chris C

Created on: January 29, 2007   Last Updated: November 03, 2009

Video games and children almost go hand in hand these days. The question is, do we as parents, allow them to play just any game or do we limit the games they play? Once we have chosen the games they can play, how long do we allow them to play?

These two issues, in my mind, are the two biggest whenever the subject comes up. First of all, not all games are appropriate for young children, some aren't for teens and some aren't for either. As parents, we can and should, pick and choose which games our children are allowed to play. In our house, my wife and I play the games the kids would like to play and then decide if we should allow them to play them. This can be accomplished in many ways. If you have the money to buy the game before playing it, go ahead and do it. What we do is find out what games they would like to play and then rent them to check them out. That way, we aren't spending money on games they won't be allowed to play. Some people say "violent games create violent children". I don't agree with this at all. Almost every game has some form of violence in it. Take Mario Brothers for example. Is it not violent to purposely turn a turtle on its back and the launch it at another one? Is it OK to be burned by the fireballs that the dragon in the final stage throws at you? Now, I know that is a little extreme, but it's only one example.

These days, any game you pick up has violence in it. Some games have rape, murder, theft and drugs as part of the main game-play. In Grand Theft Auto Vice City, if your character is running low on health, you can pick up a prostitute and "regain" your health, then mug her and take back your money. I think the bottom line is that as long as the parents are involved in the choosing of the games, our children will be OK playing them.

Now, for the amount of time we allow our children to play. I agree that a "couch potato" kid is not a good thing. Young children and even teens, need exercise and outdoor activities to maintain healthy body weight. They need to be able to interact with friends and have fun. Basically, be a kid. I know during the summer months, my children are outdoors 80 percent of the day and only come in when we drag them in kicking and screaming. Once the sun goes down, or its too cold in the winter to play outside, they can and do, play video games. This includes games on the PS2 and the computers we have in the house. Do we limit the time on each of the two mediums? You bet we do. We encourage craft making, drawing, board games and other things besides video games.

Bottom line, if parents are involved in what their children do, the children will be better off and we won't have to worry about whether or not they are playing inappropriate games.

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