by Cody Fredenburg

Created on: March 16, 2010   Last Updated: March 17, 2010

I personally believe that the ESRB ratings are not to blame for the children getting a hold of violent video games, but instead, the parents.The ESRB ratings are only in place as a marker of sorts, it is the parents duty to decide if the game is suitable for their child.that being said, I think it is also unfair to assume that game with an M rating is unsuitable for a child in their early teens.I was raised playing violent video games and it has had no lasting effects on my life or my mentality.This kind of falls under the same category as blaming Grand Theft Auto or Rockstar Games for school shootings and such.Bottom line, the individual is responsible for their actions.Did the gun kill the person, or was it the one who squeezed the trigger?

No more than a week ago, a friend of mine and I went into a video rental store, we tried to rent a game that had an M rating. I am 18, but my friend is just a few months shy of 17, the lady behind the counter refused to allow us to rent the game.Moral of the story is that the ESRB does have a very firm grasp on the gaming industry, and any violence or otherwise adult material viewed by someone under the age of 17, is at the fault of the parent who gave consent.The video game industry thrives on violence, it's not a bad thing, but if your child is 13 and in therapy and has a tenancy of having violent outbursts, renting or buying him a game that is excessively violent is most likely not the best thing to do.

Speaking from personal experience, most people who enjoy a lot of violent content in their video games, are people who are under a lot of stress. It's a form of calming down, or releasing your anger. It is innocent fun that some people take to far. The solution to the problem is not to remove violence in video games, or to blame the ESRB, but instead to educate parents better.

When I was 15, I went into a store, not to buy the game itself, but instead the strategy guide, for an M rated game. My mother was with me, she had already given consent, and even with my mother standing less than 3 feet away from me saying it was alright, the woman behind the counter refused to allow me to purchase the book. That, in my opinion, is unfair. Not to me, but to my mother. It is her job to decide what I can or can't view. The weight should not fall onto the shoulders of the ESRB, or the companies that make the games, but instead onto the shoulders of the parents.

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