Games Industry Wire

What Every Parent Needs To Know About Video Games

by Robyn Tippins on September 24th, 2006

A new book by Richard Abanes’ offers help to parents trying to determine how to navigate the video game waters.

When I first saw this on Challies’ blog I was skeptical. Even as a christian I rarely am anything but irritated when I see christians review the video game industry. However, this book appears, from Challies’ review, to speak some sense to parents:

If I had to boil this book down to two main points it would be these. First, computer games are neither intrinsically good or evil. Like television or theatre, video games are amoral. They can be made good or bad by those who design them, but have no intrinsic morality. Second, computer games are rated for a reason. As with film, games are rated according to their content and those who play games (or who make decisions on behalf of children), need to look for these ratings and make decisions accordingly. There are a great many games that are inappropriate for children and many that are inappropriate for everyone. Conversely, there are countless games that are a lot of fun and can provide wonderful entertainment.

The book, written by a real gamer, reminds parents that the ratings are there for a reason and that M games really should be played by mature players. Parents that are buying M rated games for their kids are negatively impacting their child.

Now, speaking from someone who lets her 9 year old play Halo, that may seem like a contradiction. However, I tell parents who ask my opinion that I am a gamer and that I spent dozens of hours playing Halo before I allowed my daughter to play it. There is violence (ie shooting, and a sword), but it’s not the bloody, free-for-all that you see in most games. Also, there is very little cursing (you’ll see more on primetime NBC) and no sexual overtones. That game and Call of Duty are the only M games my kids are allowed to play. I think Call of Duty has been markedly effective in helping them visualize WWII. From a history buff’s point of view, that’s darn important.

But, back to gaming rules: They also don’t play Live yet because I’ve yet to find a Live area that is truly family friendly (though, admittedly, I haven’t spent alot of time on Live in ‘family’ games).

And, in addition, even on those M games that I trust, I play WITH my kids. When they’re teenagers, the rules will change on that, I’m sure, but at present:

1. They play only age appropriate games (excluding the 2 games above).
2. When they are allowed to play the two M games above, they play WITH me/dad only. They are not allowed to play those games w/o a parent (just as I might allow an older child one day in the future to see a worthy R movie, but only WITH me).

As with all things parents should use caution (but not unnecessarily freak out). If you don’t know an M game well (ie dozens of hours of play) and aren’t playing it with them then opt for age-appropriate games.

However, these are rules that I am very glad to say that I get to make up on my own. I can’t stand the trend of tighter laws in this area. Anytime that pseudo-experts who don’t play games step in and try to tell others just what makes sense for their family and pushes to see their way made into concrete law, there are only tough roads ahead for everyone. I’m going to suggest parents who want to learn how to manage their children’s video games go out and buy the book “What Every Parent Needs to Know About Video Games.”

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POSTED IN: Press, Video Games, book reviews