Look, I played pretty violent games when I was ten years old. Guess what? I didn’t end up stealing cars or killing anyone. Because most children and adults, if they are mentally stable, can distinguish the difference between fiction and reality. There’s nothing wrong with video games, violent or not. It’s fantasy and it’s meant to be a fun way to pass time. I am so sick of parents taking everything so seriously. If you have a problem with your kid playing violent video games, look at the rating and make your own decision. Period.

I remember, a long time ago, there was this case of a young boy playing Counter Strike with another kid. He kept losing, and got so mad that he ended up killing the other boy (I can’t remember how, but it was pretty brutal). That was about when parents started spouting off about video games getting banned because of violent crimes happening in the real world. I’m sorry that an innocent kid got killed, that’s for sure, and it should never have happened. But truth be told, I don’t think the video game had anything to do with it – it’s just what people want to believe. That kid had serious anger issues… whether it was parenting or the kid just wasn’t right in the head, the game was irrelevant. He had problems, but it sure wasn’t because of fictional violence.

And you’re exactly right; before that it was MTV, movies, etc. We cannot shield our kids from EVERYTHING. The world is full of good and bad, and we can’t just show them Teletubbies for the rest of their lives.