The level of violence in many of today's video games makes me long for the days of Pong. It also puts an added responsibility on parents to know what's going on in the games their kids are playing. A friend of mine who works in the gaming industry told me a story about a confrontation he had in a store with a parent who was buying GTA for his tween son. My friend, the gamer, was trying to warn the parent that the game wasn't really appropriate for someone his son's age. The parent basically told him to get lost. When I was on my book tour in Boston, I had dinner with long-time Ypulse reader and YA author Mitali Perkins. She has teen sons who are avid gamers and was telling me about how she forces them to deconstruct the stories behind the games, think about how women are portrayed, the level of violence, etc. (I hope she'll comment and elaborate on what she says to them, because it's great).
The 12th Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card, the National Institute on Media and the Family found that most parents and retailers are behaving more like the parent did in my first anecdote. From the press release:
The poll showed that of the kids who play video games, one in five reported that their parents never play any of the games with them. This may be one of the causes contributing to the fact that almost half (49%) of young players (8-12 years old) and most young teens (78%) admit to playing M-rated (Mature) video games.Also revealed in this year's poll was the growing friction in families when it came to regulating a child's video gaming habits. Almost four out of 10 parents who have kids who play video games (38%) have repeated arguments with their children about the amount of time they spend playing video games. Arguments about when games should be played are common as well. These findings suggest that video games present families with more than the escape and entertainment they bargained for.
The grades include:
"C" for parental involvement as too many parents do not understand video game ratings and don't use them to keep inappropriate games out of their kid's hands;
"B-" for the ESRB's ratings education efforts;
"C-" for retailer policies as fewer retailers are participating in efforts to educate their customers and employees on the ratings;
"C" for the gaming industry. While Microsoft should be commended for its new screen time timer, some game makers and console manufacturers have conducted questionable marketing tactics.
For any parents or educators reading, Common Sense Media does a great job of reviewing games for parents.
Posted by anastasia
Gaming
Comments
Thanks for the encouragement, Anastasia. As a parent of teens, any pats on the back are desperately needed. Here's a summary of my gaming negotiation discussions with the boys:
If you forbid gaming completely, or rely only on the ESRB ratings of "E" (Everybody), "T" (Teen), "M" (Mature), or "A" (Adult), you're missing out. Games are a great venue to establish and reinforce a code of honor. Our boys know that a game has a better chance of passing through the parental censors if:
* You work with buddies to accomplish an objective. Time Splitters I and II, for example, are multiplayer games where teammates fight side-by-side against zombie enemies. Our sons and their friends must talk to each other constantly to make split-second team-oriented decisions.
* You're rewarded for heroism instead of villainy. I nixed "Rogue Agent," for example, because Bond becomes evil and turns against his country, whereas in the other 007 games, he's battling the bad guys.
* You can beat a level without taking an immoral or nefarious short cut. In another Bond game, you're supposed to massage a woman to trick her into thinking that you're the hired masseuse instead of a British agent. If you do this, she lets you slip by without sounding the alarm; if you refuse, she sits up and screams for help. My son discovered that you can still beat the level sans massage if you're skilled and adroit, and receive much parental affirmation.
* You get fined instead of rewarded for beating women up. I nixed Grand Theft Auto after heavy negotiations for this reason, and recently decided against Bioshock as the villain takes the form of a small girl child. The boys got an earful about domestic violence as the leading cause of death among women of a certain range, and child abuse, too. Did they get it? I hope so. In one of Tony Hawke's skateboarding games, you can't use your skateboard to hit women or girls, no matter how hard you try. My son called me into the room to demonstrate this, maybe realizing that I would appreciate it.
* You can't attack unarmed civilians or the guys on your side. Many games rebuke you strongly if you try and use "friendly fire" against your buddies.
* The game has a great story line, like the Halo franchise.
The games I cited above may not be right for your kids in their particular stage of development. So how to validate appropriate games? Read reviews from sources like GameSpy ("multiplayer gaming's home page"), Game Informer, or GameRankings. And watch your teens and their friends play for half an hour before saying anything negative. Boys love it if you cheer them on through the levels (enduring the agony for their sakes if you're a bookish flower child like me).
My hope is that as we watch and listen beside our boys, we'll be able to use the good and bad in video games to reinforce the values we long to see growing in their souls.
Posted by: Mitali Perkins | December 8, 2007 2:54 PM