79% of American children now play computer or video games on a regular basis. Children between the ages of seven and 17 play for an average of eight hours a week. "Most of the games on the market are appropriate for these young players, and the best of them can bring a lot of benefits. Besides being fun, some of the games provide practice in problem solving and logic as well as strategizing "(Walsh, David).
So as the games become more and more realistic, so does the violence that comes with many of its action titles. This has caused a massive cry from parents to put an end to their exposure on our youth.
The notion that violent games are the lone culprit behind youth violence is unfair. Violence is all around us, it happens in the real world everyday. The United States is involved in military action, and it is supported by many Americans, but they are outraged to see it in a game. These games are intended for adults and because of this they must hold the players interest. What must be considered is games are just that, games. They are fun; things that you would never get to do in real life, because it is a game. They are no different from going to an action movie. In fact they are in many ways superior, the user gets to help determine the outcome so they feel more involved with the story. There in lies the problem, if children play these games can it cause them to emulate the actions in the real world and what should be done to try and prevent it?.
Parents are not becoming involved enough themselves. Instead of pointing their fingers at the game industry, they should see what their child is playing and make sure they know why the actions are inappropriate outside the game. Recently there have been many accounts of children acting violently and then saying their actions were caused by playing a video game. However, in many of these cases, the child already suffered from abnormally aggressive behavior.