On the news here a few days ago there was a school who wrote to all parents asking that their children be banned from playing violent video games.

Your thoughts.

I love playing video games...definitely a gamer chick. Nothing better than taking out frustrations on the bad guys and righting the wrongs of the world but I am an adult. Children are impressionable and if violent video games are causing issues, then they should not play them. Ultimately it is up to the parent to allow them to play or not. These games have ratings on them for this exact reason.

video games aren't the problem, liberals are the problem...parents should send notes with their kids asking the administration to be less liberal...

Somehow you can take out your frustrations on it & do stuff you wouldn't be able to do in the real world & it can be harmless fun, but with some people it affects them in a more negative way

I know what you mean. I think some parents just need to be more responsible and make sure their kids don't get hold of games that are out of their age rating.
But that is no easy task.

.. well I'm waiting for paperwork..lol

.. as a father of two. young gamers..lol.. I can say Gaming has not affected their temperament..
.. however it has increased. their vocabulary.... and not in a good way.
....m and fer.. you can't just camp there..you arzzz hole..lol

yes, the reason I posted it was because of the school sending that letter, but also because I remember my son playing a game a few years ago, I think it was called saints row ( I could be wrong) and I remember thinking (silently)WTF is this.

Well, I can tell you that I grew up watching Will E Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons and never had the urge to go out and drop an anvil on my brothers. Wait maybe I did, but I NEVER ACTED ON IT.

I feel that there are some kids that are responsible enough to realize that it is really just a game and some kids that are not. A parent should be up in their kids business often enough to know when their child should be kept away from those violent games.

Every kid that learns karate, boxing or wrestling does not go out and beat up strangers.

People need to address the root problems, like bullying, unexpressed aggression, lack of proper anger management and the morality issues about justice versus revenge, emotional detachment from parental neglect among other things, lack of opportunity to express individuality, and the entire concept of masculinity in this culture. The one form of outlet most people have to blow off steam in a cathartic way without guilt or consequences should not be taken away from them. Of course they need to play real games too, but again, parental responsibility and structured schedules being neglected, and we get even more problems.

And I get that parents don't have that kind of time, that's not uncommon nor something that the average person should be able to understand and empathize with. But to take this backwards leap and completely abdicate their responsibility by heaping the blame onto a straw man so they don't have to answer for their failings and even attempt to make things better? THAT is inexcusable. When the biggest influences in a child's life, ideally their parents, aren't doing their job, it shows. This desperate bid to point the finger elsewhere is sickening.

As a parent,
I've told more than one school official to stfu.

If the schools want children banned from
certain types of video games, the school
is more than welcome to ban those games
on campus.

I hate when people think that playing violent games or watching violent movies causes violence in teens. I mean, no one's worried that a romantic comedy will cause the teens to run off and get married. I don't personally find the games entertaining. But I'm sure peeps would all be entertained by what I like either.

I would have to 2nd that Kelly,there is no proof at all that violent video games or films push kids to turn evil

If films worked that way, then we should show Disney films non-stop in prisoners until all the inmates are rehabilitated.

I remember my oldest son, nipping my head constantly for GTA 3, GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas, on the PS2! When those games came out, I bought two copies, one for him and one for me, as I love those games also. If I never bought those games, he would've just played them at his friends house and got a loan of the game from them. I got him the game Manhunt, also and the COD games too! Still think GTA San Andreas, is the best game that I've played on any platform though!

yea i have heard of this recently too, something about schools threatening to call child protective services on people for letting their kids play Call of duty. that is absurd, proper parenting and being involved in your kids life would prevent this. i kind of feel like being able to let your frustrations out in a video game would probably help in a way, keeping people from letting their frustrations out on actual people. i think the root of the problem is parents are so busy with work and everything else life throws at them that they dont always take the time to talk to their kids and explain right from wrong and teach their kids morals. i played video games alot as a kid, alot of which were violent but never did i think to go out and act out what i did in a video game, probably because my parents taught me the difference between right and wrong. i also watched a ton of horror movies when i was a young kid and i loved em, esp friday the 13th, but never did i feel like putting on a hockey mask and going out into the woods hacking up teenagers who were having sex and smoking pot. depends on the parenting.

hell yea, San Andreas was way ahead of its time. definitely one of the best games of all time. i loved how you could lift weights and get all jacked up and just go around knocking people out.

i think most of them would commit suicide long before rehabilitation happened hahaha.

Then the Disney films would not have worked and my point would be proven. Plus less prisoners ... win-win

hahaha strap them in a chair and put a tv in front of them with the little mermaid on repeat, even the hardest criminals would be crying. i give it 48 hours at most before they go completely insane.

lol I played the Little Mermaid in a school play. I needed bigger shells