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Originally Posted by Stompy
Parents shouldn't worry about video game ratings.
If kids were raised properly then none of this would be an issue.
I've watched rated R movies since I can remember - why didn't I grow up to be a murderer? Because I was taught right away that it's make believe, and to use common sense (ie not repeating things you see on tv).
Same applies with games. Kids don't go out and shoot each other over video games, music, or movies - they do it because they're idiots.
There's kind of a backwards mentality when it comes to this stuff...
The parent of the 13-14 year old can try all she wants to not buy her son that horrible "T" game, but what she SHOULD be concerned about is what he's subjected to by his peers while at school. That is infinitely worse than any video game, as it will continue to shape his personality throughout the years.
What about kids that go out and play with toy guns? Typical boys go out with toy guns and play with their friends, pretending to shoot/kill them. Why is that acceptable? Because the media hasn't made a spectacle out of it yet. In reality, it's not that big of a deal - as long as your kids aren't stupid, they'll know the difference.
I've found that ratings are more-or-less meaningless, especially for video games - after all, they're just video games.
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I agree with you that if kids were raised properly, then this would be a non-issue.
However, I don't find it appropriate to denounce video games as "just video games." They're an effective form of self-induced repetition learning. People have aced flight schools just by playing Microsoft Flight before taking the school course. Studies have shown that aggression levels do rise in people playing violent games. Cognitive skills are increased in people who play games. The list goes on about how video games affect people.