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This is a general desription of how parents should deal with video games.

Parents these days are NOT responsible not all of them but most are. i am 13 years old and i play video games.at my age it is considered allowed to play more violent games like grand theft auto and playing these games do not effect me. but when I go on the internet for an online game (im playing an extremely violent game) and I have a mic hooked up to talk to other players in game and i hear somone 6-8 years old... if you think my age and his is not that big a gap for gaming your wrong. to play the game I was playing would probably make me more violent this game is almost like a horror game i have friends who have gotten scared playing it and then I hear someone probably in grade 3 playing this game thats extremely wrong. if you have heard of the game gears of war you would most likely know where im coming from. people who play these games at my age dont care about it and think about doing violent things because of them or even when I was younger. We look at a game and wonder if it takes skill or not. anyways what im getting at is parents if your child wishes to play a video game say hes 5 years old do not get him an xbox or ps3. get him a nintendo or a gameboy and get him a pokemon game because at that age they probably like anime. there are three basic types of games there is the First Person Shooter, Real Time Strategy and a Massive Multiplayer Online. first person shooters are fine i used to play james bond with my dad when i was little and real time strategies are where you control an army from a birds eye view and is peticularly about eliminating another army it will have noo affect on your kids such as addictions and so on along with first person shooters. but parents the massive multiplayers online (mmo) are extremely addictive causing your children to play for long hours of the day from morning to night when they have the chance. I know I once played the mmo (massive multiplayer online) games and finally realized i had a problem. I was playing these games instead of going outside with my friends and it messed with me socially.mmos are designed a certain way to get you addicted. When I was a kid even though I said that a kid whos 6-8 years old playing that violent game was wrong a kid 9-11 is a different story by then they are ready for games like halo and maybe gta. as bad as gta is children playing those games only care about customizing there car in the game and driving around in it. But... if your children do play a violent game like gears of war dont allow a mic until they are age 10 your kids will know every swear word by grade 4 and 5 so no use in annoying them for no real reason. so avoid an mmo (masive multiplayer online) such games as world of warcraft and warhammer online. do not restrict your children from games rated T for teen when there not a teenager because seriously those games are just as bad as when you were little and played cowboys and indians. so generally keep restrictions with games like gta and saints row up until they are about 10 also thats grade five they already know bbasicly everything you dont want them to know by then.