Why is it that the idea of a child seeing an adult rated movie is bad, but games are not seen as a problem? And, with so many games taking the blame for crimes, why do many parents still not pay attention?

New age media

Perhaps the major issue here is that of awareness, and the general trend of new media being misunderstood mainly by an older generation. An older generation that should be helping children develop their own moral standing, and ability to differentiate between real life and fantasy. Usually, when a new form of entertainment or social movement emerges it’s the younger generation that embraces it, as older generations are usually more prone to sticking with what they know and love.

Take music, for example. Rock and roll was once condemned as the devil’s music by the ‘establishment’, only to be embraced by the younger generation, as was punk, metal, rap, and so on. Even classical music, such as the works of Mozart, was deemed too different for the older generation of the time. Simply put, anything new and different often hits roadblocks with those who need to help shape the next generation, dismissing, and in turn, totally misunderstanding it and breeding ignorance. Instead of embracing it themselves, and actually understanding the media, misinformation and ill-informed decisions are formed, leading to widespread unfair treatment. This often manifests these days in poorly researched and unfair news stories and tabloid coverage.

This misunderstanding takes different forms, the blaming of it for various incidents is just one, and the ignorance of it is another. Simply not caring about the impact any new media can have because it doesn’t interest you is one of the prevailing trends, and it’s one of the major reasons games that boast an older age rating are being given to younger children. Basically put, there’s a subset of parents who simply don’t understand or care about games, and so they don’t buy, or provide them with much thought other than it’s what their children wanted.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not attacking such parents, or labelling them as bad, I’m simply postulating that this is the way society in general thinks, and always has done. I myself have done the same, and as a child I was allowed to play and watch pretty much anything I liked. On the whole, this is fine, and most people, young or old, are easily able to separate fantasy from reality, right from wrong. But some people are not. At the very least, things like graphic violence and bad language can upset, or shape a person to some small degree, and if so, it obviously needs to be monitored.