Why violent video games should not be banned

According to certain people, violent video gamesshould be banned; they feel that violent video games are the source of today’sviolenceamongst children. I strongly disagree with them. Video games, like movies, musicand any other form of art, are there to entertain people and to enjoy, not restrict. What most people fail to realize is that the video game industry, like the film industry, is heavily regulated with a strict code of parental guidelines already in place. Even the game consoles to play these violent games have parental controls.

What I fail to understand is that some parents believe its okay to give their children 18+ rated games even though they are well under that age, and say that these games are the sources of violence between children. If parents would not let a 10-year-old watch 18+ rated horrors movies, then why would parents let a 10-year-old play Gears of War, or Grand Theft Auto with its gang, crime and sexual content? Today, the debate to ban violent video games is drastically increasing in popularity.

Video games that have violence in them such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, or Gears of War, might be banned for showing mature content. Video games sold in the United States reach retail sales of twenty one billion dollars a year. If they are banned, the economy can lose a tremendous amount of profit, and not to mention almost every mature adult around the world would be extremely furious. When people say that video games are very influential on the youth of today, they are probably right.

However, the youth of today probably shouldn’t be playing violent video games to start with, just as they shouldn’t be watching violent movies. Violent video games have an age rating on them for a reason. If parents want buy their under aged children violent video games, then they should not complain that the video games are causing their children to become violent. Before complaining, they should actually pay attention to the age ratings posted on the games themselves and not ignore it, and then to make things worse; try to ban the games that other people might enjoy playing.

Today’s game consoles (Sony’s Play station 3and Microsoft’s Xbox 360) are both aimed at mature adults, with the consoles having parental controls, and age warnings on the game boxes. Personally, I couldn’t think of anything worse if violent video games get banned. The last thing that I want to do is go into any store and only be able to buy games that are aimed at 3-year-olds, such as Kung fu Panda or Dora the Explorer.

In conclusion, I can say that violent video games have become one of the most favorable forms of entertainment to any teenager or adult around the world in the 21st century. And if they were to get banned, many people would get extremely furious. Violent video games are aimed strictly at mature teenagers and adults (as indicated on the game box itself), not children. Parents that complain that some video games are too violent and should be banned should stop and think; because after all, they are the ones who bought their kids the violent video games.