She's the Reason

For a few years now there has been a cycle of news coverage surrounding a video game, Grand Theft Auto IV. It's been the focus of many parental groups who deem violence in media is destroying our youth, yadda, yadda, yadda. They have a point to a certain degree. Yes, violence in media, and in this case video games, has become pretty graphic and commonplace. With the look of video games always evolving, striving for a closer sense of realism, the amounts of blood and guts seen in games appears to have evolved as well. Some of it is pretty unnecessary, but there's a vital piece of information that these parental groups overlook: Video games aren't just for kids anymore. They believe that these games are made specifically for their children in mind, when in fact, it's aiming for the much older and mature demographic. If any parent cared to look at a video game, they'd see that there is a rating system in place to help them deem what their child should or shouldn't be playing. It's an even easier system than that used by movies.

But the reason for all this hullabaloo is what I saw at the store yesterday. I went to Best Buy to look over the game and see if I saw fit to purchase it. While I was there I happened to see an older woman strolling around the same area with said game in hand. One glance at her and you could see "soccer mom" written all over. She has no idea how to play the video games she was perusing and, at times, seemed a bit lost. The moment I saw her holding Grand Theft Auto in her hand red flags went off inside of me and I wanted to slap her in the side of the head and ask her what the hell she thought she was doing. I didn't, because I wanted to see if she would realize her mistake and return it from whence it came. Unfortunately I had to go before witnessing this with my own eyes. My trust in the dimwitted individuals of this world may be my downfall.

It's parents like that the cause all the commotion in those parental groups about video games. They just buy the one that little Timmy says he wants without learning anything about it, or listening to a single news source for the past week. They become appalled at the industry that creates the games instead of turning the blame on themselves for not taking the proper steps that a parent should to avoid having their child see inappropriate material such as that. Hell, most of the stuff that I've seen on MTV or even the Disney Channel seems like things that a kid shouldn't be watching some times. I'm only 26, and already I'm complaining about the youth of America.