Mature rated games might not be the only ones that parents should keep an eye on. Many games that seem suitable for a child are not. The results of a study in 1992 showed that thirteen out of forty-seven Nintendo games had plots involving a captured woman that had to be rescued (�Video Games and Children� 3). It is true that this might not be the most offensive plot in the world, but it also might not be the kind of gender role message a parent would want to send to their small child. Even the games rated �E� for everyone are not violence free. Kimberly Thompson, an Assistant Professor of Risk Analysis and Decisions, found in her study that sixty-four percent of fifty-five E rated games have violence in them and thirty percent of those had violence that lasted for duration of ninety percent of the game (Thompson 1). These games which were meant to be intended for all audiences are not. The evidence of violence in those games enforces the need for parents to monitor what is being played to ensure that children are not viewing offensive or violent material.

Although the extent of the effects of violent games on children is not known studies have shown that what they have found is not good. Tim Levinson, a twenty nine year old software designer, gives some insight about how games affect him. �It�s that feeling of escapism. I would never want to start my own crime family or start throwing people into Jersey landfills, but I still enjoy The Sopranos (A television series centered around an Italian crime family)� (Brenzican 2). Release is one reason why adults play games. They can obviously distinguish between reality and fantasy, but what about children? The Surgeon General, David Satcher, made a statement in 2001 saying that there is an association between violent games and children�s behavior but that the impact is small compared to other things (Wright 2). This is a reputable statement proving that there is a link between the two, and that some games do have a negative effect on children, even if it is a small one. One study showed that how a person reacts to a game depends on who they are. �It found that aggressive people will perceive more violence than is actually there and become more violent after being exposed to it than a normal person� (Tuscano 2). Just like some people like spicy food and others do not, so do people react differently to games. This could be why researchers get mixed results from studies. The researchers agree on one thing though. A consensus of researchers has agreed that there is a three to fifteen percent increase in violence after watching violent television (�Video Games and Children� 2). A video game is just like interactive television, so it would be assumed that games would have a similar reaction.

Not all the video games are bad though. �Studies have found that fantasy games can be beneficial to children helping develop cognitive skills like the ability to plan ahead, visual spatial, and eye hand coordination� (Video Games and Children 2). These fantasy themes can be good to help children grow and parents should be encouraged to buy more of these types of games for their children. Whether or not a particular game is going to have a negative impact on a child may be questionable but the fact that it will have an impact in unavoidable. This excerpt from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosner shows just how influential media can be on a child. �Many studies have found that young children often could not tell the difference between television programming and television advertising. They also could not comprehend the real purpose of commercials and trusted that advertising claims were true� (Schlosser 46). This is the most disturbing fact. It shows that if children can not tell the difference between TV and advertising and believe all they see, they could take the video games they play literally and accept the scenarios as reality. This makes all games, no matter what the content, potentially harmful for children, which emphasizes a parent�s need to monitor and regulate what their children are playing.

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