The thought of monitoring all children�s gaming can be overwhelming but the ESRB can help. ESRB was established in 1994 and stands for Electronic Software Rating Board (Thompson 2). It was the first of its kind for video games and it is still the best there is for the industry. �They are the only rating system that has descriptors, short phrases that give details about what is in the game� (�Helping Parents� 1). This system helps parents know exactly what is in a game and why it is appropriate or inappropriate for their child. They have rated over nine thousand games since their creation nine years ago (�Helping Parents� 1). This comprehensive tool could be helpful since it covers almost all games. Parents are using this tool too. One and a half million calls have been received at their toll free number since it started several years ago (�Helping Parents� 1). That seems like a lot people supporting the board but not enough considering the eight million Grand Theft Auto III�s sold and that is just one game.
The most useful thing the ESRB does is not rating games, it is regulating them. The ESRB encourages retailers like Toys R Us and Wal Mart not to sell to minors and to provide educational materials to in store shoppers (�Helping Parents� 2). This helps keep the small minority of children who do buy their own games from getting offensive material. They are also responsible for the Advertising Review Council which monitors advertising for appropriateness, truthfulness, and accuracy. They have the power to levy fines or withhold a rating if a company does not comply with their regulations (�Helping Parents� 2). Considering how easily children are influenced this is the most important tool of the ESRB to keep industries from exploiting children. Overall America seems to approve of the system. A study done in 1999 by Dhart Associates found that eighty percent of parents said it would be helpful (�Helping Parents�2). But is the rating system really all they are cracked up to be?
The ESRB might seem too good to be true, and it is. It has some serious flaws. The main problem is how they rate the games. The ESRB does not actually play the games they rate. They give a rating based off of information and excerpts that the game makers give them (Thompson 2). This is a horribly inadequate way of evaluating games. It is like rating a movie by reading the back of the box. It is impossible to score these games without playing them first hand. There is an easy and obvious solution to this. Assistant Professor Kimberly Thompson wants standardized content descriptors and information on the duration of violence so games with little violence are not grouped with those with lots of it (Thompson 2). This is a great suggestion that needs to be taken into consideration.
To fix the problem of children playing inappropriate video games several things need to be done. The first and most important step lies with parents. According to the Child Development Institute, parents should be aware of the rating system and monitor how much their children play video games (�Video Games and Children� 1). If parents watched what their children played there would not be a problem in the first place. This is unquestionably the most important and effective solution. Steps have already been taken to get the word across to parents. In 1999 the ESRB started advertising their rating system to parents and encouraged them to check the ratings of games purchased (�Helping Parents� 2). This is a good start but more needs to be done. The ESRB needs to be revamped. They need to update their system, start playing the games they rate, and most importantly get the message out to parents. If the parents do not know there is a rating system then any other steps are useless. Their advertising should show the inappropriateness of some games and why it is ultimately up to the parents to monitor what their kids play. Some companies and organizations call for a more radical step. The game BMX XXX, which contains nudity, was not carried at Wal Mart or Toys R Us due to their objection of its content (Brenzican 2). Restriction of purchases is definitely a positive step that will keep some kids away from the games but if parents are the ones buying the game in the first place a restriction or pulling of games from the shelves is not going to be effective enough to solve the problem. The most effective solution will always be a parent reviewing their child�s games first hand to make sure they are not playing anything that they would not want their child playing.
Video games have �grown up� along with the adult market and parents need to be on their guard as to what their kids are really playing and to help them make a good choice they need to be more properly informed of video games content. As the game developing industry continues to break grounds in gaming technology, the contents of games will keep pushing the envelope. Mature games might be an escape for some adults, but for children this can be a dangerous element in their upbringing. Just as parents monitor what movies their children watch, they need to also keep tabs on what they play. They need to be informed that it is not the government�s or the gaming industry�s responsibility to do this but their own. If society does not start paying attention now, who knows what the nations youth will be like twenty years from now.
