if a parent think violent games are a problem for their kids... don't buy them... they are rated in the cover... there is no excuse...

Parents make kids more violent than video games ever will, says 89% of the Kids who's parents were interviewed. 

Should I have any kid(s) I would not allow them to play games not suitable for their age... I sometimes think of what their world will be like in that future and wonder if I would encourage them to play video games at all.

It's only when someone gets killed that video games come to the fore ground. I remember a while back some kids fighting and the shouts of "finish him" and a few GTA quotes ringing out during the fight.

I know teachers that can give you a good talk about video games and the influences thereof.

There is also the attitude of certain game characters that some kids adopt.

This is not solely the domain of video games, but in some ways video games are "more realistic" than a song or a movie.

Ultimately it comes down to parenting. They must react to the times they live in and adjust their parenting to suit that environment.

The fact is not all parents are capable of doing this.

Anyone that thinks video games don't have an effect on the mentality of SOME kids are not being real.

BS. not even parents cant be that stupid..im one :S

I find this hilarious because out of that 89%, I bet a large majority of those parents continue to buy their children the latest CoD or Halo iteration. The problem isn't video game violence, its parents who don't feel like actually engaging their children and just use video games or other types of media as a babysitting tool. Is it so surprising when children grow up not knowing how to separate reality from fiction?

(P.S. Like I said, I'm not blaming any type of video game violence. I only used CoD and Halo because those are the easiest targets, considering their sales.)

It's the same parents who buy 'M' rated games for their children in droves of millions. Those 12 year olds on CoD and Battlefield don't just happen upon it.

Why is it so strange for violent, homicidal men to play violent video games where you kill people? It would be strange if they weren't playing them.

OP: no

I do agree with you, but they are some games that young kids shouldn't play at all. Like Dead Space or Slender, there's no way a kid should play those games at all. Those games are actually fucking scary at times. But anyway, they might as well have the chance to play the violent games out there if they want, i just wish people had the common sense to not make comparisions between video game violence and real violence.  

I've always compared the violence level of Halo to the level in Metroid prime. The only thing different between the two are the weapons and language. Killing alien creatures and the like is about the same. Considering I played Prime when I was 10 myself, I think Halo is alright for that age, I def wouldn't recommend it, but it isn't that harmful. 

(Personally though I found the Flood a lot scarier than Metroids)

Am I missing something about Halo which is especially traumatising or disturbing?

At no point do you even shoot at anything resembling a human. You fire energy weapons at bizarre-looking aliens. The tone is fairly light, the story never gets especially dark, it's not scary, and it's not ultra-violent like, say, Gears of War.

So what is so awful about Halo that a nine-year old can't play it?

I do accept that I have a considerably more liberal view of this than most people, but there is literally zero correlation between video game and real world violence, and the only reason I can see to keep a game from a child is if it will cause them mental trauma. Halo will not.