I was reading an article in Newsweek by N'Gai Croal, the magazine's "resident video game writer."  He is addressing the maturity ratings and content of todays most popular video games.

In the latest edition of the RPG (Role Playing Game) series, "Grand Theft Auto," players can participate in a variety of wholesome activities including:  Going to strip clubs, paying for private dances, paying for prostitutes (with different "service" options), driving drunk,, killing police officers (and anything else that lives.  There is partial nudity, strong suggestive language and obscenities.  The list goes on.

Now we all have that friend we still know from high school who, in spite of the fact that he is 34 years old, still play video games all day long and talks about them like they are real.  But we all know that the main demographic of video game players is much younger than that.  Whatever the rating given to these games (Grand Theft Auto is "Rated M for Mature"), they are marketed to the teens and younger.

There is an interesting comment thread on the website whattheyplay.com, a site dedicated to informing parents about what is actually portrayed in these games.  You can check out the info on Grand Theft Auto and some parent and user comments here.

There is a thirteen year old claiming that his mother is giving him permission to buy the game.  I will bet that when he is in court one day, in defense of his DUI manslaughter charge, the mother will blame the game.

And there is my bottom line.  Yes, there is a problem in our culture of companies marketing inappropriate material (for any age) to children, but the responsibility still rests in the parents' hands.

The gaming system is not a babysitter, and even if it was, shouldn't you check the references?  Some people might test me on this, but I believe almost every one of society's ills today can be traced back to parenting.

The fact that it is even a debate on whether or not a game like Grand Theft Auto is appropriate is stomach-turning and a sad commentary on how far our nation has come (fallen) in its quest for liberal tolerance.  This is a whole separate post, but if anyone wanted to know what happens when you take God out of the equation, the results are all around.