For those parents with gamer teenagers they know there is both good and bad to video games. On one-hand video games help children in many ways including developing good hand eye coordination. And we have already all heard about that. On the negative side the video games have been getting progressively worse; that is to say more violence, nudity and blood and guts. One concerned parent in an online think tank recently stated;

Personally, I find it highly disturbing that kids play this and other games for hours upon hours at a time. What is that teaching them?

Hand, eye coordination, dexterity, fast thinking and problem solving skills under pressure and teaching them to overcome, adapt and think on their feet. Yet for this the game does not necessarily need to be violent although the intensity is ratcheted up a bit if it is and thus it teaches them all these things and all the bad things you mention too, much faster than SimCity. Eventhough, the context is un-inspiring indeed. Yet the concerned parent is truly worried and continues to state;

Is there any surprise when in this era we have little kids becoming truly and frighteningly violent? I submit that this is where they are learning it. Either by playing it directly or watching their elder siblings playing it.

Hey wait one minute, we have had historically really nasty people in the world and Hitler did not have available to him video games growing up. I had watched kids in the sand box pull little girls long blonde hair and throw plastic shovels full of sand in other kids eyes? But back then we did not have video games, computers and what was on TV was Brady Bunch, Happy Days and Gilligans Island and many complained that some episodes were indeed; how would you say it? Sending the wrong message to impressionable youth. Perhaps there are two sides to this issue. But this brings up a question parents; Do you know what video games your kid played today? Consider this throughout 2006.