Smoking, drinking, pornography are just some of the things that people have decided are immoral for children to take part in. However, a child creating a character in a video game ruthlessly rapes, beats, and kills another character has been deemed acceptable as long as the child is of a certain age. Video games are important in everyday life. Two-year-olds start playing basic video games to learn ABC and 123. The problem is that as children grow they are influenced by the video games they play and most video games in today's society are violent and bloody. Video games influence children and cause them to take on violent tendencies. These violent tendencies can be as subtle as inappropriate language or as obvious as arguing with others. Almost all video games contain violence. Dr. Craig Anderson, a psychologist who studies violence, states: The rating itself doesn't tell you whether it's healthy or unhealthy play. Any game that involves killing or harming another character to advance is likely to teach inappropriate lessons to whoever is playing it. Dr. Anderson then goes on to explain that just because a game is not rated mature or teen that doesn't necessarily mean the game won't contain violence. In fact, many video games hide violence, even cartoons. For example, SpongeBob Square Pants games often have SpongeBob or some other main character attacking evil creatures who are intent on destroying the world. While the game may make it clear that it's a battle between good and evil, that doesn't necessarily make it healthy for kids. The rating system for video games is not effective. To date, there are no regulatory laws... half of paper... developed by players. Whether it's foul language or something worse, video game violence pushes children in their daily lives to be more aggressive without them realizing it. Works Cited Hicks, Marybeth. “Then again…: Reject violent video games.” The Washington Times (November 11, 2009): 22. Web. February 20, 2011. Jayson, Sharon. "Video games related to aggression". USA Today (March 1, 2010). Network. March 25, 2011.Lieberman, Joseph. "Parents should say 'stop' to violent video games." Christian Science Monitor (December 24, 1993):23. Network. February 20, 2011.Nance, Penny and Diaz, Mario. “Violent video games hurt children; Judges cannot ignore the harm caused to young people by the killing." The Washington Times (November 12, 2010):4. Network. February 20, 2011.Rose, David. “There is evidence that violent videos desensitize adolescents.” The Times (London) (19 October 2010):17. Network. February 22 2011.