Unfortunately, this is far too true. I know plenty of intelligent parents who still let their kids watch tv/movies and play video games that, IMO, aren’t appropriate for those kids. The range of supervision varies from the extreme one way to the other. Some parents are afraid to let their kids go outside. Others could not care less. What surprises me is how many of the people who fall into the “could not care less” category that I normally regard as intelligent people.

Personally, we monitor everything that our kids watch, read, and play. The ratings systems are good, but we also use a website called CommonSenseMedia.org that has reviews both from the adult’s perspective and from a kid’s perspective. It has better details on why the games/movies/tv shows received the ratings that they did. We’ve found E10 games that are okay and some that aren’t. We’ve found some T games that are okay and some that aren’t. The same is true for movies. You have to monitor on a case-by-case basis. It’s called parenting. Some people just don’t want to do that, though.

Personally, I’d love to see the comic industry come to an agreement on ratings (love Marvel’s rating system). I don’t have time to sit down and read everything that my kids want to read. Unfortunately for them, I tend to err on the side of caution and not let them read it if I think that there’s a possibility of it containing objectionable material.

“what exactly destroyed the minds of their parents?”

Pong. Seriously, though, each generation gets more relaxed on this. We’re more relaxed than our parents. Our parents were more relaxed than their parents. Our children will likely be more relaxed than we are. There are a lot of factors to this. People are busier than they used to be, so it’s difficult to find the time to be ever vigilant. Technology has taken off and video games and movies can have a lot more realistic violence in them. Plus, there are more of them. It seems like every week I see some lame new “horror” movie advertised aimed directly at the teen audience. Kids have computers, televisions, and video game systems in their rooms. The internet is probably at fault to a certain extent, too. Kids have more access to information and ads about these games and movies.

You forgot about comics. They corrupt our youth too you know.

Brilliant!

But the answer is obviously rock and roll music, or D&D, etc, etc.

Having said all that, Jeff’s post begs the question: Who really listens to these groups? The AP article came out long after all of the games mentioned therein were released. Are there really any parents who are waiting for a Parents group to let them know if they approve of a title or not?

How about “Parents who form parents groups are generally incredibly stupid.” The vast, overwhelming majority of parents are not members of any parents groups.

Moreover, the parents who form parents groups are electing themselves as the spokespeople for “all parents” — even though they have no interest in finding out what other parents think.

But the kicker is this — in my experience, almost every group formed with the stated intention of “protecting children” really has the intention of dictating what people of every age can and cannot do. And therefore, aren’t really “parents groups” at all.