As video games gain popularity and become a normal part of home entertainment, concern about youth access to inappropriate games continues to grow. Some people have claimed that violent video games influence children’s aggressive behavior and that violent video games have some responsibility for violence in the school. In response to people’s concerns, the video game industry created a video game rating system in 1995 to help parents decide which video games are appropriate for their children.
This study investigated whether parents were aware of the video game rating system and how often they have used it when selecting video games for their children. This study attempted to find relationships among parents’ attitudes toward video games, their guidance styles for their children’s video game play, and their use of the video game rating system.
This study found that most parents have used the video game ratings very frequently when they select video games for their children. But many parents still don’t understand the video game rating system. This study showed that parents who had more negative attitudes or less positive attitudes toward video games were more likely to impose restrictions on their children’s video game play and to use the video game rating system as a means to restrict their children’s access to violent video games.