My early childhood was a fairly carefree experience. Despite some learning difficulties that meant I was a late developer, I grew up appreciating certain things in life more than others. My parents will testify that I was a challenge growing up and that as an adult I still have some rather difficult moments, but in general I have overcome my own trials and tribulations to become the man I am today. I don’t really remember much about living in the north of England with my parents and older brother, but what I do remember is of them rather than my piers at school or the teachers that helped me through the early years. I do remember one teacher before I left for the other side of the country who apparently didn’t get that I had a problem with learning and tried to teach me like an army drill instructor.

The first ever experience with a computer game that I remember was of Super Mario Bros 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System at the age of around five. The time I had with that game showed me at that age just how stimulating it was to have that level of interactivity. When our parents approached me and my brother to ask what we wanted for Christmas, the original plan was to have us both get a Gameboy each. As this was a stupidly expensive option, my brother compromised by asking for a Sega Mega Drive instead. This meant that only would we get a 16-bit console, but that it would be ours jointly meaning that it was one present. That console would shape a significant part of my childhood, for better or worse. You see, I was part of the generation that saw first hand an industry that evolved to such an extent that regulatory boards had to be created to restrict the sales of games to minors, 3D became a reality, and innovations in gameplay and narrative were born. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but now I have a problem.

You see, I’m probably a quarter of the way through my lifetime. This means that during my second quarter there may be some life changing events which come to dominate the next twenty or so years of my life; children. The next generation is just around the corner, much as it is for the industry itself with the Wii U on the horizon and rumours of the next Microsoft and Sony consoles being born. It is a scary thought that has kept me up all night once or twice. It isn’t so much the thought of having them in the first place, but more about my stance in games in general and how kids fit into that. At what age would I introduce them to games? How long every night they are allowed to play them? At what age would I as a responsible parent allow them to see more graphic content within games?

Firstly, I fully support the regulations in place as they are now because they are regulated by people who at the very least should know what they are doing. PEGI provide most of the game ratings in the UK, though sometimes the BBFC chime in on more controversial titles such as Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. This is because I would never want a child to see a violent scene or perform a questionable task without the understanding that in real life this is never acceptable behaviour. It is the same with films, TV, perhaps even books unless there is truly a lesson to be learned that is important. But at the same time, there are some things that at a young age you can grasp knowledge of at the younger than regulated age group.

I myself am a prime example of this and it is thanks to a few games that I learned these valuable lessons. First, from the founding fathers of graphic violent video games – Mortal Kombat and Doom. The pixelated blood, gore and massacre of these games at first desensitised me, but in a short amount of time I was able to distinguish violence in a video game from violence in real life. In the game, me getting hurt would involve the lowering of a life bar. In real life, it just hurt! In these early titles, there wasn’t so much a freedom of expression since they were meet to be entertaining as opposed to insightful. Later games though found that controversy with insight was possible, since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was an exploration into gang culture in Los Angeles with references to the Crips and the Bloods violence that still dominates some parts of the city to this day. But the world is a significantly different place these days, with video games becoming more realistic with every generation and the subject matter to be more complex than those found in games of the 1990s.

But of course it wasn’t just violence. Sex also worked its way into video games and there were some rather startling results. Al Lowe’s Leisure Suit Larry series on the surface is about a lounge lizard who is constantly on the prowl for sex. Here the most important thing is about how each scene is approached, as while Larry Laffer is depicted as a ladies man from his looks, he is merely a hilarious loser who fails at every hurdle to get women to fall for him. Sadly the developers of other games, such as the diabolically bad and ill-conceived BMX XXX, decided that naked women were the way to sell their product. It sold under 100,000 copes across all three platforms and contributed towards the bankruptcy of Acclaim. Sex doesn’t always sell it seems.

As a grown up individual though, I can see why some video games might be a cause for concern. After all, if Jack Thompson is to be believed, the Columbine Massacre and similar incidents since can be attributed to video games via psychological conditioning. In a way, there is an element of truth behind this rather desperate accusation. The media has the power to influence many different emotions and video games have the unique feature of interactivity. So to say that games don’t have an influence on our lives at all would be naive. When he describes them as “death simulators”, that is where he oversteps the mark of credibility as I would have thought House of the Dead was more of a death simulator than Doom and Grand Theft Auto. Video games aren’t to blame solely for these tragedies, but I wouldn’t rule them out completely for being a contributing factor for psychological behaviour.

There are several games intended for adult audiences that I wouldn’t want a child to play until they are at least at the right age to comprehend the scenes on-screen, mostly war games, but there are certain scenes that pinpoint major problems parents face today. Let us take into consideration the airport scene from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. As an American spy who is currently working on the inside, you are tasked with the rather uncomfortable task of shooting innocent civilians. In a film, there is no level of interactivity, so for a child, seeing what happens on-screen would be easily distinguishable as wrong. In a game however, the interactivity of the scene reflects a more sinister proposition where questions really need to be asked: “How did this make you feel?”. If the player says how it made them think about the consequences on-screen and then potentially explains why it made them feel uncomfortable, then they are examining it with the perspective of an adult. If they didn’t question it, that’s where I’d be worried. The same goes for anyone who has seen Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3′s controversial moment as while the interactivity is limited to operating the games camera, the scenes that unfold are earth shattering in contextual analysis.

So are video games and parenthood incompatible? Of course not! However, due to the fact that games material we face in this century is a far cry from those found in the last mean that a level of maturity from parents is necessary. There is currently no physical law against children playing games below the recommended age rating, but to purchase games of that rating would be an awful judgement unless there is a level of supervision involved. Parent Activist lobby groups aren’t in the wrong about the need to be concerned about video games, but they do need to do first hand research. Family values always come first and different families have different beliefs about what is acceptable and what isn’t.

As a gamer myself, I have the advantage of knowing the industry and just how dark it can be. If a game has garnered attention at my future offspring’s school that is beyond their age range, I wouldn’t get angry for the desire from them to play it. I would do my research first into the game in question, find out why there is so much attention, and then have a rational discussion with them. Ambitious I know, and as many parents would testify, getting through to the younger generation is an arduous task. But by then I hope to be more knowledgable about the industry as a whole and therefore lead by example. Of course, a strict limitation on how long a child plays a game would have to be enforced from a young age in my case, but the early years are easier for parents to regulate.

It is the point at which they become young adults that worries me most. Even though I couldn’t stand physical activity in my youth, I would actively support whatever endeavours my children would undertake. Everyone is an individual. Should they want to be a Premiership footballer, I would be about as fine with it as equally as if they wanted revive the craft of the blacksmith. If they wanted to follow in any of my relations footsteps, then I would support them by making sure that relation is aware of that desire. If they wanted to follow in mine, I would support them equally as I would with any other profession.

The difference here though is that this industry has many faces in the public eye. Some see it as entertainment, while others see it as the evil brainwashing of the masses. To those people, I’d beseech them to play LittleBigPlanet and tell me just what is evil about that game! Games are there to be shared with others, but the need for parents to be smart about what their children should play and what they shouldn’t is becoming more important than ever. I already know that should my future children like computer games, I would play alongside them and use it as a bonding tool rather than a babysitter. But I would also do other things with them that involve outdoor activities amongst other things.

Sir Francis Bacon once wrote: “Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known, the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.” With the right guidance, our next generation could truly understand the power of video games as a cultural phenomenon and use them for the enhancement of our race. Some are already using technology created by video games for other purposes, including in hospitals to aid in recovery or assist in surgery itself, or as an educational tool in schools. My greatest teachers were my parents, because they taught me my morals. I hope that with the assistance of gaming knowledge on my side that I will do just as well when the time comes for me to be a parent. This is my creed.