Tikkabik

I could say a lot of things about the National Institute on Media and the Family's 9th annual "video game report card," but I won't. What I will say is this: It reenforces to me that a lot of parents are dropping the ball when it comes to making sure their kids are playing age-appropriate video games, mainly out of a combination of ignorance and laziness.

This was reinforced to me a few weeks ago when one of my kids was invited to a party for a young child; when we asked one of the parents what the boy liked, we were given a list of stuff, and Xbox games were mentioned. The father said that if he had known the Xbox didn't have a lot of kid-friendly games, he would have bought something else, but he had no idea.

It really doesn't take a lot of research to figure this out. Even without doing a Google search, even without cracking open a magazine, if he'd bothered to ask any store clerk in a video game shop, or even the guys in places like Best Buy or Circuit City, he would have gotten the same answer: Xbox for T and M rated games, PS 2 for broadest selection, GameCube for most family-friendly titles.

The ESA's Doug Lowenstein has been quick to point out with reporters over the past couple of days since this report was published that only a small percentage of video games get an M rating from the IDSA to denote the games are for Mature audience -- by far, most games either rate an E for Everyone or T for Teen. At least part of the problem is numbers and media exposure -- many of the top sellers are M-rated games, and many of the ones that end up on the cover of gaming magazines and featured in television news segments are M-rated.

Anyway, all the controversy over whether video games are making our kids fat sociopaths aside, here's the bottom line: Parents have a responsibility to make sure their kids are watching and playing appropriate content. If a parent isn't willing to step up to the plate and take an interest in this, they shouldn't allow the video game console to be in their house to begin with. But between IDSA ratings, a plethora of video game magazines and Web sites (hell, a whole cable channel dedicated to video games), and the assistance of their local retailers, they have the tools they need to see this happens. They just need to use them.