Do you feel that video games are a bad influence on children?

I think you're blaming the wrong people here - don't blame the game, blame the parents that buy the games. Let me explain - GTA i believe is a game that has an age rating of 15 years & over - so if someone is going to buy it for a 10 year old, they need to know what sort of content is in the game. Perhaps they should be looking at games more designed for kids of his age bracket coz blaming the game itself is a cop out for the parents who were irresponsible enough to buy it in the first place! I can only guess whoever bought this game for a 10 year old, didn't think to look at the age recommendation on the front nor did they check the violence, language or other levels on there as well. I don't doubt games can influence children but parents have to take responsibility for that if they are the ones that buy their kids games that are recommended for kids older than they have.

I guess it probably depends on the child but in my opinion I don't think video games are bad for kids, for one GTA is rated M for mature which means you have to be 17 to buy it. and it's not real it's entertainment all games have ratings to suit the age of children and up. I think it's the responsibility of the adult around to modify this kind of thing. I don't think a game can cause a person to do bad things, because it's all fake it's a way of doing things in a game that aren't possible in real life it's just plain fun with action. but I think that you should be playing the games for your age level. I am not at all saying young kids should play these kind of games. GTA is a mature game for mature people. I don't think that young kids should be hearing bad language or seeing blood slattered on camera screens.

My kids (mostly my son) were HUGE GTA fans a couple yrs back..they also have been playing games like Mortal Kombat etc etc for yrs as well and I have absolutely NO problems with them..Its not the video games (or movies, tv shows etc etc) that create nasty kids, its the lack of parenting....

Yes. It can be, because what they are watching is not positive at all. This can turn bad for a child.