adult material in video games

Definitely. I think that if children play games with adult themes and adult content there is a chance that their minds will be affected negatively. There's a reason why there are rating for games. The adult themes are for mature people who can understand the themes and can distinguish right from wrong. There is a chance that children will try and imitate what they see in the games they place and that is dangerous, not only for them, but also for other people around them.

I beleive so. There are plenty of games created out there.. They are themed and are targetting different age groups and brackets. I believe minors should be accompanied by adults in buying and playing videogames.

I think it can affect the really young. Once a person gets passed about the age of 16 they start to know the world a little better. It is hard to really put an age on it, so you have to treat each person individually. I think it is a judgement of maturity before you can let someone start playing those types of games. A mature 15 year old may not be harmed from the game while an immature 17 year old could lose the grip of reality. You have to remind them the difference between video games and reality. Its not any different than letting an underage kid watch an R-rated movie. I think parents need to be careful, but as long as good morals are taught from an early age, you can avoid letting your kid's minds be shaped by video games. I don't think you can ban violent video games altogeather either. This will just cause rebellion. You cannot hide real life from a young person. It is better for them to learn from you than learn on their own.

I think it can affect children badly (depending on the child) which is why I wouldn't allow my young child to play games like GTA until I thought they were ready. But it really depends on their personality and age. I was playing the equivalents of GTA when I was young, and no, they weren't as graphic, but the message was the same. It didn't bother me then and it doesn't bother me that much now because it's a game, just like a movie it's not real. End of problem in my book.

Interesting question, and well, it´s very controvertial too. A kid differences between the ral world and the fantasy world at about the 3 years. But also depends on how the family or parents teach the kid to understan this complexo world. Now talking about the influence over violent behavior, well thats true, but no one can blame the video games, because since 1994 the games are all Rated By the ESRB, so when you buy or rent a game you can see the rate of the game, Like M for mature, or T for teen, so the content of the game is completely intended for the public for what has been rated. An example, COunterstrike is one of the most played games in the world, and playing it online you can find several underages playing, but this game is rated M, so its problem of the parents that let that little child play games that dont belong to the age.