The National Institute on Media and the Family, which is a media group that has made it its mission to tell the gaming industry off for constantly releasing violent games, has turned its eye on parents, of late. The annual report card that the NISF released Tuesday gave parents an “incomplete” grade, in contrast to the otherwise satisfactory state of the industry. The group says parents aren’t paying attention to ESRB ratings and aren’t using parental controls as much as they should.

The study posits a simple question: "Are parents doing enough to protect their children from violent video games?" The answer is a little complicated however.

Although since violent games became main-stream, lawmakers have done everything they can to pass strict regulations to help parents who want to keep violent titles away from video games, a parent cannot be expected to have that much control. A child cannot be watched 24 hours a day wherever he goes; he eventually will get his hands on violent video games.

On the other hand while the game industry has been getting the rap all these years for "intentionally marketing to children" and such, nobody has addressed parents. It is high time for parents to take notice and understand that their involvement and attitude towards violent video games affects their children.

Video games in general are good for a child’s development and should not be written off completely. What is bad however is indiscriminately giving them games they ask for, without being informed on the game’s subject. ESRB ratings are more complex than movie ratings, and should be thoroughly read to understand if that particular game suits our child’s personality. Read a game review like you would a movie synopsis, and don’t just take their word for it. Parents should be more involved and responsible in their children’s education in general, and no less on the issue of vide games; quite the contrary.