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Authors: Glenn Beck

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In the meantime, there is plenty we can do. First, know the ratings system. All video games sold in stores are assigned a rating by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). While there are plenty of problems with these ratings (for example, they are determined based on clips provided by the manufacturers, not after someone has actually played the game),
it’s still important for parents to understand how they work.

The highest rating a game can earn is AO, for “Adults Only.”
These games “[m]ay include prolonged
scenes of intense violence, graphic
sexual content and/or gambling with real currency.”

Games that obtain an AO rating solely due to violence are extraordinarily rare. Sexual or pornographic behavior will do it; gambling will make the cut—but no amount of violence appears to be sufficient for the ESRB to slap a game as AO. The only notable exception to this rule was the gruesome game
Manhunt 2,
which was first given an AO rating, later revised to M after
the manufacturer blurred some of the worst scenes. (Ironically, the Wii version of the game, in which you physically use the controller to beat, hack, bludgeon, strangle, and stab people to death,
also has an M rating.)

Part of the reason why games generally don’t receive an AO rating is that it’s essentially equivalent to a movie that gets a NC-17 rating: no one can make any money from it. All of the major gaming platforms prohibit AO-rated games from being licensed on their consoles, and major retailers won’t sell them. As a result, publishers will almost always modify and resubmit their games to get their rating improved, or they’ll cancel the title altogether.

For parents, the key takeaway is that if your child is playing an AO-rated game, they’re probably playing it on a PC—and it’s probably full of content that would appall you. But, the reality is that AO games are not that common, which is why the next ratings level down is really where the bulk of the violence occurs. That level, called M for “Mature,” implies that a game contains “content [that] is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.” In both M- and AO-rated games the violence is labeled as “intense,” the only difference being that AO ratings mean “prolonged sequences” of violence.

Since this point is so often misunderstood, I’m going to repeat
it again: M-rated games are
the top rating a commercially available game can have.
Do not be fooled into thinking that because a game is rated M instead AO that it’s fine—it may very well not be. Only you can judge what’s appropriate for your child. You wouldn’t let some group of unknown people decide what your kids eat every day—why let them decide what’s okay for them to watch?

Moving to the next category, T for Teen has “content [that] is generally suitable for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor,
minimal blood, simulated gambling and/or infrequent use of strong language.” Many people hear this rating and immediately equate it to PG-13, “parental guidance suggested,” but Colonel Grossman says that’s a mistake: T-rated games, he believes, are never for kids under thirteen, even
with
parental guidance.

Lastly, there is E, for “Everyone.” These games can contain “minimal cartoon, fantasy or
mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language.” But be careful as there is also an E for an “Everyone 10+” rating—so make sure to check which one you are actually getting.

Understanding these ratings is important—but it would not be a terrible idea to play the games yourself so that you can really see what your kids will be spending their time with. Make it something fun with your kids—they can play a game (maybe rent a title they are interested in for a night before you commit to purchasing it) only if you can play it, too. You can even bet a household chore on who wins—just make sure you don’t mind taking out the trash and emptying the dishwasher, because you’re not going to come out on top very often.

But while educating parents about these games is a start, we can do more. Our children often spend far too much time immersed in electronic media. Personal interactions suffer as a result. A phone call is replaced by a text; a night out is replaced by Facebook or by remotely playing the same online game together.
And this will only continue to get worse. As our technology advances and virtual reality becomes more and more realistic, our children may no longer feel a need to spend time with actual people. This is coming faster than you think. Technologists have shown me what’s to come and it is as awe-inspiring as it is frightening. If we have not done the hard work of reconnecting with our families and of properly conditioning our kids before this arrives, it will already be too late.

With that in mind, why not try to “detox” for a week? Turn off the television, the video games, and the iPads and spend real time together as a family. Yes, there will be complaining, and no, it won’t be easy—but things that have life-changing potential rarely are. I can promise you this from someone who has tried it: you will truly be amazed at the difference unplugging can make. When my family and I visit our ranch home, which has no electricity or cellular service, the world becomes our playground. My eight-year-old spent most of his time chasing after the cows to keep them away from the horses’ hay and my six-year-old learned how to shoot her BB gun and put puzzles together. They now look forward to our days at the ranch more than any other vacation.

And why stop at home? What if we could pass this detox on to everyone in your children’s school? In 2004, the Stanford University Medical School and the Stanford Prevention Research Center developed the “Student Media Awareness to Reduce Television” (SMART) curriculum for third- and fourth-grade students. This program was systematically designed to educate students and ultimately convince kids to turn off the TV, movies, and video games. The curriculum culminates in a ten-day TV turnoff “challenge.” After this “detox” the impact is so positive, and children feel so good (both about themselves and in the sense of physical well-being), that most are then willing to put themselves on a longer-term
TV “budget” or “diet.”

Immediately after the release of the Stanford SMART curriculum,
Kristine Paulsen at Delta-Schoolcraft (Michigan) Intermediate School District began developing the “Take the Challenge—Take Charge” program (
www.TakeTheChallengeNow.net
). This program expanded the SMART concept into a preschool through twelfth grade curriculum so that almost all families can use it. The website has lesson plans, ideas for family activities, and links to more great research on the topic.

* * *

I truly believe that getting serious about our current laws, taking personal responsibility for our families, and thinking out of the box about ways we can further protect our kids will do more to change our course than a thousand new rules and regulations. We know from experience that our government very often creates many of the problems we face, and they almost always make these problems worse while they are “trying to solve” them. That’s why I know that the way forward cannot be found in the halls of Congress, it can only be found in the rooms of our homes and the streets of our neighborhoods.

I’d like to think that President Obama agrees. He recently explained why so many of the school massacres we’ve come to know by heart could not have been prevented by any law.

“When a child opens fire on another child,” he said, “there’s a hole in that child’s heart that government can’t fill.
Only community and parents and teachers and clergy can fill that hole.”

Mr. President—this is one thing that you are absolutely right about. So let’s come together and fill those hearts with hope, brains with knowledge, and souls with faith. Once we do, a gun will stop symbolizing violence and fear and go back to symbolizing what it always has: security and freedom.

GLENN BECK
, the nationally syndicated radio host and founder of TheBlaze television network, is a ten-time #1 bestselling author and is one of the few authors in history to have had #1 national bestsellers in the fiction, nonfiction, self-help, and children’s picture book genres. His recent fiction works include the thrillers
Agenda 21
and
The Overton Window;
his many nonfiction titles include
Control, Being George Washington, Cowards, The Original Argument, Arguing with Idiots,
and
Glenn Beck’s Common Sense
. For more information about Glenn Beck, his books, and TheBlaze TV network, visit
www.glennbeck.com
and
www.theblaze.com
.