Depends of the kid is mature enough to play them without imitating the actions of the game. One thing is certain, if they play M games on XBox live or PSN, just shows how much the parents are in responsibility (zero)

But if we do a similar under 18 system like alcohol people are going to lie or have their parents get the games for them which will work because the parents won't actually play the game. I'm also annoyed because my parents say video games are dulling my mind and they haven't even SEEN a person play Halo/Cod/BF3 etc.

When I was younger I grew up on E and T rated games. M rated was not allowed in my house. I got my first M rated game when I was 14 and it was Devil May Cry. When I have kids I'm locking up the M rated games. When they are 10 or 11 they will got for T. When they hit 14+ M rated under my decresion. And 16+ if they have the money by god buy it. But they are mainly gonna get there own games. That's my take on the situation. Also I'm gonna have the PS2 and the SNES and other classic games and have them play that. So they can get a feeling for the classic

well dipends what kinda family u have i guess..but many games not so bad these days i guess theres some games i wouldnt let my kid play..but hey even doom not so bad these days :lol so long as they know its just a game so why not

Many kids parents let them do whatever they want really, my young 4 year-old nephew play GTA and COD

I think it's okay until the kids start acting out what they see on video games, just like professional wrestling.

I think it isn't right! Some of you say it depends on the kid but even if this is right one should not risk it!
And why sould they play it if they are still little kids! I mean they can also play it when they are older it is not as if they get bullied in school or something like this if they don't play them =/
Also I have a brother who is 7 years younger than me and the boyfriend of my mother always plays shooter-games with him althought my mother is against it!  And since my brother plays them his vocabulary is getting worde and he's getting aggressive all the time and always is laughing when someone dies and when he is angry with me he tells me someone shoul "headshot" me and he is 10!!! O.O..... =(
... I hope he changes when he stops playing them.... I don't care if they are older but when the are 12 or younger they must not play them! >.<

To be fair to the kid if he didn't play those games he probably would've been bullied by his peers.

The belief that video games make the child disgusts me. Even children that are easily influenced can be corrected if the parents actually care. The issue is that a lot of parents, nowadays, simply don't. I play every sort of rating game from the time I was old enough to be able to read to play them. I swear, but not because of the video games. I swear because my parents taught me that swear words are nothing but words that people with influence were offended by. I have sex, but not because of video games. Nudity doesn't bother me because I consider it natural; not because of video games.

So, I'm not one that is easily influenced. My parents had minimal influence in my life and how I grew up in regards to video games because they trusted me and my mother believes that I have to make mistakes to learn. If I did something exceedingly stupid, I'd get a spanking and be told to go to my room for the next hour. Occasionally, I'd have my toys removed or some other "necessity" to an eight year old child. If I did something that needed attention but not to the extend of "exceedingly stupid", then I would get rebuked and told that it was a bad thing and get a time-out. 

With my sister, my parents had to play closer attention because she is definitely the most easiest to influence in our little family. She received the same punishments I did. What she could and could not do was limited. Now, she tends to err towards being a spoiled brat and trying to get everyone to pay attention to her. When she does, she gets ignored. She wasn't allowed the video games that I was. She was treated no better than I, aside from when she was recovering from eye surgery. (At which point she was basically semi-spoiled for the duration of.) She's far more "dark" and "violent" than I am - and she's never been exposed to anything from video games to warrant it. The worst thing that she has played was half an hour of Call of Duty - at the age of seventeen! What about the ten years before that when she had access to no such things? Even now, she's severely limited on what she is allowed to play. 

With my brother, he is easily influenced but not nearly so much as our sister. He played video games like I did - even more so. Call of Duty, which he absolutely loves. Grand Theft Auto, which amuses him greatly although he is still learning out to play properly. He's autistic, for crying out loud. But here's the kicker: of all the video games he plays, the only thing that has influenced him is when the game is going well - it makes him happy. He's not violent. He loves Nerf stuff, but what thirteen year old doesn't? He's got Airsoft BB guns and a Target-Capture toy. (Shoot the targets with the guns, and when you take down all it resets + it has a net to catch BBs that make it in.) He's. Not. Violent. The only time he gets violent is when his autism causes him to flip out and he loses control and starts hitting Kayla when they are fighting. Which he learned (Get this!), not from the video games, but from his OWN SISTER and the children at the school! Otherwise, the only thing he does when he is mad or upset is kick the wall, floor, hit the wall or floor, and cry and scream. Or throw his bedding or toys. Which, hey - isn't that what all children do when they are upset? My thirteen year old brother has the mentality of a four year old in such circumstances. How did video games influence that? The answer here is that they did not. 

If you think a child is influenced by a video game, there is an obvious underlying problem. It could be at school, at home, in the neighborhood... or just in the mind of the child itself. Personally, I believe video games are used as a scapegoat so that parents, friends, classmates, teachers, peers-in-general and every person in the child-in-question's life don't have to pay attention and can just blame it on somebody else. It's stupid and it's unfair to the child. Primarily because when this occurs, the child does not receive the help or support that he or she may need because of whatever this unknown (or possibly known) problem is. 

Another point to consider: before the rating system was created, what games were played was not really monitored. 80% of those children turned out just fine - and the 20% who didn't had something wrong in his or her life that was causing them problems.

I re-iterate my point: the video game did not create the child. The parent(s) and the problem(s) did. The only thing that the child pulled from the game was a possible way of reaction to whatever circumstance is already existing.

I don't think some kids should play these kind of games cause they can become too crazy and get carried away with it.

Watch this video for example lol

http://youtu.be/R5LFERUgzT0

This kid need some serious help haha

I'm one of the smarter gamers who isn't bothered with CoD, Halo etc.

I think it is not ok to let your kids play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Gears of Wars 2 or Saints Row 2 because you could scare him/her with in game blood, violence, gore etc and it will make his/her life worse. That is why the games are rated for 15 to 18 years of age. I follow the rules and even though I might like these games, I do not play them.

As much as i dislike it,I would be ok with CoD but the rest are just to mature,I think the kid should be at least 15 before playing those kinda games

Annette : The parents are to blame , not the violent video games. Just as this thread might indicate their are a lot of people who grew up playing extremely violent video games and are perfectly normal people. It's sickening to me seeing people blame the media when its nearly ALWAYS the parents that are to blame... Dont even get me started on all these ADD meds we get our kids hooked on these days , its a joke.

"Hey , your kid is misbehaving because you neglect them and  never teach them responsibility or punish them so we figure the best thing to do is stick them on a highly addicting drug, you know , since kids that grow up with terrible parents already have a higher likely-hood of developing a substance abuse problem , so we figure if we stick them on drugs early we can steer them right into that direction and maybe even get them hooked on drugs before even reaching high school!!"

wow.

It is fine.  It is not as though the kid will kill anyone.  It is the parents responsibility to moderate the child's playtime.  It is also apart of their rights to play what the choose.  

Anyone who thinks its the games fault for behavior is complete idiot. A matter a fact, I think they play these games for the same reason they misbehave, there parents don't care. I've seen kids whose parents don't even care how they act, and thus, don't correct them, it also means that they don't pay attention to how their kids are spending there free time. Unless someone is too stupid to know the difference between realistic fantasy and actual real life, then a violent video game won't affect there thinking at all.

As long as there is no porno your golden kids.and blood.....who cares.they enjoy.I have a friend who knows a guy from 5 year old playing aliens colonial marines and god of war.so they don't care.and I don't either.lets celebrate with some delicious cake......after we test you.....

A lot of people are saying that it depends on the child, but I have seen evidence that it, like television and all other forms of media, can influence a child. A good friend of mine had a swearing problem for a while, due to watching lets players that swore a lot, and having a large number of mature content games. He loves Halo, but noticing how it affects people, has come to hate Call of Duty with a passion, which is disheartening, because his eleven and seven year old brothers love Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Things like this make me want to punch people who think only children and young adults play games, because so many of them are made for and older audience, and the average gamer age being around 35.