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DS does occasionally play COD but not often & we definitely mute it.... Even when just DH plays its muted because I can't stand hearing it. DS is 8 & its the only violent game he plays & he ONLY plays it with DH. Mostly he plays superhero & racing games & everything is screened before hand.

ETA: I should add that DS has always followed out screening rules even when out of the house & has come home before just to ask if he could play/watch something at his friends. He's pretty awesome like that! Lol

I wouldn't play video games around my kids in general.

There has been a lot of research that video games don't increase violence (if anything, it decreases it). Supporting that is the data: we are in the midst of an enormous drop in violent crime, even while video games are more popular than ever.

I will not allow them in our home. I know eventually LO could wind up playing them at a friends house or something, but the games will not be played here. We have a friend who started letting their kid play them at age 4, which I think is nuts, and the kid plays all day! He even says he is going to buy COD for our LO, who is currently only 7 months! Luckily DH doesn't play any video games.

Not young children. DH plays Black Ops with a buddy sometimes, downstairs. He also plays football games and the like. I can't shelter our children from it, but I don't want young children playing them and whatever is played will be monitored and controlled as far as how much is allowed. I want the outdoors prioritized, along with imagination. It's still a game to me, but there needs to be a separation between game and reality. But games will be limited

I don't mind video games in moderation. My SIL only allows video games on Saturday and Sundays. During the school week it was too much of a hassle to argue with the kids to shut it off.

I don't like COD and DH only plays when I am not around or in bed.

I probably wouldn't ban my LO one from playing one, but I also don't plan on introducing them to LO or encouraging it. Luckily DH does not play video games at all, so our LOs won't be exposed to any video games in our home, let alone violent ones.

I don't mind video games, though haven't played one in years. But realistic shooter video games will not be in my house. I really don't understand how something like that doesn't desensitize.

Oh. I guess I'm going to be the unpopular one here. I'm a big gamer. I love them and so does my husband.

Since they are already in our household, I think we'll just have rules about time limits and obviously there is an age appropriate guide for all games that we'll monitor.

I don't agree that video games (or music!) breed violence, so I'm not really worried about that. I know how to teach my child about proper values and that video games are fake, etc.

DH hasn't touched his Xbox since LO was born. He said he doesn't want LO to think it's fun to sit in front of a TV all day playing video games (violent or not), and instead wants to encourage him to go play outside.

My husband and I plan on having pretty strict rules about screen time. I won't be letting my young kids play violent video games. I they want to play them, they can choose something age appropriate.

Our kids will have violent video games or anything of the sort at our home. I don't think it makes kids more violent in real life necessarily, but we are not comfortable allowing our kids to simulate violence as entertainment. There are other outlets for those emotions, like competitive sports.

DH and I both love playing video games, mostly on the computer. Our plan is to follow the actual age restrictions on games, just as we will on movies (I've heard this described as impractical, but it's what DH's parents did for him and it worked out fine). The exception is if one of us has played the game before and feels it would be necessary to raise the age limit based on our child's maturity level.

We also don't play overly mature video games (e.g. with violent content or cursing or whatever) when children are around- it's just unfair because of course they'll want to play it and of course we'll say no. Plus, I wouldn't watch R-rated movies with children right near me, and watching me play a game is like watching a movie. So when kids are around, we tend to put away GTA and pull out Mario.

As far as violent games being introduced at all, most are rated for teens or adults. That means LO can play them at our house as a teen or adult. If he goes to a friend's house and plays I probably won't freak out because these things happen, but it is a good opportunity for discussing why we have that rule.

This is really difficult for us. We met playing a first person shooter video game in 2002, and gaming is still really central to our social circle and to my husband's free time. I think it's a really fun thing to do when you're an adult in your spare time. We're really looking forward to playing video games with our girl as part of our overall pretty active lifestyle.

But the violent videogames that exist today are just so drastically different from what existed when we were preteens. We have gone back and forth debating our future stance on them, as well as our overall position on person versus family computers, browser logging software, all of this. And we are totally stumped. Totally. I hope we figure it out, because it won't be that many more years before she'll be old enough to be interested in the really violent games.

DH plays Black Ops, too, but it's not allowed in front of the kids, of course. He plays after LO has gone to bed and I don't allow the console to be hooked up to our main TV.

Video games in moderation are fine. I am more worried about its link to childhood obesity than violence. I don't think kids should be sitting in front of video games all day, violent or not.

A lot of my friends play COD and all of those other games and none of them have violent tendencies. Of course, we are a lot older now and they started playing these games in university. We played Streetfighter and Mortal Combat when we were in middle school, and i thought it was pretty violent/gruesome back then (i'm surprised my parents bought me these games!).

I personally hope that my kids are into sports and being active that they have no desire to play video games until they are older. I don't mind if they play games when they are in their late teens.