This is interesting. According to this poll from Associated Press-AOL Games, 43% of the parents don't play video games with their kids. I was gobsmacked. I can relate to the fact that, as a parent, you're not interested in video games, but that should be no excuse to ignore your kid while he/she is playing them, especially with the added realism in video games nowadays.

My parents never were pro video games. To them it was just a waste of time, and they only gave me access to them when I was 15. What I got was a NES with Mario, hardly the kind of game that can be perceived as threatening for moral values if you compare it with Manhunt for example. They probably still should have spent time with me as I was playing video games, especially after I got a hold of Doom, but at least they have the excuse of being part of the baby boom generation, where video games didn't exist yet in the childhood years.

I wonder what would be the excuse now for parents to ignore their kids. Maybe they don't have the time, which is a valid excuse in these days of just-in-time management. If you don't have the time though, why even consider leaving your kid behind with some ultra-violent games, with the only message being that it's just a waste of time? That's hardly just-in-time.

Of course, when something goes wrong later on, it's easy to blame the video game. After all, why blame yourself when you can blame digital media?

Hey Jack, Hillary and company, how about aiming your arrows on this? Ah wait, I guess it's better for your own conservative popularity to blame a video game than it is to blame the parents, who are supposed to be the audience that you're serving.