UK parents ignore game ratings: Study

Although most UK parents surveyed knew video games had age ratings, they tend to ignore them, according to a new study by Swiss research firm Modulum, commissioned by the UK games industry. The study was presented at an industry "summit" in London this past week. It "found that parents let children play games for adults, even though they knew they were 18-rated," the BBC reports, citing Modulum's Jurgen Freund as saying that most parents think the games won't influence their children - they're "mature enough" to handle them. Parents were more concerned about the amount of time kids were spending on gameplay, the study found. And, ironically, an 18+ rating tends to promote games more than deter their purchase. But here's an even more important finding: "The problem was that parents felt disconnected from the world of video games and so showed little interest in this aspect of their children's lives." The BBC provided a bit of background: Violence in video games "rose to prominence last year when the parents of a 14-year-old blamed the game Manhunt for his death. Police investigating the murder dismissed its influence, and Manhunt was not part of its legal case. But the case rekindled the debate over 18-rated games that appeared to relish in gore and carnage."