Violence and Videogames - Should a Mother Worry?

When my 'computer graphics geek' daughter went off to her first tech camp last summer, we expected the ratio of boys to girls would be off-putting to her. But she was less bothered by gender concerns than by social ones. Everyone around her lived and breathed videogames. And with nothing more current than an antiquated Nintendo GameCube in the house, she felt completely out of it.

Moms of girls worry about whether or not to have Barbie in the house. Moms of boys (and many girls too) worry about the violence and misogyny in most action-oriented videogames.

In the news recently, two items of interest in the world of gaming that will spur the debate:

• The killer franchise of the videogame industry, Grand Theft Auto, breaks all previous computer games sales records with its latest release, GTA IV.
• Columnist Susan Estrich goes head to head with Rockstar, the company behind Grand Theft Auto, and explains her side of the story in very personal terms.

The timing of this has personal meaning for me. Because as I write this on my laptop, there's also a browser window open on an eBay auction for a used Xbox 360. Yep, I've been considering one for my daughter so she wouldn't feel so out of place in her second year at computer camp.

But after reading Estrich's column, I'm tempted to close out that window and work harder at finding other ways for her to feel connected to her peers.