I am the father of two children, a beautiful 4-year-old girl who wants nothing to do with video games and a rising gaming fanatic 9-year-old boy who thinks the world revolves around food, sports, and video games. I am also the husband of a high-school teacher who believes video games are nothing more than a menace to society, melting the brains of our children. So please take not that this editorial is simply my opinion coupled with over 30 years of gaming experience and almost 10 years of parenting.

I am sure like every person out there, I was glued to the T.V. during those breaking events at Virginia Tech and when not watching the T.V. I was scanning the net to get more info. Yes, like everyone else I was concerned for the safety of the young adults and the staff that protected them. But I was also waiting for “IT.” Almost every gamer who heard or watched the news was thinking the same thing……”when will they blame video games or better yet which game will they blame this time”.

Now this is not an article to bash the media or find excuses for why video games get the blame. When I was young, it was T.V. and movies. And when my parents were kids, it was music. There has always been a media scape-goat to validate some reason or new law to help a politician get elected. What I want to know is simple, “Where were the parents?”

Nowadays, it is becoming too simple to find reasons or excuses for the shortcomings of society. We have become a society of “someone else will monitor my child, I am too busy.” If you are a parent and reading this let me give you a simple test.

What do these console games have in common?