POP CULTURE: Some time alone with Grand Theft Auto IV

By DAVID STEGON
For the Stafford County Sun
Published: April 23, 2008

Next week I am going to get tuberculosis, be called to jury duty and be kidnapped in an elaborate plot to avoid going to work for, oh, the next three months.

It is not that I like lying to my boss — although I love the occasional mental health day — but I need some time alone with my PlayStation3, LCD-TV and “Grand Theft Auto IV,” the latest and likely greatest of the GTA series.

For the non-video gamers out there, the Grand Theft Auto games are simply the most devilishly fun games available. Your character spends time doing jobs for the mafia, fighting with rival gangs, controlling local “sin industries” and blowing up the occasional building.

The games are violent, offensive, crass and even a little twisted. I love them.

But then again, I am 26 years old. If I were a parent, I would not let my child near this game until he or she was at least 40 years old. It is rated “M” for mature, meaning the game is meant for players 17 and older.

I bring this up because you will probably hear a lot about this game in the next week. It will be painted as an awful picture of society, meaning all those who play the game will end up in jail. That is not true.

The game is what it is: a game, but one that parents should know about. Think of it like taking your child to an incredibly violent R-rated movie. You know best if your child can handle it. Some kids can watch the movie and realize that it is a movie, while others maybe not so much.

I bring this up only because I find the whole video game violence thing kind of stupid. I grew up playing video games, mostly violent ones at that, and turned out fine (at least I think so). Most people who play these games handle them well, but there are always a small few who cannot and they get all of the attention.
It is up to the parents to 1) know what games their kids are playing, both at home and at their child’s friend’s homes and 2) what these games are about.

Last weekend, my girlfriend and I went to Liberty Lanes to bowl. As we were walking out we saw two 8-year-old girls holding orange plastic shotguns and shooting animals on a hunting game. My girlfriend, an animal rights enthusiast, thought it was appalling that such young girls were playing a game that condoned shooting animals.

Did these girls, who stood beside what looked to be a parent, understand it was a game? Did they understand it is not all right to play with guns? That it was not all right to shoot animals? I’m not sure. If I was their parent I would not let them play that game. (Also, shame on the bowling alley for having that game near other games kids play).

The key is to know what your kids play and make sure you are OK with that. Grand Theft Auto is not awful. It is a fun game, but only if you are ready for it.

David Stegon grew up in Woodbridge and is completing graduate-school requirements at Columbia University in
New York. Reach him at .