HOW EASILY KIDS CAN BUY VIOLENT GAMES?

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory and non-profit organization established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), a trade group representing video game makers. Like the MPAA does for the film industry, this group rates video games with a similar series of letter grades. An M rating (for "Mature") is roughly equivalent to an R rating for a movie; a T (for "Teen") rating is like a PG; E ("Everyone") is like a G rating and so on.


The ratings, like movie ratings, are voluntary, but retail outlets generally won't carry games that don't have a rating -- much like mainstream movie theaters won't show unrated films.

While store clerks are not supposed to sell M-rated games to children, young people obviously do get their hands on age-inappropriate material, in much the same way kids can be let into an R-rated movie by an inattentive ticket clerk. However, the Federal Trade Commission has praised the video game ratings system, and gradual improvements in retailer practices. In a 2006 study, the FTC sent undercover minors sent into stores to try and buy M-rated games, finding that only 35% of the kids were able to buy an M-rated game, down from 85% five years earlier.

While this is still a major problem, the ESRB points out that out of the 1,285 games they rated in 2006, only 8-percent carried an M rating (although they accounted for 15-percent of games sold).