Throughout the elementary years, parents are the main gatekeepers for their children. As such, they need to be actively involved in their kids' video game playing - selecting the games, managing how much time children spend playing, and talking to them about the values in the games they like.

Parents of young children should be aware of the following concerns:

• Young children have difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy, which makes them more vulnerable to the effects of media violence. They may become more aggressive and fearful if they are exposed to high levels of violence in video games.
  
  
• The violence portrayed in video games usually has no consequences, and is often there for the sake of humour.
  
  
• Children have easy access to violent computer and video games. Many retailers routinely sell and rent games to buyers younger than the recommended age.
  
  
• The entertainment industry aggressively markets violent media to young children. In September 2000, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report that exposed how the media industries actively target young children with violent entertainment meant for adults. According to the FTC, almost every video-game company they investigated regularly marketed violent M-rated games to children.
  
  
• Toys based on action characters from games meant for mature players are often marketed to young children. Duke Nukem, an ultra-violent video game rated for players 17 and older, spawned action figures that were marketed to children under 8 years old.
  
  
• Children's ideas of what it means to be male and female can be negatively influenced by stereotypes found in media. Video games are designed by males for males, and so generally contain very few female characters. Those females that do appear are often portrayed as victims, while the male characters are the aggressors.