Violent video games will be the ruin of society, according to the tabloids and certain publicity-minded Members of Parliament. Certainly they’re the ruin of today’s youth, who, left to run wild by careless parents and desensitised by the likes of Manhunt 2, think nothing of happy-slapping the heck out of one another, posting the footage on the internet for general derision and further cyber-bullying. Or something like that…

Anyway, enter TV child psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron, who has been commissioned by a nervous Gordon Brown to look at a tighter system of classification for video games and child safety on the internet. The results of her six month study are published today but the highlights, such as they might be, are as follows:

• New codes of practice regulating social networking sites, including clear standards on privacy and harmful content.

• A ‘Gold Standard’ for the use of console games, including guidance for parents on issues such as locks and PIN codes.

• Better info about blocking child access to unsuitable internet content. This technology is already widely available, of course, but actual take-up has been slight in comparison.

• Action on the Law Commission’s recommendation to make it illegal to assist suicide on the internet.

• An overhaul of the current videogame ratings system, which is likely to include clearer logos and more explicit product descriptions/warnings on the packaging. Also new laws governing the sale of products to underage consumers.

• A national council and fixed timetable to ensure her recommendations are implemented. This will include industry specialists, a parents panel and child development experts.

And that’s pretty much the long and short of it, although we’ll wager Byron’s full report extends far beyond a couple of paragraphs and a handful of bullet points. But does all of that feel like the results of a six month study to you?

With PEGI ratings, parental locks and sites like ELSPA’s askaboutgames.com already in place, we rather think not, but it does highlight perhaps the biggest finding of the report – the yawning chasm of a knowledge gap that has opened up between today’s parents and their game/internet-savvy offspring, as Byron notes:

“…We have this huge digital generational divide at the moment where children are enjoying benefits and opportunities both online and in videogames but parents are really genuinely confused in terms of what videogames are and how their kids are playing them, what the content really means and what should they be allowing their kids to play and not play.”

“For me it’s about how can government really empower parents, society and teachers who grapple with these issues in schools to really support children to think about risks both online and in videogames…”

Well kids, it seems that it’s all your parents’ fault for being slack and behind the times after all. However it looks like the halcyon days of unregulated internet usage and nipping down the shops for a copy of Condemned 2 may soon be a thing of distant memory. And that’s a good thing, right?