Violence in Gaming

People have criticized the gaming industry because they believe that there is an abundance of violent game play that is brainwashing gamers all over the world. Now I do agree that there is an abundance of violent game play however I do not agree that it is a complete brainwashing tactic. The anti-violence side does pose a good argument in that anything in excess is not the best for us. Obviously if a someone runs military warfare simulators for an extensive time some aggression and violence will result from this.
The biggest problem I have people blaming video games is just that, that they are blaming video games for the laziness. When parents complain games the end all be all is that they are a parent and it is there responsibility to guide their children. After all there is an age requirement on most games so please explain to me why your 11 yo child stole a car after you bought him/her GTA 4 and let them skip two weeks of school to play it......
Another thing that bothers me is that people will crucify a game when for one they have never played it or anything like it. From personal experience my mom used to try to tell not to people certain games like Halo and what not because she thinks it promotes violence. well my answer to her was how does it do that? Have you played it, or did you just her Oprah say that it was bad?(Sorry Mom)
Why is the violence issue always wrapped around video games? Most of my life I grew up playing Lacrosse and Hockey and was praised for it. In fact there has been times in which i have physically harmed other players because of their "game play". You know what I told by coaches and supporters? "ITS PART OF THE GAME DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT". They would say the same thing if i myself got hurt as well.
To sum my thoughts up a little, too much violence exposure and desensitize somebody, however it is not a games fault if they for example drown because they were trying to find sponge bob in the middle of the ocean. We as society members need to take responsibility for our own actions.