If you want to monitor the amount of violence your kids see playing video games, curate what they play. The truth is, the majority of the hyper-realistic, hyper-popular games are really best left to mature players.  But instead of saying “no” all the time, Common Sense thinks you’ll be more successful if you say “wait” and offer kids alternatives in the same genre, that are more age-appropriate.  Click here for our just released list of the 10 Most Violent Video Games of 2016 (And What to Play Instead), and check out our list of non-violent games for kids of all ages.

And, for tweens and teens who have constant access to devices, they can stumble across actual scenes of real-life violence in their social media and news feeds.  But just because we have 24/7 access to news doesn’t mean we have to let our kids witness everything from war to street violence. Check out How to Handle Violent Videos at Your Kid’s Fingertips< for practical ways to help children make informed decisions about their social media feeds — and help put things in perspective for them when they do scroll by those violent videos and images.