Fair enough, I imagine it largely depends on peer group as well. Literally everyone I had anything remotely in common with growing up played video games, watch

Fair enough, I imagine it largely depends on peer group as well. Literally everyone I had anything remotely in common with growing up played video games, watched adult-ish TV, saw PG-13+ movies, etc from a young age. My parents outright refused to let me have any of those things, and as a result no one wanted to come over and play at my house, I always sucked when playing with the other kids at birthday parties, I wasn't allowed to see any PG-13+ movies with them, etc. It got to the point where I actually started academically teaching myself the rules of video games by reading websites and strategy guides, and memorizing summaries of TV shows and movies just so I could participate in conversations at lunch. I'm not saying it was the only issue (I was meh on sports and shy in general), but it was definitely a big hurdle. Like being the only one forbidden from playing cards at a poker tournament where literally everybody else is playing. If my peer group's interests had been more varied maybe it would have worked out differently. So I imagine it depends on the school/neighborhood. Edit: At any rate, I appreciate your perspective as well. An upbringing without TV (let alone the rest) where it wasn't a hindrance is about as alien to me as it gets, pretty sure both my parents' families had TVs growing up. :) As it stands I see such things as ultimately harmless, but I'll admit that if I didn't experience media as such a crucial social lubricant, I'd probably strictly limit (although I'd stop short of forbidding) my kids from the more violent stuff as well, at least until they were 8+, just in case.