I don't know, the gaming community as far as I see it is comprised of mostly adults. I'm not sure how rampant it is for youngsters to be playing games beyond their maturity level: maybe it is a problem. And even still, there's a bigger potential problem in an adult buying the game and letting a kid play it.
I'm not against violence in video games, even for young kids as long as it's tastefully done (as much of it is not).
Mostly with the boys. My daughter does not care for those kind of games anyway. Female wiring I guess. She prefers role play and strategy although the Sims step over the line as well and we have had to ixnay some of the titles.
I agree. In most games with violence it is you against an evil force that HAS to be killed, in other words it is justified. Operation Flashpoint was a game where you had to stop communists for example. Games like Call of Duty and Day of Defeat are you the player pitted against the forces of the Third Rich. Deus Ex (my personal favorite) a sci-fi game where you join the resistance to fight against the UN's One-World-Government plot.
I don't know how you come to that conclusion. I have children, 11 and 13. Via contact with the children they play with, I don't think there is a single child among them from 9 to 17 that doesn't have a game console, with the vast majority of them having multiple game consoles. Seems to be a lot of kids playing video games. By contrast, I'm one of the few adults I know who actually plays games.