I disagree on both counts.
First off, if something has violence, sex, or content not appropriate for children, then it's clearly not meant for children in the first place, and thus, should not be broadcast to then in the first place.
This is why the rating system exists.
Simply label it with the appropriate rating, and let the intended audience enjoy it as it's meant to.
The rating system only does so much when it's aired for everyone to see. The rating system is also flawed in that you can take your children to see Rated R movies as long as the parent says it's okay. The ESRB has that same issue.
Why is it flawed? It's because it doesn't actually stop anyone from doing anything. It's intention as you mention isn't used correctly. So we may have something intended for 17 and up, but as far as most people are concerned that matters not, especially to a child who unsupervised will latch onto these things as they are curious.
Parenting needs to be more involved, but kids can be crafty as well. I've seen numerous times walking into GameStop that a kid suckers their parents into buying a M rated game while the parent is displeased with doing so, they submit to the kid so they don't upset the kid.
Ratings don't do much of anything as far as our execution as consumers go.
2nd, it has been proven time and again that violence in videogames, cinema, books, etc... has no correlation to gang violence or making people more violent and so forth.
The only thing it truly does, is it desensitizes people to it. Is that good or bad? Well, it's a bit of both, but it addresses your last point.
A videogame or cinematic depiction of violence is just that, fiction, and it pales in comparison to the real thing. There is no account for the stfling fear and the adrenalin rush felt during a true fight or flight scenario. And that's because humans are able to make a distinction between fiction and reality.
Actually, a video game itself doesn't make someone violent. A person who doesn't know how to entirely grasp the concept of what is being perceived to them and thus, as I mentioned previously, lacking mental fortitude built up before being exposed to these violent or sexual things ends up impacting them if they aren't ready. It does impact things.
As far as desensitize, that's a feeling you probably feel when you witness content such as this. For me? I've played all kinds of games such as this and I've never gotten desensitized by it. Usually if I find something incredibly wrong, it stays that way if it truly is wrong or bad.
Most people can make the distinction between a video game and reality, but that is not to say an influence of fiction cannot influence someone who is understands what is reality. I watch the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and will play the cards in real life because of the influence the show gave me. It's not so cut and dry as that, but just about anything can have an effect on you for better or for worse. If a kid is struggling with his life and or many of the other variables, ends up approaching something sexual like porn or violence at a young age and uses this as his scapegoat, it will affect him or her in one way or the other.
I personally know people who had this happen to them and it took them half their life to overcome it.
Lastly, again, how do you objectively qualify something as good or bad when the values of society are always changing? Even if everyone collectively agrees at one point that something is worth censoring, many years down the line, they might feel otherwise.
For example, did you know that at some point, showing two people kiss on film was always considered too risque, and would always be covered up or even edited out?
Look how far we've come...
Censoring should be done if the audience will be bothered by it and if that audience is the general public. For those that truly want to see the uncensored version, there should be a medium available which usually is via unrated or uncensored variants. The general public cannot so easily control what comes on the TV outside or shutting it off, and there's no telling what a kid might watch at a friend's or whatever.
It's better to watch out for something that might harm people mentally over those that are wanting to see something more graphic because it's the true material.
In addition, I'll also cite censorship in Japanese porn as an example of evolving values in society. Only reason they're still censoring it is cause no politician wants to be the perv that made uncensored porn legal.
Japan only recently began making minors illegal to engage sex with and many got away with it. I agree with a lot of Japan values, but a lot of the sexual stuff over there I tend to not agree with. That's another subject for another time, though.
