German media consultant and Pastor, Bernfried Schnell has urged parents to be more vigilant with the computer games they allow their children to play.

According to Schnell 4 out of 5 young people between the age of 12 and 14 regularly play banned computer games.

Speaking in the latest edition of "Antenne", the magazine for Evangeliumsrundfunk, a German evangelical radio station, the Pastor said, "Many computer games lead children to play out criminal acts and live out evil, disregarding any consequences."

Mr Schnell also warned of a blurring of reality and fiction, going on to say that virtual acts of violence exert real influence over the lives of children. According to Schnell, children are gradually changed by viewing and interacting with such fantasy acts as they continue to lower the thresholds of sympathy and compassion.

As proof of his claim, the Pastor pointed to the massacre in a school in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, and Germany’s first high school shooting in which a 19 year old shot dead 16 people before turning the gun on himself in Gutenburg-Gymnasium in Erfurt.

Mr Schnell called for the greater engagement by parents with their children, particularly in building a firm moral foundation: "It is so important and good that we invest time in our children, to build up trust and to confer upon them ethical-Christian values."