Parents of Young Gamers…learn to draw the line for your children

“Mommy, mommy…..Please can I get the new Call of Duty……pleeeeeaaaaase!!!!”

This was the shocking comment from an 8 year old child that I had the unsettling experience of overhearing recently at one of my local gaming stores.

[WolfLeBlack]

A part of the problem, I think, also stems from the fact that many people still view videogames as things solely designed and aimed at kids, despite the fact that we know better.

We have so many games that deal with dark themes, show extreme violence and more that are aimed at adults, and yet this kids image still remains.

Many, many games are still aimed at kids, but they're no longer the sole audience. Parents need to become aware of this, in much the same way that comics are no longer just depictions of goodie-2-shoes.

[MikeyDucati1]

Still, the parents are stupid. If you look at the cover of videogames and apply some basic common sense, you would have an idea of what your child is getting into it.

The problem is, parents don't parent. They expect everyone else to. And lets be real here, parents don't hire babysitters, they buy Call of Duty to keep lil billy from terrorizing the house.

[Dave_the_Mantis]

Agreed, many of the forms of entertainment we used to enjoy as kids are far more adult themed and realistic than before. Many parents are oblivious to this, and maybe more concerned with keeping their kids occupied than paying attention to the influences their kids are exposed to.

[Axonometri]

In the first decade plus games were mostly kid/family targeted. It has not been that way for some time. Unfortunately, they make what sells. If more people would buy games targeted at kids/family they would make more. We could use some more quality games that all about severing limbs.

[jc48573]

I go to gamestop and sometimes I come around Moms with their kids asking to buy Saints Row and what do the moms do? They buy them the game eve though the clerks told them about the rating and content. It happens. Fathers, on the other hand, tend to hesitate and eventually tell their kids to pick something else like Arkham, which I'm totally ok with.

[xBigxBossx]

Games are alot worse these days compared to when we were kids (or teens). Almos every game I own I wouldn't feel right having my daughter play them aside for ni no kuni or portal 2.

[Evil_Ryu]

kids under 16 should be playing nintendo

[isarai]

Parenting skills in general have degraded severely in the last decade or so, i think people need to take an IQ, philosophy and mental stress test before they are allowed to have kids.

[rezzah]

At the same time when i was younger one of my first games was Mortal Kombat 4.

I'd probably be playing only Disney games if the world was more strict, what fun.

Things change overtime, and we can't simply look to playing mature games being the sole reason for psychological/social issues.

Also, as much as we may aim to control the lives of others (regardless of age), we simply cannot entirely. Then again I'm sure there are ways I cannot think of currently.

[Dave_the_Mantis]

I agree with you that gaming shouldn't be blamed for psychological issues, but like many things in this world it can contribute. Imagine allowing a child to watch the recent Evil Dead movie? That would mess any child up a little bit for sure.

While games like MK4 were violent and certainly gory, the graphics were cartoony at best. If you compare MK4 to the latest version with it's realistic graphics, over the top Fatalaties and X-ray sequences you'll see what I mean.

I'm not blaming the games. They're suited for an older audience. However, retailers should more strictly enforce the ratings, and refuse to sell to minors if the game is rated higher than the childs age.

Parents should definitely be more aware though, and although you can't control what your kids are exposed to completely, the tools that the ESRB and PEGI websites give are definitely helpful and make it easier for parents.

[rezzah]

Your Evil Dead point isn't necessarily true. The parent has the possibility to prepare the perception of the child, yet that doesn't mean that they will react as the parent expects. Same goes with how we expect others to react in certain situations, it will not always be the same.

Your MK4 point is true, but to a degree. The perception of a newcomer to MK4 during it's release was the closest it was to being realistic. Therefore the same could be said to be similar to a newcomer's point of veiw for MK9. Both are possibly just as real as one another based on the time of release. Of course if one where to play MK9 first then learnt about MK4 and went to play that game, the perception of MK4 realism would be greatly lessened.

I agree on your point about the action of retailers. problem is, they are not selling the games to minors, legally, they are selling the games to parents who are likely to be over 17. They cannot deny the person regardless of their reasons. If a law passes that denies the purchase of M rated games for children by those of age, then they should allow the same for movies, music, and whatever else they can think of.

It is a nice thought for all parents to be more aware of their children, but that sometimes just isn't the case. It's like a world with no murder.

[BuffMordecai]

One thing that annoys me about this generation of kids is that they don't appreciate a good platformer or similar type of game with an entry level age rating. They will scoff at such games and refer to them as being unrealistic or kiddish and go back to playing generic fps games. Everything has to be M rated to grab their attention. Its a damn shame, they're missing out on some great games with their narrow minded way of thinking.

[gazgriff2k12]

So true if its not cod, fifa or GTA they wont play it

[MikeyDucati1]

Fact: Parents often don't involve themselves in what children are doing.

Fact: Video games has become the modern day babysitter. If he's upstairs in his room, he's not bothering mommy with his bratty woes

Fact: Parents will blame anyone else for their lack of proper supervision.

Fact: Ever since parents whined about violent games decades before, they placed ratings to help them decide on what's best for their child to play. They don't even use it.

Go figure

[gazgriff2k12]

The amount of times a parent has told me to stop swearing when online because my kids playing, my answer this game has 18 certificate for a reason. Theres no way i would let my kids play call of duty never mind manhunt and others

[Zha1tan]

Ever since natural selection went out of order with the establishment of civilisation dumb people have been having and raising dumb children.

And today we are overly saturated with dumb people who continue to re produce useless vessels who serve no purpose other than to drain resources and complain about something that is their own fault.

[Michael2400]

Now, I'm not going to lie, but I am only 14 years old and as the majority of the people my age play 'Call of Duty' and similar games of the similar age , I felt sort of pressured into buying it. Don't get me wrong , I hate playing those sort of games and prefer games aimed at my age group such as portal, WoW and Halo(even though it is a 16 here). I think part of the problem is that the majority of parents don't know anything about these games and they should at least research the game before buying it for them. Also there is the fact that most parents will see other children their age playing it and think that it is okay.