Minors playing M rated games. How do you feel?

[Paytend01]

I have played God of War when i was small and Gta and im sane lol

[ARikozuM]

1 minute ago, Paytend01 said:

I have played God of War when i was small and Gta and im sane lol

This isn't just about sanity. Some kids exhibit extreme mood-swings when playing games due to a plethora of factors. You've likely heard of "kids be raging" on Call of Duty. There is a healthy balance between something to "let off steam" and "getting more enraged". This is the point where good parents would say "Go outside or do some homework" to get the child to re-balance.

[Clanscorpia]

3 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

This isn't just about sanity. Some kids exhibit extreme mood-swings when playing games due to a plethora of factors. You've likely heard of "kids be raging" on Call of Duty. There is a healthy balance between something to "let off steam" and "getting more enraged". This is the point where good parents would say "Go outside or do some homework" to get the child to re-balance.

 Not every kid can handle it. Again most kids just arent mature enough to. Any smart person would shut off the game or walk away.

[ARikozuM]

Just now, Clanscorpia said:

 Not every kid can handle it. Again most kids just arent mature enough to. Any smart person would shut off the game or walk away.

That's the issue. Maturity and awareness don't always go hand in hand. A person can be mature but lack the awareness to know what is a healthy obsession and an unhealthy addiction. 

[Clanscorpia]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

That's the issue. Maturity and awareness don't always go hand in hand. A person can be mature but lack the awareness to know what is a healthy obsession and an unhealthy addiction. 

I know lots of people who can't tell. Theres kid I know that are already addicted to betting on CS:GO

[ARikozuM]

3 minutes ago, Clanscorpia said:

I know lots of people who can't tell. Theres kid I know that are already addicted to betting on CS:GO

I've never had an issue with multiplayer gaming since my mother would shut me away from the PC (or console). This is something that I'm hearing less concern over when I play with a friend's children on Steam. Their friends will rage and the parents will say "please keep it down" as if it's an acceptable deterrent for an escalating issue.

[RGProductions]

Some "kids" can handle it, but most can't.

[Dredgy]

Depends on the game. GTA etc shouldn't be sold to, or bought for, minors. (Here, M means 15 years of age and over)

 

Zelda Twilight Princess is also an M-Rated game here - which would be fine for most kids.

[Ithanul]

11 hours ago, RooR said:

Letting a kid play a violent video game isn't a problem... not teaching your child between right and wrong is the problem.

Video games are just the scapegoat... 

I am tired of this politically correct bullshit creating more problems than need be.

I know that was a very poorly constructed rant, but I just had this argument with a woman earlier today and it annoyed the ever living piss out of me.

 

If your kid cannot distinguish between right and wrong, its not because of GTA, or Gears of War.. its because either you failed as a parent or guardian.. or there are other underlying mental problems that have 0 to do with video games.

Agree, video games are the current modern age scapegoat.

Before then it was Rock and Roll and Elvis's hip shaking, then the black man's R&B with suggestive lyrics.  Started off with music and radio then went to TV and movies, and now video games and internet are the new perceived bad influence.

 

At the end of the day, the duty falls onto the parent to raise their child proper and teach them right.

[Shepanator]

I personally think it's up to the discretion of the parent- to a point.

The ratings are a guideline but if you're aware of the content in the game and feel your child won't be adversely affected by it, then let them play it.

 

In the UK the law permits children to drink alcohol on private property with their parents, it means parents can teach their children how to be responsible around alcohol, so when they turn 18 they don't suddenly start binge drinking and make terrible mistakes. It both teaches the child about it and also removes the mysticism of it. Admittedly not all parents take advantage of this rule and binge drinking among young people was a problem in the uk until fairly recently, but the rules do exist to allow responsible underage consumption.

Mature games are much the same I believe, although binge playing violent games won't destroy your body :-)

 

Note: If parents allow their child to get drunk then they will be prosecuted under child abuse laws, so the law isn't allowing parents to get their children sh*tfaced!

[MrDynamicMan]

On 05/12/2016 at 0:56 AM, wrathoftheturkey said:

I mean, no? 

Except for like, GTA.

 

Seriousky though, the maturity of 12 year Olds is really underestimated by older people. Games like CoD, watch dogs, etc, is perfectly fine for their age. 

 

Source: Was twelve year old. 

[Guest]

I had some scary games, and seen a lot of R movies when I was like 3 and to be honest when I think back, I often times preferred more "family friendly" things. 

Perhaps it's that there aren't any, or many good children games. 

A lot of adults go to see disney movies, and you don't hear all the children singing "Everyone has aids" from team america, instead you have 30 year olds singing let it go.

A lot of people play games like angry birds and minecraft, but there is nothing really wrong with people playing M, or Ao games of any age unless against their will. The only problem I really have is if I have a kid that plays them, I don't want them having nightmares, and I would prefer the child to not have voice communication for the most part because some online personalities can be very harsh. One time on xbox my friend played with the mic and started cursing at the other players cuz they were cursing at him, and my reputation went down a bit. I think I got an email or something that said people were reporting me. I think that keeping salt out of the game is good. If enough positivity and ignoring of poor behavior happens, I have been able to get some pretty angry people to calm down and play the game focusing on having fun. 

It's mostly online interactions (Which are also not rated by the ESRB) that are the thing I take the most consideration of. 

About sexual content, I've seen plenty of movies with sex in it as a child, and I'm probably one of the least sexual people I know. (if that makes any sense.) 

 

Prohibition is like a dare. In European countries nudity, and sexual content is more lax in what I've heard and seen, yet Europeans often act very professionally, and seem well behaved after developing. However my experience is limited. Most people I see in Europe saw the Berlin wall... GO UP

Never the less... My cousins at 16, and 19 years old in mid Europe are very polite and whatnot. 

[asim1999]

I agree that it's bad. As long as the kid is mature enough and is at least 12-15.

its fine by me on 2 conditions:

1) as long as there are still those hilarious COD troll videos on youtube

1) as long as I don't encounter any annoying kids when playing BF3 and BF4 on my pc 

[Dreigo42]

I leave it to the parents to decide how mature their child is. The rating systems have given them the information. It's up to them to decide what their child is ready for.

[Axeonelite]

16 hours ago, Clanscorpia said:

I know lots of people who can't tell. Theres kid I know that are already addicted to betting on CS:GO

Didn't Valve get rid of that? Or did I miss something.

[Axeonelite]

16 hours ago, ARikozuM said:

I've never had an issue with multiplayer gaming since my mother would shut me away from the PC (or console). This is something that I'm hearing less concern over when I play with a friend's children on Steam. Their friends will rage and the parents will say "please keep it down" as if it's an acceptable deterrent for an escalating issue.

So true. Parent's today are "Parents" in title and not actions. 

[Axeonelite]

16 hours ago, Dredgy said:

Depends on the game. GTA etc shouldn't be sold to, or bought for, minors. (Here, M means 15 years of age and over)

 

Zelda Twilight Princess is also an M-Rated game here - which would be fine for most kids.

Where do you live where Zelda TP is M? But I agree. See this is a perfect example. 

[Axeonelite]

10 hours ago, Shepanator said:

I personally think it's up to the discretion of the parent- to a point.

The ratings are a guideline but if you're aware of the content in the game and feel your child won't be adversely affected by it, then let them play it.

 

In the UK the law permits children to drink alcohol on private property with their parents, it means parents can teach their children how to be responsible around alcohol, so when they turn 18 they don't suddenly start binge drinking and make terrible mistakes. It both teaches the child about it and also removes the mysticism of it. Admittedly not all parents take advantage of this rule and binge drinking among young people was a problem in the uk until fairly recently, but the rules do exist to allow responsible underage consumption.

Mature games are much the same I believe, although binge playing violent games won't destroy your body :-)

 

Note: If parents allow their child to get drunk then they will be prosecuted under child abuse laws, so the law isn't allowing parents to get their children sh*tfaced!

Great example.  I agree. It's all in understanding and moderation. 

[Axeonelite]

3 hours ago, Abyssal Radon said:

Thank you for correcting my spelling. I swore it was spelled Peggie not PEGI lol. Are your parents or were your parents good with you playing whatever when growing up (or still in that process)? Also I'm assuming you read my essay lol, what game or games did you have discover to be your "platinum" hits? Mine is F.E.A.R., god damn I get excited just thinking about that game.

My growing up games were Halo 1&2. System Link Co-op at my uncles house in two rooms. Those were the days. Again I have no freedom of speech here I am just sharing my current thoughts.

 

I look back on it now and think I was mature enough to handle those games growing up, but really I don't know how I would have turned out if I didn't play them.

 

The only reason why I don't like the fact I played them as a child is they made me addicted to FPS games, so now that's all I want to play, and with how many of them are coming out nowadays it's hard to stay away from them, as is my new resolve. 

[onlybuilt4cubanxlinx]

My kid picks up more bad habits from public schooling than he does from playing TF2 and Gary's Mod. The biggest problem I have came across is the use of the mic in game. Using and listening. He loves Garys Mod; cops and robbers, jailbreak, and tornado chasing. All these mods pretty much require him to listen on the mic. He's heard all the every day swear words and knows not to use them. He's good in that aspect. He knows even uttering shush will get him in some trouble. Knowing this I have let the use of the Mic slide(listening) only because I haven't seen it affect him. I don't know if it's cuz I grew up in a different environment or what, but at his age(8) I was doing way worse things then playing a M rated video game.

[onlybuilt4cubanxlinx]

Just now, Abyssal Radon said:

I grew up playing so many online games with VOIP communication. Oh my I learned so many bad things and so many great things listening to people online playing video games. So think of the possible positive things XD. 

Ha.. Yeah I am not naïve. I know people can get nasty, but the MAJORITY of what I have over heard isn't anything that makes me cringe.

[Guest]

When I mentioned voice communication I didn't consider public school, and listening. 

 

I believe that they can listen to the other players, but there is a social prejudice against younger players. As evidence even in this thread. Because "cyber bullying" is never going to go away, I believe that near 17 and maybe as far as 22 (depending) many individuals may not know how to deal with such harsh actions vocalized towards them. 

As example, many youtube personalities have made videos in tears from what can be categorized as "cyber bullying."

For instance just uttering a word can lash back in large amounts of backlash just on the sound of your voice. 
I'm not saying that there should be a law, but a parent should be present if voice communication takes place to also protect against predators. 

 

When I was in elementary school, we were taught about internet safety in 2nd or 3rd grade. If schools taught more social safety; just as schools teach health classes, and tell students to wear condoms (provided a participant can wear a condom) and about the food pyramid to choose what to eat in a healthy diet. 

One person has mentioned Halo. I played halo at roughly 5 the first time I played. The only things that make halo M is cursing, but mostly blood. Evidence is Jack 2, and Jack 3 on PS2 were E10 or Teen, and Halo 5 was Teen. 

Personally my mom didn't let me play GTA because she thought it was too "real." I haven't been into that game once I finally played it though. I believe that scary games (Dead space, Silent Hills PT demo...) should be more restricted from children because when I was a kid, I saw movies like alien, and Doom, and a few other scary movies that made me pretty scared. I don't know if there are any bad lasting effects from playing these games, I am not a scientist, nor conducted tests on a large audience. 

(I may have just repeated everything I said in my last post but I feel this expands slightly on topics others brought to the table.)

[Axeonelite]

2 hours ago, Abyssal Radon said:

No freedom of speech? What country are you located?

I'm in the United States, but I meant from a, I'm trying not to be a hypocrite, standpoint

[themctipers]

4 hours ago, HughMungusCynicalAnarch said:

-snip-

i saw sausage party and my god its fucking hilarious..

 

 

all the teens would get all the dirty jokes and the references.

it's just leading to more people pirating the movie instead of going out to watch it - they could've made a $15 profit from me but no, 18+.

[Axeonelite]

4 hours ago, HughMungusCynicalAnarch said:

-snip-

/Start Sarcasm [Well thank you for the wonderfully insightful, hearty contribution to this topic]/End Sarcasm