Am I wrong for feeling bad?

[dot0rai]

I work in the video games section at Toys R Us. With it now being, as Yahtzee calls it, "Shooter Season 2011" comes the release of Call of Duty, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, and all the other games with a Mature rating. Is it wrong that I feel horrible that, after explaining to their parents that it's not a good idea for their eight year old child to play Modern Warfare 3, they still say they don't mind and buy it? I wish I was kidding about the eight year old part. This happens multiple times over the course of a day! I explain the whole blood, gore, Xbox Live players swearing like how most people use punctuation, and they are completely fine with everything. Between the fact that there's another preteen online pretending to be cool and being a nuisance and the thought in the back of my mind saying "this kid could be the next mass shooter and gets the media to blame video games", I always feel defeated at the end of the day. Should I feel this way or am I just full of myself?

 

[Olrod]

"Please be aware that these games have an age rating for a reason. If you still decide to purchase an age-inappropriate game for your child, you should expect much of the content not to be suitable for them."

 

[davidmc1158_v1legacy]

I work in the video games section at Toys R Us. With it now being, as Yahtzee calls it, "Shooter Season 2011" comes the release of Call of Duty, Battlefield, Assassin's Creed, and all the other games with a Mature rating. Is it wrong that I feel horrible that, after explaining to their parents that it's not a good idea for their eight year old child to play Modern Warfare 3, they still say they don't mind and buy it? I wish I was kidding about the eight year old part. This happens multiple times over the course of a day! I explain the whole blood, gore, Xbox Live players swearing like how most people use punctuation, and they are completely fine with everything. Between the fact that there's another preteen online pretending to be cool and being a nuisance and the thought in the back of my mind saying "this kid could be the next mass shooter and gets the media to blame video games", I always feel defeated at the end of the day. Should I feel this way or am I just full of myself?

No, you shouldn't feel guilty. You might still feel bad about a parent that gets inappropriate things for their children, but the guilt for that should be theirs.

Actually, I must state I admire that very fact that you actually stood up and followed your conscience by telling the parents about the nature of the games they were looking at and giving them the information to make an informed decision. You spoke and, sadly, far too many people aren't willing to do even that.

 

[Batou667]

Unless Toys R Us adopts some kind of system where it's illegal for parents to buy violent games that are batently intended for underage children (like you can't go into a bar with two kids, order three pints of beer and claim they're all for you), then legally you've done nothing wrong and since you've explained the content to the parents than morally you've done nothing wrong either.

You can't take responsibility for what people do with the products you sell them. Does somebody who works in a wine shop lay awake at night thinking about the battered wives, lost jobs and liver disease caused by his products? Probably not, because whether you choose to enjoy alcohol or abuse is in the hands of the adult who you sold it to. Same with tobacco, knives, rat poison, household bleach, etc etc.

 

[tharglet]

You're very unlikely to be inspiring the next mass-murderer. That needs several contributing factors... so it's lesser than that.

Yeah, I can understand feeling bad about it, but it's not entirely your battle to fight. You've advised them, told them everything, but it's up to them to make the last step. At least you're informing them - some shops won't bother, so I think you should feel good about that.