Poll: How strict will you be with your kids' gameplay?

[CrimsonBlaze]

Edit: Sorry if the poll looks a bit funky. I've tried to fix it several times, but it won't budge. At it's core, the choices are: "Very Strict; Strict; Moderate; Liberal; Very Liberal; Other; What? Share my video games with others and deplete my gaming time? NEVER!!; Hilariously derailing one-liner." Carry on.

Hello fellow Escapists, I've go a new topic for you since I've haven't seen one of this nature being perfectly pinned to the wall yet.

So kids; some of us want them, some us don't, and some of us already have them. My question is how you plan on taking care of them: video game-wise, that is.

Will you be a strict parent that takes to them playing only appropriate titles like you take to making them eating their veggies? Will you be more concerned about what they play and not who its meant for like energy drinks and soda? Or will you let them run free into your video game collection and do as they please, so long as they neatly put it back and not save over your current files like allowing kids to eat what they want so long as they get 30 minutes of exercise daily?

Personally, I'd be in the moderate setting: Letting kids play games what they are interested in, not limiting their interests to only kid-friendly titles, while pulling back and away from ultra violent titles and sexualized games. They can play those when they're in their teens.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I would look over each game they want, and decide based on that information if it's appropriate for them. Every kid is different, and I have no idea what kind of stuff my theoretical offspring is going to be able to handle.

 

[Swyftstar]

I will be moderate. I will probably allow certain games regardless of the rating but I will oversee gameplay, playing with them in most cases and make sure they understand the difference between games and reality. You know, pretty much what you should do for all media until you are sure they have their heads on straight and can be trusted to be left to their own devices.

 

[Bertylicious]

I'd let them play whatever. I mean, they're going to be playing games with me and I can't be bothered with any namby-pamby bullshit so they'd better be ready to play "Warcrime: Rape and Pillage" and "Abe Lincoln Teaches Killing".

 

[Windcaler]

At time of writing I have no kids, or at least none that I know of. If I were to have them, well I would be a parent. I would decide, dependant on my childs maturity and mentality, what I felt was right and wrong for him/her.

Yeah thats right, I would actually do a parents job. What parents should have been doing for the last 20 years we've delt with the whole "think of the children and violent video games cause murder" fallacies

 

[Aris Khandr]

Not that I intend to have children, but if I do, I'll try to instill the same appreciation for games that I had growing up. Which is to say that when they are younger, I'd try to get them hooked on games that make them think. I gained far more enjoyment from Sim City 2000 than from Mario, and a great appreciation for the world and history with the Carmen Sandiego series (why aren't those games being made anymore?). When they get older, I'd allow more of the things you usually think of when you talk about "gaming", as the core values will already be in place by that point. However, as with all situations involving children (or people in general), I would be prepared to alter the plan to suit the individual child (though they're still not playing Head Exploder 35 at ten years old).

 

[Karoshi]

I will be worried about HOW they play a game, not whether they play it.

To clarify, I have played the most violent games like GTA and one that included setting cats on fire when I was younger than ten. I didn't like it. I wanted to go on adventures, save people and be the hero - things that these games didn't offer to me.

I will strongly encourage them to play games that fit their age, but allow them to play mature games. It doesn't mean that I won't keep an eye on them or won't discuss what they have seen. Games offer great material for moral education and widening their horizons, material which I am going to use.

 

[TehCookie]

I'd be a moderate parent. I'd let them play M titles I approved of, but not anything extreme. It's hard to say since I don't have kids and back in my day blood was depicted by red squares, which is a lot less graphic than modern technology. Or I'd do what my parents did with me, buy me other age appropriate games so I would be too busy having fun with those to go into my dad's collection and play a mature one.

 

[Esotera]

I'd be more worried about any potential children playing games too much & getting somewhat addicted, rather than what they're actually playing (unless we're talking 3-year olds and Bioshock). So I suppose I'd be very lax but encourage them to play in a responsible manner.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Kind of strict. I will keep to the age ratings of the games ESRB even if the mature game is really fun but I will not allow my young son/ daughter (who know my daughter could become a gamer) to played them.
The last thing I want to be is those ignorant parent who buy any games for their children regardless what mature/ violence/ sex is in it.
I would also try to stop them playing a game an hour before their bed time as it is true about not getting to sleep right after you stop playing a game.

But hey look at it this way, when it's their 15 and 18th birthday I will buy him/ her an 15 and 18 rated game (a good one not just for the sake it's rated as mature).

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Vote: Other.

I'm going to do what my parents did for me. I'm not going to have a set plan for what they can and can't play. Rather, I'm going to actually pay attention to them and judge what I think they're mature enough to handle.

When I expressed to my parents that I was interested in video games way-back-when, they started me off with things like Mario and Tetris. Very family-friendly stuff. They even played the games with me from time to time. They weren't very good at the games, but I can appreciate now that they were trying to be involved with their child's interests. When they felt I was ready for more mature games they eased me into it with adventure games and RPGs, and again, they played along with me whenever they could. Eventually they felt confident that I was mentally and emotionally mature enough to handle most games, so they had the "real life vs. fiction" talk with me, then allowed me to play whatever I wanted - as long as my grades and behavior remained positive.

I intend to take a similar approach when that time comes. And since I actually am a gamer, hopefully I'll be a more useful Co-Op partner

 

[Soxafloppin]

While being brought up on a healthy diet of Mortal Kombat has done nothing to me *twitches*..I still wouldn't feel comfortable letting my child play 18 rated games from a very young age, I mean I won't make him wait until he is 18 but maybe..15 or so.

 

[happy_turtle]

I'll be very very strict, no supper till they've completed at least 2 levels of Call of Duty 28.

 

[Erttheking]

It'd be one of those "depends" situations. I'd have to do some research on the game myself and take into account how mature the kid is.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Until they are 10 or older I will try to keep anything that has sex in it away from them. Other than that they are free to play what ever they want.

I'll be very very strict, no supper till they've completed at least 2 levels of Call of Duty 28.

That is cruel. Forcing them to play that bland shooter.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

I imagine I won't be that strict. I started playing games like Doom, Grand Theft Auto and Duke Nukem at a pretty young age, and I turned out fiiiiiine.

I think it would be fun to sit down with my daughter and plays some games. I would have an interest in them as well so we could share a hobby and bond. Instead of what my mother did and showed no interest in any path of my life. Although my daughter may not like games, and that is ok too.

 

[Hagi]

Moderate I'd say.

I'll probably use the ESRB rating as a baseline and subtract and add a few years based on my child's maturity as well as the content setting of the game.

I do strongly believe that children aren't simply miniature adults capable of making reasoned and responsible decisions with their own short and long term interest in mind and as such, as a parent, I will be making their choices for them where I feel it's appropriate, with no more reason being given beyond "because I say so".

Which is how my father raised me and, according to some friends, basically child abuse.

So yeah... my kid, if I ever have one, will probably turn out somewhat fucked up like I am. But then again, aren't we all?

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

moderate, i mean if they are playing "LEGEND OF TITS: ORALINA OF TIME" then i'd definitely say no to that until they are a teen, but besides that, it'd all depend on maturity of the child, if they are ready by age 4 to handle violence/cursing/blood everywhere and not take it at real face value, then awesome (i'll be there to watch/play with them obviously) if not then we'll progress slowly through the years, right now i got my 6 year old brother on kingdom hearts, he's loving it but he hasn't taken anything from it like trying to smash someone with a sword to get money/health, or does he ever want to hurt someone.

 

[frizzlebyte]

I chose moderate, but that is contingent on actually having children.

Every kid is different. I was an emotionally sensitive kid, so I actually tended to know what games I could and could not handle. My parents always policed what I played, but they were fairly confident that I knew what I could and could not be ready for.

Whether that was a good thing or not, I seem to have turned out fine, even though it took a little longer than I would have wanted in retrospect.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

I... I don't understand the poll options.