Poll: What Age Do You Buy Your Child a Violent Video Game?

[Radelaide]

So I'm doing some research for my <a href=www.dailyrade.wordpress.com>blog. I'm writing a follow up essay on how old is old enough for your child to play violent video games without any supervision. And you readers get to be my guinea pigs.

Put yourself in the following scenario and answer appropriately:

You're at your local game store with your 10-Year-Old child you brings a copy of the latest violent video game to you and asks you politely that they would like you to buy it for them. After some consideration, what you do you?

Please answer the poll, post what you voted for and your reasoning.


Edit: For some clarification, I changed the second poll option to reflect more accurately what I was trying to imply. Also, for argument sake, lets same the game is either a CoD release (something popular in the "WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN" crowd) or Gears of War. Both very violent games.

Spoiler: My post so far

In my Gaming Responsibly essay, I mentioned a mother who bought her son a violent video game on the logic that he was "mature for his age". Her son looked about eight. Being a "gamer" means that we have to put up with this kind of argument all the time when it comes to age. Many parents would be unaware of why a game is rated for a certain age group or what the game entails.

Currently, the Australian Ratings System includes a G, PG, M15 and MA15+ rating with the introduction of an R18+ to happen soon. These ratings are meant to provide comprehensive information about what is included in the game, but unfortunately the rating system isn't reflecting current generation advances in technology or themes in content.

I posed the question, "At what age would you buy your child a violent video game with the intention of letting them play it without supervision?" to a gaming chat room I frequent a lot and it stimulated a bit of conversation and some very interesting answers.

[12:31] <+AdorableKitten> depends on the maturity they're showing, Rade
[12:31] <+AdorableKitten> don't give it to them, let them play it as a privelige
[12:31] Age ratings are there for a reason, For the good of my eardrums and childerens mental wellbeing
[12:31] <+AdorableKitten> if their personality shows changes towards violent tendencies, then you remove the variable
[12:31] <+AdorableKitten> to determine whether it was the cause or an aggravating condition
[12:31] <+RagnorakTres> A combination of things, mostly the age my parents started letting me play video games on my own and a lot of libertarian idealism.
[12:32] I'm a black belt in the impartial arts, I just don't get involved.
[12:32] <+AdorableKitten> which dan?
[12:32] * +RagnorakTres would like to point out that his parents never "let" him play video games, they let him figure it out and make the arrangements himself.

There are many thing that we have to consider when trying to figure out what's best for our children. How we as parents have raised our children? How "mature" for their age they are?

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

The poll options seem kind of redundant to me. They're basically the same situations with slightly different wording.

But anyway, I would handle it based on the rating. I would either let my child play the game at the age of the rating, or one year earlier, depending on how mature they are for their age. If they show that they can understand the difference between fantasy and reality, and have a track record of being able to deal with mature subjects, I would let them play it a year or so under the age rating. However, if they're not very mature or they often mix fantasy and reality, I would wait to let them play the game.

 

[Archangel768]

What is the difference between the minimum 'games rating' and the 'video games rating'?

Like, if the game is rated M 15+ which does that come under? Am I missing something obvious here? Because it seems as though both votes are the exact same thing.

 

[jordenjames88]

Im not a parent, but my little sister has been playing l4d2 since she was 6. And if i was a parent, if it was a mature game, i would consider weather or not my child could play it, if it was teen or lower i wouldn't care.

 

[jordenjames88]

Im not a parent, but my little sister has been playing l4d2 since she was 6. And if i was a parent, if it was a mature game, i would consider weather or not my child could play it, if it was teen or lower i wouldn't care.

 

[jordenjames88]

woah,sorry for the double post.

 

[Mr Thin]

Just so you know, the link to your blog doesn't work for me. It reads as http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/www.dailyrade.wordpress.com, instead of just http://www.dailyrade.wordpress.com which does work when I type it out.

OT: Ratings are there to give the uninformed a brief rundown on what the game contains.

I don't have children, and won't for some years yet, but when I do, I doubt there'll be any game they want that I'm not familiar with, and if there is, I'll remedy that soon enough.

What I'm saying is that I would already have a more developed idea of what the game contains than anything the age rating could tell me, and would base my decision on my own knowledge instead.

There is no exact number for the age I'd let my child play games, it would depend on two things:

a) my child (how smart they are, how mature they are, what they've been exposed to previously)

b) the game (whether it's actually 'mature' or just contains lots of childish violence and gore under the pretense of being 'mature')

I'd probably let my kid play the former, even if they were underage, but not necessarily the latter. Mass Effect, sure, go nuts. Dead Rising, pick something else.

 

[Captain Hat]

Base the decision on your own kid. If you've got a 5 year old with an over-active imagination, don't let him play Gears of War or some other over-the-top violent game. You gotta keep in mind that tacky-but-true argument, "Games affect our childrens' values". You get what you put in when it comes to kids. From my experience, my nephew wants to be Darth Vader so he can use his light saber to kill everyone. -Probably- not the greatest mind-set kids should be in when they're 7.

Parental discretion is best used when giving games to their kids. Kinda nice how some parents are more involved with ESRB ratings, but the generation that was gaming back in the 90's has become our generation of parents in some cases

 

[Tselis]

I'm their parent, I decide. When they've shown me they're ready to handle the concepts then I'll introduce them.

 

[twistedheat15]

When ever you decide you kid is mature enough to handle said game. Not really a number you can put on it. Myself didn't let my younger bro's touch a game like GTA when they were 12 or 13 despite that I did, simple because I didn't think they should be playing a game with so many random drug deals and cursing and such, esp since we lived in the hood, but I didn't have a problem letting them play an FPS or something of the sort with the same rating. Now With their 14-17 and I'd let them play any game they wanted since they know that these are just games for entertainment and don't go repeating or acting out what they see, and even blow off idiots their own age who do follow that suit.

 

[Wing Dairu]

If I feel my child is mature enough for it, then yes. If they're like me, then it goes like this:
Counter-Strike at thirteen
Mortal Kombat at fifteen or sixteen
Conker's Bad Fur Day at the recommended age.

 

[Stoike]

i will buy my child a violent video game when i believe the are mature enough for it

 

[kidragakash]

Well.. ratings are more than a bit subjective... Grease is PG... (same rating as the Shrek movies, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimaron) do I think my son should watch it? Hells no!

He is only 4 and frankly, I don't want him playing anything more violent than Sonic, or Mario until he hits high-school... 15 rated games will wait until we (me and hubby) BOTH feel his is able to understand and separate realities, and cope, but certainly not before 15. He was have a younger sibling, so that will also be a factor (early exposure will be an issue and will have to be talked about. ie. In your room, no little brother/sister around etc).

Ratings are there to give parents a helping hand in deciding games, but ni teh end, the parents should make the final call, based on their kid.

 

[Reaper195]

Would depend on the game. I would have no problem with my fifteen year old playing Just Cause 2 (Which got R18 here in New Zealand), but I wouldn't let them play GTA4 (Also R18).

Some games seem to get ratings that don't make sense, like how Just Cause 2 got an R18, and Red Dead Redemption got an R16. WTF?

 

[XT inc]

Depends on the kid and the game, some respond positively and others just take it in a weird direction.

Besides M rated games aren't what they used to be, They are worlds different now by comparison, when I was little my dad let me play Doom, Doom 2, wolfenstien and duke 3d.

Those are laughable by comparison to what goes on now, I dunno if I'd let my kids play those games specifically because we still live in an age where you can't show a tame sex scene in a game, but advertise dismemberment zones on the box and that won't even make the news.

 

[warrcry13]

Depends if its violence against other humans it depends, on how mature my child is but i would say somewhere around 15 or older. If it's violence against monsters or aliens possibly younger.

 

[Cridhe]

I've been Mortal Kombat since it came out on the SNES, I use to play it with my old man. My parents actually raised me themselves, didn't just let a TV do it for them. That said, I knew the difference between entertainment and reality and how not to be a dumbass.

Maybe a game like GTA is a bit different though. I swear sometimes that game was created with the intent on trolling MAVAV. Perhaps a game like that when the child shows me he's responsible enough to earn the game through chores and housework.

I really don't want my kid playing video games as much as I did growing up though, I missed out on a lot of opportunities for self improvement in school due to my obsession with games. By opportunities for self improvement I largely mean homework and studying. My parents raised me right, but I had a natural talent for lying to them.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

i would let my child play..however i would also make sure they understand that what they are playing is entirely fictional and would sit by them and supervise.

 

[Ethan Asia]

If my child can understand the concepts behind video games and what goes on, they can hack'n'slash with the best of 'em. If he still thinks that typing 'alryt wubu2 m8' is acceptable, looks like it's scrabble for him.

 

[Windcaler]

To start, I dont have any kids or at least none that I know of. If I did, I would decide what age they could play what game and I cant give an honest answer to that because there are so many different variables. I dont believe there is a blanket answer to what is right and wrong in this case

That said, if my kid was roughly how I was when I was a kid I would probably let them have it (assuming I knew what was and wasnt in the game and I felt it was appropriate). I would say age 12-14 would have been about the right time to let them see real violence, maybe earlier. I base this on the first violent movie I saw which was terminator 2 when I was 12 I think. I even remember seeing someone get stabbed at some point and looking back at my parents saying something like "You're really letting me watch this?" and they said they thought I was "grown up enough" for it. I remember them being very skeptical of most violent movies when I was younger, like they panicked at me watching Aliens when I was 8 or so but for some reason they let me watch Jaws even younger (which fed my fascination with sharks and ultimately got me my current job).

This kind of thing was just what was right for me, and what my parents were ok with (and my parents have always been pretty open to just about anything except sex) so obviously every kid is going to be different. Some kids can handle ultraviolence when theyre very young, some kids get pale faced when seeing a drop of blood off of an accidental cut with a kitchen knife when they're teenagers. Its up to the parents to do some parenting and make a judgement call that no one else has a right to make for them