A question for Parents

[xboxed79]

where do you guys draw the line on letting your child play games?
I have a six year old stepson that i treat like my own and he LOVES my XBOX. I bought him cel damage, but he loves playing games like Halo and Hunter. I recently had an arguement where i was defeding myself for letting him play "violent" games.
so my question is where, if any, do you draw the line?

[xboxtito]

I guess it all depends on the parents and the kids. I myself feel any games with blood or explicit violence are inappropriate for kids under 10 or 11.
I have neices and nephews that cannot play those games. I read somewhere that children under 7 (in most cases) have a hard time telling the difference between games and reality. They may think violence like that (especially shooter games) is okay in reality. My children are 2 and 4, and they can play baseball and Tony Hawk, but the violent games are off limits.
I personally would not let a 6yr old play those games, but that is strictly my opinion.
Look at the 7yr old who got a hold of his father's gun and killed his little sister. It is scary.

From what I have heard, there are some kid-friendly games coming to the xbox soon...

[AmpedRider]

i let my nephews play halo cause that really isnt too bad but nothing like the thing or SH2. Mostly everything but the really gorey and bloody games.

[Highlite23]

My son is 7, we play things like PGR, Munch, Splashdown.

No violence or blood games. They are too impresionable at that age and what seem like no big deal at the time, turns into something else.

A couple of my neighbors are of the "anything" mind set, and i can tell the difference. They play way to rough, they are rude, and basically little punks.

One of the main reasons we also bought a GC, so we could have more to play together.

But in the end, it's up to you.

[SkoalMint]

My son is also 7 and I let him play Munch, Crash, Fuzion Frenzy, and Simpson's. However, most of the time he plays Sonic on the DC or some other kid games on his GBA. I am also getting him a GC for Christmas as he really loves the Mario games. I won't even let him watch me play games like Max Payne or DTR. I agree that in the end, it is up to the parents, but only if the parents are paying attention to the games the kids are playing, regardless of the kid's age. Many parents are not even casual gamers. Therefore, I think it is important that all parents monitor the types of games their children play just as they would the TV and movies they watch, music they listen to, food they eat, friends they have, etc.

[xboxed79]

I agree that it depends on how well your child understands the concept of reality. I believe my stepson is very mature for his age, and i know he knows that it is only a game.
I believe that it is my responsibitly along with my fiancees to let him know that it is only game, or only a movie or only a tv show.
If he enjoys it, and i feel comfortable enough to know that he is not going to go out and Melee one of his friends with his plastic sword then i think that it is ok.

[CrazyCougar]

Personally I let my 10 year old and 5 year old play anything without the blood aspect. Halo is about the most extreme I will let them go. But I only let them play those games when I am around. As soon as I see them pistol whipping a corpse thats when they receive a warning that I dont want to see stuff like that. But there are plenty of other games out there for them to play so I try to reny one for me and one for them at least.

[mahalan]

I'm not a parent but I do worry about movie/game content when my niece visits. For the most part, she places tighter limits on herself than I would since she doesn't like blood and gore. A few times, she wanted to see movies with sexual content that I thought was innappropriate (they were R rated) and I suggested something else.

To be honest, though, I'm not sure it matters. My parents let me do, watch, and play anything I wanted. This meant that I was exposed to SUBSTANTIALLY more sex and violence than anyone I know and at a much younger age. As an example, I filled out a sweepstakes mailing and got a three year subscription to Playboy at the age of 9.

What has been the result? I went to one of the most selective colleges in the country. I got my graduate degree. I worked on Wall Street, managed departments of companies, and now own two companies of my own. I've been happily married for 16 years. I've never been arrested. I don't do drugs. I'm not violent nor am I a sex addict.

Personally, I think that both nature (a person's internal wiring) and nurture (a person's environment) have limits on their impact on a person's future outcome. Great wiring and great environment and you've got a winner. Bad wiring but great environment and you end up with a problem. Great wiring but bad environment and you end up with lost potential but someone who can overcome adversity. Bad wiring and bad environment and you end up with an inmate of the future.

[xboxed79]

Originally posted by mahalan



Personally, I think that both nature (a person's internal wiring) and nurture (a person's environment) have limits on their impact on a person's future outcome. Great wiring and great environment and you've got a winner. Bad wiring but great environment and you end up with a problem. Great wiring but bad environment and you end up with lost potential but someone who can overcome adversity. Bad wiring and bad environment and you end up with an inmate of the future.



well said.