Child would like unsuitable game for christmas HELP!

Loz01

Dear god, COD for an EIGHT year old? :eek: WTH? 8 year olds should be playing with Lego or something, not glued to a violent video game! He's 8, just tell him NO. My niece is 7 and Id be horrified at the idea of her seeing graphic killing content like that.

meritaten

cheepskate wrote: »

It wasnt that long ago, before computer gameswere here, that it was "horror movies" that would corrupt and make our kids turn into crazy , throat ripping lunatics.

What happened to that study? Am i right in thinking that the world hasnt been taken over by these bad parented kids.

As for the (QUOTE) but I suggest you go talk to some anti bullying charities, or take a trip around an adolescent mental health unit to see the harm these games can do to vulnerable minds! . Bullying is done by children that dont get parented correctly by their parents, nothing at all to do with games . As for the mental health, that is something completely different, as i'm assuming the O.Ps son doesnt have mental health probs at the moment , but according to some will have if he ever gets a look at this game:)

Some subjects can be very emotive for some people and that is fine, but what i object to is to say a person is a bad parent if they dont do as i beleive.

call me old-fashioned, but, I DONT believe that letting children watch movies or play games only suitable for adults is GOOD parenting!
would it be ok to take the kids along to swingers parties then? or perhaps you could just send the kids over to the third world where they recruit the kids into the armies and give them REAL guns! If you find the thought of kids killing REAL people horrifying - where is your justification for letting kids play these games as childhood is supposed to get you ready for ADULT life.

skintchick

chickywiggle wrote: »

no - infact i believe "santa" is "struggling to get it this year" as it has "sold out due to christmas". however he did manage to get "this game".

I can see why this would be an attractive way of doing it, but in fact by hiding behind Santa the parent isn;t taking responsibility AS a parent for saying no to the game.

Children need to know what is and is not acceptable, and they learn that by seeing it modelled for them by their parents, then by their wider circle.

If parents are unable to say no, and instead hide behind a mythical figure, then what is that saying to the child? That Mummy or Daddy is incapable of disciplining and guiding them, and instead has to lie and pretend someone else is doing it because it just feels so horrid so say no to their own child?

Sheesh.

Just say no, because it's unsuitable. End of.

Quite apart from that, if you DO allow children to have things they are not supposed to have BY LAW, and by such a margin (an 18 game for an 8yo) then what exactly are you teaching them about respect for the law and society as a whole?

That laws don;t matter? That they don't apply all the time, or to 'us'? I don;t think that's a helpful or responsible thing to teach them.

ellies_angel

julie8314dave wrote: »

Our son will be 8 on sunday and he has asked for the new call of duty black ops on Wii, not knowing what it was about i went on the internet to find out what it was, then i noticed it was an 18 rating, i spoke to him about it and he said all my freinds have it in school.

I know that the 18 is put there for a reason but would you buy it for your son, and is it really that bad.

Thanks.

If you know its 18 for a reason why would you buy it?
Your 8 year old may have the fine motor skills to be able to play, but the language isn't appropriate, emotionally it could be very damaging and socially, well put it this way, if his friends happen to mention to their parents that hes playing it, I would have a bet that the amount of friends he has to play with at the house will drop dramatically. There are plenty games out there that are suitable for his age group without allowing him an adult game, would you allow him to watch a 18 horror film? There isn't much difference!

vik6525

Op, you know your son best, and know if he'd be able to cope with the descriptions of it that you've read on here.
We've got the game in question in this house (My brother owns a computer games shop). My ten year old had a go of it, cause hed heard his mates raving about it, but after ten minutes, he deemed it 'boring' and switched it off! If nothing else, I would probably advise against you buying it, only because it may be REALLY boring for an 8 year old, and an utter waste of your money!

onlyroz

If you want to get the kid a game, I'd suggest the Lego games, e.g. Lego Harry Potter or Lego Batman. If you've got a Wii then also try Raving Rabbids, any of the Mario/Wario/Sonic/Zelda games, or some of the excellent sports sims (e.g. racing, golf, football, tennis etc). There are plenty of excellent games available that a child would enjoy that don't involve blood and guts and gore.

For a bit of tamer violence, try Tomb Raider, or Prince of Persia.

Mupette

julie8314dave wrote: »

Our son will be 8 on sunday and he has asked for the new call of duty black ops on Wii, not knowing what it was about i went on the internet to find out what it was, then i noticed it was an 18 rating, i spoke to him about it and he said all my freinds have it in school.

I know that the 18 is put there for a reason but would you buy it for your son, and is it really that bad.

Thanks.

No way

DS is 15 and the all important 3/4 and he won't have it, not whilst he is underage and living under my roof, don't care about tantrums either

hitatotatus

I wouldn't buy this for my sons - age nearly 13 and 9. Eldest has never asked for violent games before, but has just started to mention this one as they are all talking about it at school.
I have explained that I will not have violent games in the house. Simplzzz.
I do allow him to see adult humour tho and we have recently watched The Infidel, which has alot of swearing (but is very funny), and he watches things like Celebrity Juice or Russell Howard (which can raise some interesting questions!!!) but graphic violence - no.

When he was in Yr5/6 there was one boy who had all the 15 and 18 rated games and used to tease my son that he didn't have them. I just used to tell the boy that he would have nothing to do when he did reach 15 or 18 as he would already have done it all!

My younger son has played COD, however, at a friends house - which I found out the grandma had bought for his friend. I honestly don't think she realises what is in the game. His other friend has Grand Theft Auto.
I don't mind them knowing about or seeing these games, or even if they do get to play them occassionly at their friend's houses, however, I would not like them exposed to the content every day or as a matter of habit.


8 is about the age that he will start to be aware of and recognise boundaries that have not been set before - so IMO, it doesn't really matter what your boundaries are but you should put some in place so that he gets used to them being enforced - otherwise you could have a very bolshy teen on your hands in future.

Sambucus_Nigra

Has it really come to this - that an ADULT has to ask on an internet forum whether a known violent 18 rated game is suitable or not suitable for an 8 year old.

Use the sense that you were born with for goodness sake.

Un-fe-cking-believable

Jacks_xxx

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Has it really come to this - that an ADULT has to ask on an internet forum whether a known violent 18 rated game is suitable or not suitable for an 8 year old.

Use the sense that you were born with for goodness sake.

Un-fe-cking-believable

I take your point, but I don't think there's ever anything wrong with anybody posting for any kind of support and advice. We all need a bit of a helping hand sometimes don't we?