Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto: Would you let your 6 year old play?

Tornik

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In another discussion forum user Tornik hoped to help people with his 30 year knowledge of video gaming but the following comment sparked a contentious but really interesting debate. What do you think? Join the forum to vote in the poll and join the discussion.

Back to Tornik's comment...

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Time and again, I've found myself answering questions and dishing out advice - why, for example, it's not OK to buy Grand Theft Auto for Little Timmy's 6th birthday.

The_One_Who

Tornik wrote: »

why, for example, it's not OK to buy Grand Theft Auto for Little Timmy's 6th birthday.

Why isn't it? As long as the child is made aware of the the fact that it isn't real, nor is it something to aspire to, I don't see the problem. Grand Theft Auto is often quite cartoon-like in its violence as well, quite over-the-top.

Gold_Dust_2

The_One_Who wrote: »

Why isn't it? As long as the child is made aware of the the fact that it isn't real, nor is it something to aspire to, I don't see the problem. Grand Theft Auto is often quite cartoon-like in its violence as well, quite over-the-top.

Woah woah woah, GTA not only glorifies violence, but also has a lot of sexual content wholly inappropriate for little Timmy. And plenty of bad language to boot.

gboom2000

No

The_One_Who wrote: »

Why isn't it? As long as the child is made aware of the the fact that it isn't real, nor is it something to aspire to, I don't see the problem. Grand Theft Auto is often quite cartoon-like in its violence as well, quite over-the-top.

The time I picked a hooker up and drove to a dark place and let the car bob up and down wasn't very cartoon-like. On the game obviously.

Flyonthewall

No

It always amazes me how many people are clueless about video games, especially those buying them for their kids. This thread is very much needed and hopefully it'll help people understand.

Flyonthewall

No

The_One_Who wrote: »

Why isn't it? As long as the child is made aware of the the fact that it isn't real, nor is it something to aspire to, I don't see the problem. Grand Theft Auto is often quite cartoon-like in its violence as well, quite over-the-top.

Gold_Dust wrote: »

Woah woah woah, GTA not only glorifies violence, but also has a lot of sexual content wholly inappropriate for little Timmy. And plenty of bad language to boot.

I totally agree with Gold Dust.

The game is an 18 age rating for a reason. It's getting more and more realistic with each new release as well.

Saint's Row is more cartoon-like game of a similar style, but no kids should be playing that either for the same reasons.

Even if the kid understands that the game is not real that doesn't mean they won't try and copy things from it - even if they only copied the language you don't want a kid swearing all the time. Could lead to some awkward questions too about the sexual content.

The_One_Who

Flyonthewall wrote: »

It always amazes me how many people are clueless about video games, especially those buying them for their kids. This thread is very much needed and hopefully it'll help people understand.

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I totally agree with Gold Dust.

The game is an 18 age rating for a reason. It's getting more and more realistic with each new release as well.

Saint's Row is more cartoon-like game of a similar style, but no kids should be playing that either for the same reasons.

Even if the kid understands that the game is not real that doesn't mean they won't try and copy things from it - even if they only copied the language you don't want a kid swearing all the time. Could lead to some awkward questions too about the sexual content.

Good parenting should solve all that though. I wouldn't necessarily leave the child to play it unsupervised, but really don't see the harm in letting a child have a go on the game. They can watch the news (which most children will be, if only because the parents are) and see much, much worse, and it's real.

It will depend on the maturity of the child, obviously. Not every single child should be allowed, but for some who are mature enough, I don't see the problem.

somethingcorporate

At 6 years old? you'd let your 6 year old play GTA? Seriously?

From your statement I can conclude you've either never played GTA or don't have kids.

Honestly, some things are not suitable for children, glorifying killing, drugs, prostitution and bad language should not be presented to children as far as possible.

Flyonthewall

No

The_One_Who wrote: »

Good parenting should solve all that though. I wouldn't necessarily leave the child to play it unsupervised, but really don't see the harm in letting a child have a go on the game. They can watch the news (which most children will be, if only because the parents are) and see much, much worse, and it's real.

It will depend on the maturity of the child, obviously. Not every single child should be allowed, but for some who are mature enough, I don't see the problem.

Good parents wouldn't let a child play an 18+ game. Even teaching them right for wrong and supervising them they are still being subjected to violence, bad language and sexual content. They shouldn't see/hear things like that as a kid.

There's no bad language on the news and they don't show sexual content or people killing each other and dying violently. Watching is also different to controlling a character and performing the acts yourself.

Gold_Dust_2

The_One_Who wrote: »

Good parenting should solve all that though. I wouldn't necessarily leave the child to play it unsupervised, but really don't see the harm in letting a child have a go on the game. They can watch the news (which most children will be, if only because the parents are) and see much, much worse, and it's real.

It will depend on the maturity of the child, obviously. Not every single child should be allowed, but for some who are mature enough, I don't see the problem.

Seriously? The news in the UK is pretty tame, you might hear terrible things but you won't see much, and it's all delivered in an anaesthetised, clinical way so that it doesn't have much of an impact. On the other hand, violence and sex is worked into GTA as part of the main storyline, and as such means that the player will not only become accustomed to such stuff, but will also come to revel in it as part of the game - theres no avoiding it, and as such requires a mature mind to differentiate between reality and game (as you've already stated).

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion and of course I can see that you advise the use of discretion, but I wouldn't let any children of mine touch any copy of GTA with a ten foot barge-pole, apart from maybe the original game (can't remember if there was any funny stuff in there) because I would not want my kids to become acquainted with such stuff from such an early age (if at all).

Gold_Dust_2

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Good parents wouldn't let a child play an 18+ game. Even teaching them right for wrong and supervising them they are still being subjected to violence, bad language and sexual content. They shouldn't see/hear things like that as a kid.

There's no bad language on the news and they don't show sexual content or people killing each other and dying violently. Watching is also different to controlling a character and performing the acts yourself.

Said it so much more concisely than I did. Great post.