re: Children & mature video games

Quoting DisneyMommyTTC#3:" I am a bad Mom, I let my kids (14 and 7), play COD and Halo. I take the mike out so they cant hear all the cussing from the other players. I was pretty proud when my son got a nuke on MW2."

I don't think anyone's a bad mom for it-I'm just not really comfortable with all that violence planting itself in my kids' heads so young (they're only 6, 4, and 2 ).I'm not really crazy about those kinds of games for myself, either, though.

Quoting BRiATCH ♥:" These responses are basically what I expected. I'm curious because my step son (who is almost 7) play ... [snip!] ... as I made it sound earlier.. I was just wondering if any other kids around that age play similar games. My guess is no lol"

I'm definitely the minority here... My 5 year old plays Black Ops 2 & similar games with SO. He's not a violent kid, knows right from wrong, reality from fantasy, what's acceptable & what's not etc. I've never had a problem with it.

only rated E or younger in my house, no exceptions

<blockquote><b>Quoting Ryloonjimama:</b>" I'm definitely the minority here... My 5 year old plays Black Ops 2 & similar games with SO. He's ... [snip!] ... kid, knows right from wrong, reality from fantasy, what's acceptable & what's not etc. I've never had a problem with it."</blockquote>




Umm....he is only 5.
He hasn't had a chance to show any ill effects AND the effects take some time.
Also, at 5, it isn't normal for kids to be clear about right versus wrong, acceptable versus unacceptable and and reality versus fantasy.
I'm not saying that your child is being damaged by it but I am saying that I don't think you may not understand some aspects of development and expectations of children at that age.

<blockquote><b>Quoting TheNuge:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting Ryloonjimama:</b>" I'm definitely the minority here... My ... [snip!] ... but I am saying that I don't think you may not understand some aspects of development and expectations of children at that age."</blockquote>


Thanks for your concern, but my child is very clear on right from wrong and he does separate fantasy in video games from what is or is not acceptable in reality. It may not be the norm as you say, but we quite frequently have discussions about what he sees & if I thought it was impacting him negatively, I wouldn't allow it... he's a pretty switched on kid.

They shoot Zombies together. He knows that Zombies aren't real. That we don't play with guns, heck we don't have guns. I've never even seen a gun, they don't just hand out guns to every Tom, Dick & Harry in our country.

Do I love these games? No, I don't... but I also do not believe that video games cause violence.

<blockquote><b>Quoting Ryloonjimama:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting TheNuge:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting Ryloonjimama:</b>" ... [snip!] ... Dick & Harry in our country. Do I love these games? No, I don't... but I also do not believe that video games cause violence."</blockquote>




Lol. They don't hand out guns to every Tom, dick and Harry here either.

Your child must be exceptional!

<blockquote><b>Quoting TheNuge:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting Ryloonjimama:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting TheNuge:</b>" ... [snip!] ... Lol. They don't hand out guns to every Tom, dick and Harry here either. Your child must be exceptional!"</blockquote>


He is pretty smart, actually. He has always been super inquisitive, not your typical child. Trust me we were getting so much smurf for this from family members because everyone was saying the same thing, that he doesn't know this or that but then my son started talking to them about games without prompting, saying stuff like this game does this and we were doing this but you wouldn't do that in real life or you wouldn't find this in real life & then they started backing off.

I understand that not every child is capable of this understanding, and I'm not sure if I'll be comfortable having my youngest exposed to it because he is so different. He's the complete opposite, a little daydreamer, with a big imagination.

<blockquote><b>Quoting Ryloonjimama:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting TheNuge:</b>" <blockquote><b>Quoting Ryloonjimama:</b>" ... [snip!] ... my youngest exposed to it because he is so different. He's the complete opposite, a little daydreamer, with a big imagination."</blockquote>




Excellent. I hope your experiment goes well.

Perhaps he should be tested to see if he would benefit from being in a gifted program.

smh no wonder I hear such young kids on cod 5 and 7 yr olds? come on.

I have a 7&9 and I say no, not even watching unless there is an option to modify. For example my husband has a game that has the option to remove the language and gore. Some of their shooting games change from people to robots or bugs with no gore or bad language. And those games are only played occasionally with their dad. Not one of their regular games.