12 year old playing M for mature video games????

My son is 12....soon to be 13...and all of his friends are allowed to play M rated games (for violence NOT sex). I have never let him play any worse than T for teen games...am I being to rigid? He says he will play them at friends houses anyway...I don't know if I am being too strict with this...any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

You're the parent. It's at your discretion. I know plenty of kids who are exposed to violent video games, including myself, and we didn't go 5150. But, I can still understand not wanting your kid to play them.

My brother is 14, and if I can help it, I still dont let him buy any games rated M...the language, violence and sexual innuendo, is too much and its way too graphic for me. I dont think you are being rigid but thats my opinion.

Also, some video games like Mortal Kombat give you the option to turn off the blood and guts....but, I'm sure you can't babysit him while he plays it so he could just as easily turn it back on

My son is 9 and I have the same issues. I hear that "other" kids get to play Mature games but most don't. I have told him that he is not allowed and he has agreed he will not whether I am there or not. I trust him and if he was ever to lie I will take his 360 away for a very long time.

You need to do what is best for your child. You can always do it on a game by game basis also since some are not as bad as others even though they have the same rating.

 

stick to your guns

 

lost

He could also be trying to manipulate you with the whole "everyone else is" idea. Maybe talk to the parents of your child's friends, see if they're allowing their kids to play them. If they say no then your kid is trying to play you so that all his friends can play too.

 

Also maybe say he can, if he pays with his own money, get him to do chores and such Make him earn it.

Hey shoppingGirl this is a tough call but I think you are making the right choice. Fact of the matter is the rating system is really just not that good with these games for the most part. M does cover a wide variety of games but I think generally your assumption that he shouldn't be playing them is right.

 

I guess the big thing to realize is a lot of gamers are now in their 20's and 30's and plenty of games are marketed towards that age group. It's not just for kids anymore and that's where the ratings come in. A game like Grand Theft Auto or Gears of War would not be a good game for a kid to play. Halo 3 on the other hand is also rated M and honestly would probably be fine.

 

I guess that's why it's tough. If you wanted to you could probably go on a case by case biases but that would be pretty tough.... and honestly I'm not too sure how you could research that. This is mostly a recent problem so hopefully they will revamp the ESRB to have better defined ratings.

 

I will say as someone who is an older gamer, I myself am amazed at some of the stuff in these games. When I was gaming 20 years ago I think almost any game on the shelf would have been fine... As scorpion fury stated Mortal Kombat was ground breaking for its violence at the time. That game does not hold a candle to the games of today. So it's good that you are sticking to your guns. I think a lot of the parents who may be buying the M rated games for their kids are not as well informed as to how graphic games have become.

Lol, just because others play "m" rated video-games doesn't make it right, though it may appear to be. *gives you the friendly wink*

 

You know, I think you are a good mother and is doing the best for you son. So keep it up. I don't think you are being harsh, otherwise you wouldn't allow him "t" rated, eh?

I would say no, your the parent, YOU make the rules and that he said "I'll watch them at my friends house anyway" lol if I said that to my mother as a child she would have laughed in my face and said owell you aren't going over your friends house then. I would go through stages where I was so angry at my parents for not letting me do things, and you should remember this too...but of course as we grow older we get over it and appreciate that our parents protected us. An example, is growing up I didn't get cable and whined to no end about it. My parents never really went into detail why we didn't have it until years later, after I said to them one day.. "man i'm really glad I never watched cable as a kid, there are so many other shows on that give much worse messages than I would have wanted droned into my head" Like mtv makes life look like a giant party 24/7 and degrades woman etc etc. I'm SO glad I didn't grow up with that CRAP and I sound like a dinosaur but I'm actually only 24, sooo I would say a big no and if he complains, TOO BAD!!!! Besides, he could be making up that his friends are allowed to play them. I would keep close contact with his friends parents or houses he was going over as well.

There is a reason why games are rated M and it usually is not just violence. A game that is rated T is, according to the manufacturer of the game, intended/appropriate for teenagers. A nineteen year old is still a teenager and, as long he is living in your home, it's your home and you should control what goes on in it. You cannot control what your son does when he is at his friends' homes, but hopefully he will recognize the dark feelings he gets while playing an M game and appreciate the boundaries you have set.

"It's a precious life growing inside her. It doesn't deserve death. She can put it up for adoption."

 

 

Have you adopted yet???????????

"It's a precious life growing inside her. It doesn't deserve death. She can put it up for adoption."

 

 

Have you adopted yet???????????

 

im a bit young at the moment but i intend to in the future.

My son is 12....soon to be 13...and all of his friends are allowed to play M rated games (for violence NOT sex). I have never let him play any worse than T for teen games...am I being to rigid? He says he will play them at friends houses anyway...I don't know if I am being too strict with this...any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Some of the games some parents let their kids play are appalling. Many games are marketed towards adult players these days, and its just not right to see pre-teens playing Grand Theft Auto which comes complete with prostitutes and being able to kill and rob innocent passerbys. The games are getting more and more realistic as well. I have no problem with adults playing violent games (hell, I play some M rated games), but I do think children shouldn`t be exposed to that kind of violence or bad behaviour until they are older and better able to separate fantasy from reality.

 

Games have ratings for a reason. I would advise you to stay informed on what kinds of games you see him playing. "T" games will generally be safe enough, but "M" games should be monitored. Some "M" games are more explicit than others, so if he really wants to play it at home, he will need to prove to you that it is not too extreme. Discuss it, do some research online.

 

If he says "all my friends are doing it" he`s just trying to manipulate you. YOur house, your rules. You can`t really stop him from playing with friends, but you can stop him from bringing it home.

I guess the big thing to realize is a lot of gamers are now in their 20's and 30's and plenty of games are marketed towards that age group. It's not just for kids anymore and that's where the ratings come in. A game like Grand Theft Auto or Gears of War would not be a good game for a kid to play. Halo 3 on the other hand is also rated M and honestly would probably be fine.

Yeah, some M games such as Halo 3 are perfectly fine, in my opinion, for kids to play. Some games like Call of Duty 4 & 5 with the M rating don't even merit it. Many people don't seem to have a problem with their kids playing M games, its quite evident if you play Xbox Live. Just because a certain game carries the M label doesn't mean a whole lot; the content needs to be looked at. A game review (i.e IGN, G4, etc.) is always a good thing to check out in that case. Ultimately, its up to you as the parent to decide what your kids are exposed to. If your kid says he can just play it at a friends house, he's got a point. Unless you put his social life on hold, he's most likely going to satisfy his curiosity playing these games at a friend's place.

 

In my opinion, if your child has a strong judgment of right and wrong, letting them play M games is fine because they would (probably) know despite the content, that its a game. I think as long as your kids are mature enough, there isn't a problem with allowing them to play 'Mature' rated games.

You cannot control what he does at a friends house but you can control the games that you allow him to play in your house. If that is your rule then that is your rule. If your son is mature enough to understand that the games are just games and doesnt have anger or issues with violence then you may want to reconsider your rule.

He's just 12, and that's not 'mature'. They rate them for a reason.

 

The argument to let him do something because his friends do it is not an argument at all. If he wanted to get pierced all over his body and tatooed at 12, would you let him do it just because others do it?

 

Don't yield to peer pressure. You're the parent, and it is your job to try to protect him and adjust factors in his life to match his maturity and age level.

 

He's got plenty of time to play M level games once he's an adult. Teen games are fine for now, regardless of what his friends do. Many parents don't supervise their kids, and the kids grow up too soon and suffer from it.

btw, if he tosses out that he'll just play them at his friend's house anyway, then that is defying your authority as a parent to make decisions for him... and he's thumbing his nose at you.

 

what i'd do in such a response to that is to ask him which friends in particular are playing M games, and then tell him he's not allowed to play at their houses anymore if their parents don't supervise their activity.

 

A parent who lets a young teenager play M games may be the same parent who smokes pot with his teenager, or has guns unlocked in their house, or who lets the kids have sex under their roof.

 

You need to supervise your's sons activities and choices in friends and who he associates with.

 

Watch the movie 'Thirteen' about a parent who loses control of their 13 year old to sex and drugs etc. when the kid starts associating with another 13 year old who is a bad influence.

 

Kids are extremely influenced by peer pressure, which means you need to supervise which peers they spend a lot of time with in order to protect them. If he's going to houses where the kids are not supervised, you'd best put a stop to that.

My 2 c's.....my son wanted Halo....I held firm, NO! Then I found out some of his friends had it, so I talked to the parents. These are smart, sports loving kids, Boy Scouts too.

They are playing a game, they realize it's a game...no sex, but blood and gore, and strategy playing.

So I allowed him to. He was 13 BTW! And it hasn't changed him a bit!

KG, does your son ever play WoW?

 

If your son keeps up his grades and seems not to be duly influenced by the blood and gore of these games, then I don't see a problem with letting him play the M games, with you evaluating on a game by game basis.

 

Your son has good sense.

Not all mature games such be mature.....At first we were told we couldn't play them but i just played them at my friends house anyways. finally my parents gave in....I suggest just looking up the game if your child wants it and see what it is all about before it brought into your house....

 

you can use a website like link removed and it will tell you pretty much about the game and what it is about, then make your decision on if you think its ok or not to be play in your home.

Renny...no, he plays halo, and endgame, usually!

 

JC, I use a site like that. I research it first, then decide if he can buy it.

I remember on the PC version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas some crackers (a term used to denote someone that cracks the code of a game, to look around at any unfinished data or to make codes for the game) found a porn mini-game. When it hit the press the company (rockstar i believe) claimed that it was the work of a hacker.... then people applied the crack-code to the console-versions of the games and found it there, parents and even senators went up in arms over it.

Games like Grand Theft Auto? Never. That's out of the question. Any games that condone violence, sex or any act that they should not even mimic as a playful manner is a big no-no in our house.

 

Video games alone is bad enough if not limited. Kids nowadays play wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much of it and don't have enough time outside. That's just the very sad reality. They pretty much are babysat but technology and parents let them get away with it often times.