Laser quest for 7/8 year olds

[MrsLorimerlives]

ok AIBU to not want my nearly 8 year old going to laserquest? Regardless of gender I dont think that we should be encouraging children to shoot at their friends
I get that its great exercise, they should all run around, get muddy etc with their friends, its the shooting thing, I dont think its ok
Am I a spoilsport, should the invite be accepted, its a core group of friends included for a birthday party

[worridmum]

Its harmless fun, i bet when you were a child you had watergun fights its no real differece and you are being a spoilsport, while you dont have to organise your own party dont make your child miss out because you are being silly.

Yabu as its great fun for all the ages.

[TaurielTest]

they won't get muddy doing laser quest (are you confusing it with paintballing?)...

My son chose a trip to laser tag for his 9th birthday party. it's very cartoonish - zapping another player just deactivates their own blaster for a short while - and was a lot of fun. I don't allow 'realistic' gun or weapon play, FWIW.

[MissionItsPossible]

You don't get muddy at Laser Quest?? Sweaty at most. I think YABU if that is your only reason for letting him go. Laser Quest is not a gateway to your child turning into someone out of GTA.

[BarbarianMum]

If that's how you feel, that's fine. You'll just have to explain to your child why they're not allowed to go. Better to make a polite excuse to the inviting parent though.

[halcyondays]

I think yabu.

[TheHungryDonkey]

YABU. It's great fun. I like playing it with my children. It's as much a target game. None of us have the urge to get a real gun and shoot people.

[tellitlikeitispls]

YABU

[lovelyupnorth]

Spoilsport - YABU -

[jaseyraex]

Definitely being unreasonable, sorry. Let your kid go play with his friends! Laser tag is great fun. It's nothing like "real" shooting, highly unlikely he'll get the urge to go on some gun rampage afterwards.

[Forgettheworld]

My 5 year old is desperate to do it but at our local one they have to be 9. I'll happily let him do it though it's great fun I used to love it when I was younger and haven't has yet shot anybody in real life.

[5rivers7hills]

I'm not sure it really encourages violence?

Same as having a water fight?

[angelnix]

YABU, it's great fun, it's not encouraging violence.

[Gottagetmoving]

YABU - Kids usually love it. Good exercise, good for coordination skills...Just good fun.
Children of 8 are not stupid, they know it is not about hurting people and they know the difference.

[Fluffysparks]

Definitely some laser quests are out in open fields, so OP is right about muddiness

[MrsLorimerlives]

muddiness isnt the issue, trust me, its guns for fun and shooting at people, violence for for kids
clearly in the minority which is fair enough

[MrsLorimerlives]

muddiness isnt the issue, trust me, its guns for fun and shooting at people, violence for for kids
clearly in the minority which is fair enough. Interesting some posters think this is a boy thing

[Believeitornot]

Well surely you explain to your child that you wouldn't do it with real guns.

The aim isn't to kill each other, it's to "get" each other.

[firawla]

If it's his close friends then yabu to stop him going just because you feel like you have a moral issue with laser quest. He would rightly feel quite hard done by by that I'm sure? It's not realistic, it's age appropriate active fun and while you might not choose to take him there yourself it's s real shame to miss out on a good friends birthday?

[CockacidalManiac]

I've ne we personally understood this approach; we used to make guns out of sticks as kids if we didn't actually buy them (nostalgic for smell of caps now). Children will improvise while playing. I then progressed onto shooting people in video games; I'm not violent in any way.
Laser quest is fun, but I'm rubbish at it as I'm red/green colour blind; teams often use the two colours

[CockacidalManiac]

Plus IMHO, excluding a child from their friends at a party for parental 'moral reasons' is going to have a longer lasting psychological effect that letting them play with pretend guns..

[MarthasHarbour]

excluding a child from their friends at a party for parental 'moral reasons' is going to have a longer lasting psychological effect that letting them play with pretend guns

This^^

[TabbyMumz]

I think you are being very silly. Exclude them from this sort of game and they will want to do it even more.

[crumpet]

Definitely not just for boys. Dd has been to several laser parties.

BTW they are not shooting at their friends. This is make believe - the other side (even if they are his friends) are now the "enemy".

[Ttbb]

I think that if an eight year old can't tell the difference between laser tag and shooting there are bigger problems at hand.

[NC1990]

YABU. I did Laser Quest last year for a hen party and it was great fun (and yes we did get muddy, it was out in a big open field). It is nothing like shooting, and once you 'die' you just come back to life again anyway.