to think how can she be so bloody stupid

[cuteboots]

Ok so this women in our office admitted that she lets her 8 year old play on his xbox using games for an 18 year old. She then said he can only play on them for a short lenght of time each day as his behaviour changes! Duhhhhh

Plenty of shit parents out there who don't let their children play 18 games, or even have games consoles.

The swearing and shite behaviour is not purely from games.

Of course in some cases there are links, but not every child who plays these games have bad behaviour.

Agree..... Some bad behaviour is from households without these consoles... How do you explain that?

YANBU Some parents assume that because they are called 'games' they are ok for children, regardless of their rating.

Do they also think porn movies are ok for 4 year olds?

In fact, there are some children whose parents would not believe the language that spills from their mouths in the playground. A case of 'not my johnny'

of course there will be a number of factors Katherine but your post is frankly idiotic. In the OP the woman admits the game affects her DS's behaviour so clearly in THIS case it is at least partially the game that is the problem. In another house it may be the TV they are allowed to watch or the behaviour they see modelled by their parents etc

trixie idiotic? Take a look at yourself first...

I was posting in reference to sucre post. Agree with that.

YANBU and I too have my Judgy Pants hoiked right up to my armpits.

DS is eight and it's always 'everyone in my class plays COD or GTA or '.

Never mind, DS. It's not happening in this family, and might explain the behaviour of some of those children :(

Trixie are you the parent of the first ever perfect child??? We are saying that judging a child's parent because it is allowed to play games older than recemmonded, is not the sole reason why a child can become badly behaved. Many children do play these games, without adverse effects.
Many behaviours come from elsewhere.

YANBU

Allowing your young child to watch games like that is child abuse, they are too young to rationalise what they are seeing. Its called lazy parenting and yes it is my business because we live in a society not our own individual bubbles. How others raise their children affects me and my children and vice versa.

Judgey pants sewn on

It does depend on game and the key issue there was that it was changing his behavior. All kids will be different and view things differently. My ds plays Assassin Creed which is a 15 and he is 8 and the most change in behaviour we get is he continues to gallop around on his horse after he finished !!

Just because you don't see behaviour changes, doesn't mean to say they don't happen and they aren't behaving differently elsewhere.

My son behaves beautifully wherever he goes. It is about balance, rules and communication.

Sure it is.

"Some bad behaviour is from households without these consoles... How do you explain that?"
KatherineKavanagh I'm afraid that I'm of the opinion that that's a ridiculous argument. Yes, some bad behaviour doesn't stem from acting out violent scenes on a computer game. But, seeing as there's absolutely no benefit to a child playing a violent game, and that there is a proven connection between these games and violent behaviour, why would you do it?
Nothing is absolute. No-one is saying that all bad behaviour stems from violent video games.

Do you remember that Robert Winston programme where he follows the lives of kids born in 2000? There was one woman who let her 3 year old son play with violent 18+ games. She said they didn't do him any harm.

A couple of years later when he started school he was diagnosed with ADHD. Viewers everywhere responded with "No shit, Sherlock."

Imnotmymum Look at

(warning- graphic gameplay content from Assassin's Creed)

How is that suitable for an eight-year-old?

Oh yes, I particularly like the way blood sprays from each violent thrust of the sword - but as long as it is explained properly then I'm sure it'll all be fine and dandy

I think it's shit parenting.

I like watching grown-ups telly. There probably won't be any swearing or bludgeoning in the last 5 mins, when DS wakes up and comes downstairs, but there might be. So I turn it off, even though I want to watch it.

It pisses me off when DH plays 18 rated games while the DCs are up. I get a shit on about it, and I like to think he's learned. But I think it's shit parenting to subject children to sex and violence.

I don't care if people feel judged about this. I AM JUDGING. It's shit parenting.

mmm I know I am not going to win this argument as it is of course being a terrible, terrible parent to let your children play computer games, watch films not rated for them, let them watch the news ... But they are knights andif you follow the whole story of assaains creed rather than taking a scene out of context it is not full on killing like this, if you took the scene out of Braveheart for example you would miss the entire plot of the film.

I wouldn't let my 8 year old watch Braveheart either.

I am not a shit parent. My children are loved and cared for, all doing well academically, have hobbies and interests and fed properly, well bought up with manners and respect for people.

Yanbu, it's crap parenting.

'other kinds of crap parenting exist' has to be the lamest argument I've seen here in a long time.

I haven't seen anybody say 'all badly behaved kids play unsuitable console games', and I very much doubt I ever will.

iamnotmymum I wouldn't let an eight-year-old watch Braveheart. You seem to be projecting on a child the level of understanding you yourself as an adult has.
I think you're being naive to think that just because he's not immediately showing signs of extreme violence, that means he isn't affected. He's still working out what the world is and his perception of his place in society. I have a real problem with the idea that playing at murder is suitable for a child.

A well-meaning childless uncle let my DH watch various 18 rated films when he was 8 (Terminator, American Werewolf in London, etc). No obvious damage other than the stories he wrote at school had some lively happenings in them and some very colourful language...

Guess it depends on the child, the parent, how often it happens, exactly what they're watching, if they're watching or playing it, what else they're into, explanations, the list goes on...