To think I should have said something?

[SolidSnake]

I was in the Game shop yesterday, browsing, when this boy and his mother and father come in. He must have been around 6 if that, couldn't have been any older. He was looking at the PS3 section and noticing Far Cry 3 (an 18 and very violent video game) said along the lines of "i want that one". His mother said that he couldn't and i didn't think anything of it until she said "... because we don't have a ps3, if you want it we will have to get it on xbox" and proceeded to buy it for him! I wanted to say something about how violent it was to her and how a very young impressionable boy shouldn't be playing it, but decided it was none of my business. Looking back, should I have said something?

Nope, like you say non of your business.

No..you were right to say nothing. It may not me right but that was not your call to make. It's your job to squirm with the knowledge that they may well not have takethe time to see what their little darling is playing.

The parents are fuckwits. Sadly you probably can't change that. Best to stay out of it.

Nope, you shouldn't have said anything. But, YANBU to judge - I would. Kids should not be playing these violent games.

I wouldn't have done personally - the parents can see from the box it's an 18.
The shop might say something if they thought the game was being bought for a 6yo,but I suppose if it's being bought by an adult, what can they do?

I buy my 13yo 18 games. My child my choice.
We always preview them, and he has Fantasy games not CoD type.

I <span class="italic">have</span> said to parents in Pet Shops when their child has said "Oh I want a guinea-pig"
just how much hard work they are and they'd be letting themselves in for.
And (so far) they've all said "oh thanks,I didn't realise".
But maybe someone will tell me to <span class="italic">Foxtrot Oscar</span>.



I suppose it depends if you were prepared for the parents to give you a mouthful.
If I was challenged over the games for my DS (and I haven't been- I must look firece <img loading="lazy" class="inline-flex mumsnet-emoji" alt="Grin" src="https://www.mumsnet.com/build/assets/grin-D7Eg_B6y.png">) I'd probably just shrug and buy it anyway.
But I <span class="italic">always</span> check first what it's like.

70 It's different when they are 13 and you veto the games, I can definitely respect that. But this boy was so tiny and the thought of him sitting in his bedroom playing Far Cry and what it would be doing to his brain made me sad

YY 6yo is wrong (but alot of people have said my 13yo is wrong).
My DS is in the front room with his.

It does make me wonder though where he's getting the notion that he wants this game?
Older siblings or cousins. School friends telling him?

My DS doesn't ask to see horror films, so it's not just looking at a cover and thinking "Oh I want to see that"

(NO knowledge of Far Cry. Not one DS has mentioned)

I bet the little boy just liked the cover, he's probably already used to games with graphics like that.

It wouldn't have done any good to say anything, OP, except to placate your conscience.

There's a 5yo up at the school regularly playing Halo, he tells my 4yo in reception all about it when they are walking up together. Sigh

By saying something you wouldn't have given the adult any more information than she already had. She knew it was an 18 and was choosing to ignore that fact. This means that your disapproval would have had no effect apart from to irritate her and possibly make her more determined to buy them for him.

Pointing things out to people when you think they may not realise something, especially if you have made a similar mistake is sometimes helpful. Telling someone you disagree with their parenting choices is rarely productive.

Of course you shouldn't. You would not have been telling the something they don't know.

You seem to have a vision of this boy in his room playing alone. While I wouldn't buy the game for my dd (8) our games consoles are in the living room and this boys maybe. The mother may see it and make her own decision about it.

My aunt did this. She would buy them and make her own judgment call. Some stayed some were return. I wouldn't waste the money. But I wouldn't judge it either.

How would you like it if random strangers came up to you and judged you?

70, out of interest... If your 13 yr old plays 18 games & they're not call of duty type crap, what's in them to make them 18s?

I'm not judging... Every child is different - I let my older child watch films above his age because he was mature enough, but the same will definitely not apply to his sibling! I'm just curious. We don't have any games beyond NRnia and Pokemon .

YANBU. I was in Game once and there was a little lad who looked about 5yrs wanting Grand Theft Auto - he was with his mum and dad and when they took it to the till the guy serving pointed out the age of game and his mum said 'it doesn't worry me he's been playing war/action games with his dad since age 2 so he's used to it'. the dad started laughing saying 'he loves all the violence'
guy serving just shook his head but what could he do as it was the adult buying the game.

500
my DS is a Halo/Assassins Creed type which were always a 15/16 until the most recent ones.
I queried with the Game shop staff- he said it had been 'regraded' because of changes with Pegi ( retailer IIRC).

We've watched with him, it just seems like someone running through buildings, sometimes firing an arrow (or other weapon) or ducking.

I'm sure theres more to it that that (for the price I would hope)

My dh plays grand theft auto, when he gets the chance, which isn't very often. Once he let ds fly the helicopter for 5 minutes when he came down stairs one night. He seen no murdering of pensioners, prostitutes or drug barons.

You listen to him talk to his school friends though and he sounds like he plays it 5 hours a day.

YANBU! I loved far cry 3 but this game has some really explicit scenes. one part if the game has you torturing one of your friends whilst you are pretending to be one of the pirates who has kidnapped them. You have to press different buttons to punch them in the face and even stick your finger in their bullet wound whilst you have a close up of their bloody face screaming. I found that part of the game really difficult to play and I completely understood the nuances in the story and what the game producers were trying to do with that scene. God knows how that would affect a 6 year old!

The game also includes things such as male rape, somebody being burned alive, sex scenes etc.

Unfotunately some feckless parents are of the opinion that computer games are still just for children and dont realise how sophisticated games have become. If they refuse to educate themselves and actually check out what games are about before buying them for their little ones then they are idiots. Don't know what they think the 18 rating is for

Would a 6 year old get that far into the game, doing missions etc or would they just wander around shooting trees?

I don't know mrskeith but there are violent scenes from the moment you turn the game on. The opening sequence has you escaping from a pirate camp with your brother, sneaking past scenes of people being tortured and murdered. You see the brother snap somebody's neck and then shortly after he gets shot in the head and that is just in the first five minutes.

Even just wandering around the island without doing any missions you come across people being executed or piles of dead bodies.