6 yr old playing Grand theft auto

[peppajay]

AIBU to think a 6 yr old shouldn't be playing Grand theft auto??

My son has come home from school the last few days saying swear words not in an aggressive way just in the middle of a random sentence. I didn't want to make to much of a fuss about it so just asked him he knew those words from and he said that 'xxxx has been saying it at school' it is on his new x box game.

His mother is a little eccentric and extremely loud but nice enough and I speak to her sometimes at the school gate and at she requested me as a FB friend so I accepted. I logged on this morning and she is bragging about how far xxxxx has got on it and that he was up till 1am last night as she couldn't get him off it. I am completely and totally shocked that any parent would allow a 6 yr old to play this. She has had mixed comments probably more than half saying their kids love it and saying the same as her and others completely against the fact that he is on an 18 game. She says as long as he good at school he has no rules at home, normally I would let it go, each to their own but I don't want her irresponsible (imo) parenting to rub off on my son. AIBU???

[dementedma]

Not huge gamers here but Ds does love all the Halo games. Other than that he likes flying simulators and minecraft. From what I've heard there's no way I would let Ds aged 11 play CTA .

[johnworf]

Clearly this child's mother is about to do some serious damage to her DC. It is NOT game for a 6 year old child.

Strangely enough I was having a discussion with my DS#2 about whether it would be suitable for DSS who is 13 (almost 14) who has asked for it for xmas. He said that some of the missions are in strip clubs and involved naked women, there are drug dealers, he picked up a prostitute once and killed her so he didn't have to pay (?). He is 22 btw! So NO, dss will not be getting this game. Not a chance. And for a small child to be seeing these sorts of things, not to mention the profanity, is just so wrong on so many levels.

[Cat98]

This is something I intend to stand firm on as ds grows up. No way is he going to be playing these sorts of things under my roof, and I will do my damndest to ensure he doesn't play it at friends houses either (though I appreciate I may not have much control over this as he grows).

I was a bit shocked when one of my friends said she allows her 6 year old to play COD (but 'with the sound turned off so it's alright'). I think GTA is so much worse!

[MurderOfGoths]

"or filming teen celebrities taking it up the ass"

Grim. Hadn't heard about that one.

[ladyjadie]

My DP and I have been playing this since it came out, and tbh there have been parts that have made me , from memory particularly a torture scene that you have to engineer, I've been playing it since gta 3 and while I think it is an excellent game, with so much beautiful detail,funny script, clever development etc, I think it's a bit much for anyone under 15 to play. I know that sounds like a bit of an arbitrary age but that's the cert I would advise, if not 18 (which is the border of sensible/overkill but a good age cert for guidance)

A six year old playing it is just sad and a bit of a sad indicator for what sort of parent they are for A) letting a six year old play it and B) bragging how far they have played. They should be enjoying their innocence not assassinating immigrants or filming teen celebrities taking it up the ass (have played these as missions)

However pinning the blame of violence on these games is ridiculous. Maybe the parents letting children below the PEGI age of these games get used to stuff they should be more mature to understand. But not these games, their developers or producers..

[TootsFroots]

We are a big gaming family but I will never allow GTA in my house and my adult DCs agree. There are dozens of great games about GTA isn't one of them.
I don't mind COD half as much although I still would let young teens play it. I didn't allow first person shooters of any sort until my DCs were 14/15 ish (can't quite remember) and no 18 games until 17
There is something particularly unpleasant about GTA. I know its fun (for adults) but its a bit sick really.
Give me Bomberman, Marioparty etc anytime

My DC didn't play GTA at friends because I told them it was disgusting and I would not allow them to play it. I would allow them to break the rules a bit with other games but not GTA.

Now they are at Uni they still don't play it, they play DOTA (?) COD, halo, mario racing and FIFA and a few others that I can't remember.

[Zazzles007]

Another avid gamer who agrees that GTA is not for a 6 yr old. YADNBU OP, I can't believe this 'mother' allows her 6yo to play such a violent game and then has the audacity to brag about it on FB. Both misinformed and neglectful parenting if you ask me...

For those who have DC, does anyone one use the parental control settings to restrict the content that minors can view? At least that way, you do have a way of ensuring that your DC cannot view something (games, DVDs, web access) that you deem is too mature for them, and is password protected for when the adults want to play .

manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/basicoperations/parentallock.html

[Paddlinglikehell]

I play on the Playsation a lot - I'm 50

Love the old TR, would be horrified if DD who is 8 had any inkling about GTA, but I don't have those games in the house.

We often play Bolt or other such games together and because she has always had access, she isn't obsessed, thank goodness.

I wouldn't like to experience GTA myself to be honest.

[JCDenton]

Fair enough, there was a lot more combat than before!

[StuntGirl]

Too much combat and not enough isolation and old school style puzzles for me.

[JCDenton]

I thought there was enough old style jumping and wandering around wondering what does what while keeping it modernised. Anniversary is a remake of the first game if you haven't played that

[StuntGirl]

The new one is nothing like the old ones :( Still good in its own way but wish they'd make an old school TR.

[MurderOfGoths]

I should do, I loved the originals (mostly I loved locking the butler in the freezer)

[JCDenton]

I recommend getting around to playing it, really good game!

[BinksToEnlightenment]

Tomb Raider is really scary. Coming from someone who loves GTA.

[MurderOfGoths]

Ah, fair enough. Remembered the fuss, but have never got around to playing the game, so wasn't sure.

[JCDenton]

No, there was a big discussion on here with a petition but it turned out to be bullshit. There was a scene in the trailer where Lara is hiding and is discovered by an enemy, he grabs her and strokes her face before she attacks him and knocks him down. If you fail the event in-game, he doesn't rape her, he kills her. There was also a stupid comment by someone in the company about how Lara might go through some trauma like being raped, but there was never a question of making it into the game.

[MurderOfGoths]

Didn't they end up putting a rape scene in the new Tomb Raider?

[StuntGirl]

Er, have you seen some of the content in the new Tomb Raider? Very grim.

Some of the comments on this thread are making me roll about laughing. Ridiculous.

For whoever asked, I don't let anyone play games which are rated above their age. I don't have children of my own though hence being strict to the letter when I'm looking after other's children.

[ghostspirit]

I let my son now 11 year old play it i think he was 7 or 8 at then time hands up i was a prat i never checked it properly i knew it was for an older child i thought it was just crashing and racing maybe a bit of fighting or something. but then one day he said really aggressively im going to fucking kill you... something like that anyway. i put the game in the bin. i do still let them have ting that are over their age though such as tomb raider

[Retroformica]

I would talk to the teacher. It is unacceptable that your son has picked up such bad language from friend. I would tell the teacher what your son said about playing the game and not mention face book.

[cory]

GeeTeeEff Fri 20-Sep-13 18:51:17
"Can anyone answer my question?

If you do not allow your teen (say age 12 upwards) to play it in your home how do you stop them playing at a friends house? Genuine question btw. What difference does it make where they play it, they're still playing it."

The difference is that they grow up thinking "my parents had a problem with these things. Maybe there was some kind of reason". And if they are generally in the habit of thinking of their parents as fairly reasonable people with some kind of rationale for what they do, they might (as they grow older) consider why they had a problem with a game where you gain new energy points (or so I have heard) by being serviced by a prostitute.

My children are teenagers. They have, by now, a fairly clear idea of how I will react to various suggestions of theirs and what I will think about various aspects of their lives. Sometimes I am more tolerant and laissez-faire than their friends' parents, sometimes I am considerably less so, often there is no appreciable difference. They may not always agree with my pov, they may not always obey me, but at least they know, it is part of the moral package of the household as it were.

[Orangeanddemons]

It is a child protection issue. I'm a teacher, it has an age rating of 18, and is too violent for a six year old. I believe it contains sexual scenes.

It is not like kids playing soldiers etc, it has an age guidance for a reason. Do let a 6 year old play it is neglect