Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

not to let DS1 (11) play Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty

103 replies

Preciousdaisybear · 27/09/2013 17:35

Argh. I am getting so much grief from DS1 about this. Apparently ALL his friends and classmates play these games and have started to make fun/tease him that he isn't allowed to. Having seen the content of this games, the violence and the language there is no way I think anyone under the age of 16 should have access and I can't believe that parents of children much younger than mine let their kids play. I want to protect him from being exposed to things he is too young to deal with - but at the same time don't want to alienate him from his peers. He is too well behaved and honest to sneak off to a chum's house and play it anyway. Any advice would be much welcomed. Confused

OP posts:
LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops · 28/09/2013 14:22

There is a scene in GTA where players are challenged to have sex with a prostitute, beat her to death and then steal her money.
Talkin...how can you be happy with this for your 13yr old?

JCDenton · 28/09/2013 15:36

there is a scene in GTA where players are challenged to have sex with a prostitute, beat her to death and then steal her money.

Not true. There are prostitutes in game, the player can attack any bystander and they will drop a random amount of money.

What you said is not true

DontGiveAwayTheHomeworld · 28/09/2013 17:03

The simple fact is that there is obviously a market for these games. The company puts an 18 rating on them, the shops cannot and will not sell the games to anyone under 18 (the fines are incredibly high). If a parent then goes against everything put in place to prevent children playing the game, that's down to the parent.

The actual content of the game is irrelevant. You don't think it's suitable for your child, don't let them play it. It's that simple.

Doesnotdrinkalcohol · 28/09/2013 17:19

I assume everyone who would let their 12 year old play this 18 rated game would also let their 12 year old watch 18 rated films. It's irresponsible.

cunt, fuck and nigger all heard repeatedly in the dialogue. Scenes of cocaine use. Scenes of necrophilia. Lengthy torture. Full nudity.

OP YANBU.

CommanderShepard · 28/09/2013 19:06

Casual misogyny. Casual racism. Etc etc.

It's not a game for children in any way, shape or form and I'm pretty agog that anyone would allow their child to play this. (Yes we have it, no I don't like it, yes we are big gamers, no we refuse to have it on during DD's waking hours)

Mojavewonderer · 28/09/2013 19:16

You all may have banned your kids from owning and/or playing GTA & COD but they can still watch other people play it via YouTube and they can also get around the parental controls too.

Talkinpeace · 28/09/2013 19:28

Its amazing how much all you people who say you won't have it in the house know about it.
I have it in the house.
What I've seen so far is beautiful graphics, silly street names and about the same amount of swearing that you hear after a football match in town.
Yeah, do the missions and it gets more OTT - but DS is quite happy getting his money's worth out of the driving and flying for now.

IAmMiranda · 28/09/2013 19:49

On GTA you can pick up a prostitute, have sex with her and then kill her in a multitude of grusome ways (beaten to death with fists, a baseball bat, a cleaver etc etc) which is pretty damn graphic.

There is also a mission where you run down pedestrians with a combine harvestor - its shreads their bodies and spits them out.

I have played GTA - it is NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN.

I can't believe there is even a debate on this.

Talkinpeace · 28/09/2013 19:51

Which character has those missions - as you have clearly played it

IAmMiranda · 28/09/2013 19:57

I can't remember - he was a black guy, the main character i think. Its been a long time.

Yes, I have played it. So I can comment on its contents. If a child is playing it for the cars - why not just get a car game? One that doesn't have the option to brutally murder someone?

There is another mission where you have to trap a builder in a portaloo, dig a hole, push the portaloo in the hole and fill it with concrete; so an even more gruesome death for him (IMO)

GTA is a great game in many ways, very detailed, very diverse - but it is for adults. Adults.

JCDenton · 28/09/2013 21:11

Yeah, that was CJ, I seem to remember that the portaloo mission got quite a backlash from players for being too harsh - I certainly didn't enjoy it, for all I thought San Andreas was great in general.

The combine harvester mission I thought was hilarious,more wacky than anything.

MurderOfGoths · 29/09/2013 18:44

Mojave So what? People should just buy it for their kids anyway?

SadBadMadFat · 29/09/2013 19:54

IamMiranda spot on. If kids want to play car races, parents buy them a car game.

I cant believe grown adults think this is okay for kids to be playing. I despair for the future of human beings.

CommanderShepard · 29/09/2013 20:55

My thoroughly unscientific datagathering suggests that gamers generally take a far harder stance on age restrictions than non-gaming parents. I don't know if parents who buy unsuitable games for their children genuinely don't know the game's content or just don't care but I find it depressing.

DH is playing GTA as I type and I'm trying not to listen because the language is vile. so I'm reading Mass Effect smut because I am a paragon of virtue I genuinely can't understand why anyone would be happy to let their child hear that. Smushy-teddy-bear-of-loveliness DH playing GTA is one thing. Impressionable teenager/tween quite another.

IAmMiranda · 29/09/2013 21:33

I'm currently training to be a clinical psychologist, I'm by no means at all an expert but have come across numerous studies exploring the link between violent video games/ tv programmes and aggression in children.

The first that springs to mind - and is the most simplistic - is Bandura.

In short: he showed children a tv clip of a man striking a bobo doll. The children, who had previously displayed little or no aggression in observed play, proceeded to replicate the tv clip inc copying actions (punching and kicking) and sound effects ("sock him!" "pow!")

Very interesting study, boys had a higher rate of violence than girls, showing a cartoon version significantly lowered results.

Anyone who wants to read more into the GTA/CoD thing should start with Bandura.

IAmMiranda · 29/09/2013 21:35

(just read over that and I say simplistic as in best to easily place with GTA not because I think people can't understand Blush)

Talkinpeace · 29/09/2013 21:41

which is fascinating but not at all borne out by the non lab data

real life violent crime (mugging, stabbing, watching public executions) it as at an all time historic low
even though opportunities to watch virtual violence are at an all time high

please explain

CommanderShepard · 29/09/2013 21:54

I don't know why crime rates have fallen (though probably things such as early intervention, more funding of youth resources) but I'm fairly sure people breaking the law to buy their underage children Grand Theft Auto isn't the key.

Talkinpeace · 29/09/2013 21:56

GTA is not the key, its an irrelevance

CommanderShepard · 29/09/2013 21:59

Or, you know, you could read one of your own links and get:

  • more police officers
  • proliferation of security measures including burglar alarms
  • police engagement 'on the beat' and targeting hotspots
  • more people in prison
  • petering out of drugs epidemics
  • improved security tech in cars
Talkinpeace · 29/09/2013 22:03

:-) I subscribe to the Economist - I read it in bed every night
BUT
I live facing a massive shitty estate and the fact that the hoody boys are too busy looking at their screens to smash my windows any more has made a huge difference

CommanderShepard · 29/09/2013 22:03

And nothing you have linked to constitutes a peer-reviewed, published study.

Crime aside - you're seriously ok with the rampant misogyny, racism and homophobia in that game being heard by your child? The violence is far from the only thing that's problematic in GTA.

mathanxiety · 29/09/2013 22:30

YANBU: stick to your guns. Find out if his friends have these games at their homes and stop him from going if he will be able to play there.

GTA is a prolonged rape scene.

Not only is it 'not a game for children', anyone who thinks it is a game needs their head examined.

Talkinpeace, When you talk about crime rates, what crimes are we looking at?
Rape?
Child sexual abuse?
Cruelty to the old and the young and vulnerable?
Domestic violence?
I am pretty sure rates for all of the above are impossible to measure but most experts agree that what is reported is the tip of the iceberg.

Or are we talking about rates of crimes like shoplifting or pickpocketing/mugging - general street crime, burglary, etc?
These crimes tend to be reported more, and they also tend to show up on the ubiquitous security cameras. Houses are far more alarmed than they used to be.

IAmMiranda · 29/09/2013 22:37

Crime is at an all time low? Really? Are there stats you can give to prove that?