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AIBU?

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Original poster

to feel scared for our girls when kicking prostitutes in a video game

345 replies

Duckierub · 13/05/2014 12:54

gets you more points.

Did anyone see the program about women's roles in video games? I was utterly horrified when I saw the imagery of how women are portrayed as sexual objects and kicking female prostitutes to get your money back earned you points. I was also shocked that the teen girls interviewed said it was normal for them to be molested by boys.

AIBU to think that we should be campaigning against some of this stuff?

OP posts:
Ratbagcatbag · 13/05/2014 16:09

Hear, not here.

TillyTellTale · 13/05/2014 16:10

Tilly I do not think that cover tells you whether the game is violent or not, unless you understand the age rating system. I agree that some parents are feckless and don't care but I know far more who do care but don't realise.

The default setting should be 'big red symbol of 18- oh like a film then'. And people flipping it over to look at the back. Anyone not thinking that has already compartmentalised games as being 'for kids'. We can introduce all the laws we like, but as long as such people think games are harmless, they'll ignore the laws.

I'll take your point about Saints Row not having any weaponry on the cover, though; I just think that the great big 18 should be enough for anyone capable of operating an ELC calculator.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 13/05/2014 16:10

Yanbu

Ds's mates at 9 were playing this,I was horrified. I'm still horrified now they're 13. I wouldn't give it house room.

gotnotimeforthat · 13/05/2014 16:13

I would be more horrified that the 9 year olds parents thought a game clearly labelled 18 was suitable for a 9 year old to begin with.

BertieBotts · 13/05/2014 16:17

But Tilly, it isn't. And I've had conversations where I explained to someone that the age rating is about the content - a lot of them thought it was about difficulty (for example). Not people who come across as "a bit thick" either, perfectly intelligent seeming people - as far as you can tell from a conversation in a shop anyway.

And there isn't an intelligence test before you have children. Or do children of less intelligent people not deserve protecting?

Along the lines of Ender's suggestion, maybe shops should have sections for "children's games" (or "family games") and "adult games" in the same way as most shops have children's books and adult books on different shelves, or a separate section for children's DVDs. That might make people think more. When you have Saint's Row on the same shelf as Simpsons Bowling and My First Pony Simulator people do think it's for children. Not everybody notices age ratings, especially if they assume games are a "kids' thing".

It was a good move to change the PEGI ratings to look the same as BBFC ratings but I still don't think people are looking at them and/or realising what they mean.

NinjaLeprechaun · 13/05/2014 16:18

Wait, unreal, are you suggesting that teenage girls refusing to have sex with teenage boys is a BAD thing? As the mother of a teenage girl (whose friends are mostly boys, btw) I can only see that as a positive.
I don't know quite when or where you grew up, but teenage boys were pretty scary when I was 12 or 13 as well.

BertieBotts · 13/05/2014 16:19

Ratbag I think that kind of approach is sensible. But if parents aren't prepared to play through games themselves then a blanket ban is safer.

SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed · 13/05/2014 16:29

But there isn't going to be a blanket ban. We have to work with what is actually likely to happen. And to be honest, I wouldn't want to see that happen, because there are lots of things that aren't suitable for children (whiskey, sports cars, boning knives), we don't ban them because some people are too stupid to keep them away from small children.

DrFunkesFamilyBandSolution · 13/05/2014 16:42

I think the biggest assumption about parents who buy their young children these games is that they actually give a shit about the content. Most I know are just happy to have them quiet and in their rooms.

I witnessed a lovely argument between a mum & her 12yr old boy. She wouldn't buy him Far Cry 3,because she spent 50 quid on the last fucking one and he completed it get a weekend. And he should pick a fucking cheaper game that lasts longer (he already had COD).
It's a game that needs about 14 hours of solid play to complete minimum, so that there are kids out there (I was one of them, mum was just happy to have us quiet) who are allowed that much unlimited screen time is worrying & wrong.

gotnotimeforthat · 13/05/2014 16:43

If we was to ban violent/sexual games we would have to ban violent/sexual movies and lets face it that's not going to happen.

< shudders at the thought of banning Jason statham from my tv >

britbat · 13/05/2014 16:45

It's a game that needs about 14 hours of solid play to complete minimum, so that there are kids out there (I was one of them, mum was just happy to have us quiet) who are allowed that much unlimited screen time is worrying & wrong.

How does a game which takes 14 hours to complete translate to "that much unlimited screen time"?

Player could complete it in 14 1-hour stints, for example. Using savepoints. No need to play it all the way through in one go!

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 13/05/2014 16:47

I don't think films and video games are comparable. One you watch passively the other you actively take part in. I know hard core gamers who dislike GTA fuck knows why people think it's ok to let their kids play it.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 13/05/2014 16:49

Got, yes, that's why I was horrified!

gotnotimeforthat · 13/05/2014 16:50

dame

The comparison was more to do with a previous poster implying violent or sexual imagery is the cause for lesbians and beasts.

DrFunkesFamilyBandSolution · 13/05/2014 16:53

BritbAts, the argument they were having was he completed the game, with a minimum of 14 hours game play, over a weekend. Even if that's one hour on, one off that's still a massive amount of time sat on his arse over a weekend.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 13/05/2014 16:54

Got-sorry, sorry wrong end of the stickSmile

Fleta · 13/05/2014 16:58

I would far, far rather support a campaign to encourage parents to buy age appropriate games rather than ban anything perceived as violent as a knee-jerk reaction.

It does seem a number of people objecting to GTA etc aren't fully conversant with the game. I object to GTA for my DD as she isn't old enough to play it. I don't object to GTA in general.

But then I'm biased as I work alongside the games industry

peachactiviaminge · 13/05/2014 17:04

Growing up I played sonic the hedgehog a lot now as an adult I find myself jumping on random fat men. I guess video games do influence your behaviour Sad that or I'm a chubby chaser.

unrealhousewife · 13/05/2014 17:13

DrFunkes was making a point about parents not being capable or willing to restrict their childrens gaming time or the content and were more concerned with how much it cost - many parents might in theory prefer their children to have a clean cut lifestyle but it's not that straightforward when the only way to avoid your children succumbing to the evils is to ban the internet from the house or have them constantly badgering them and sulking.

The reality is, games are designed to lure people in, they are designed to make it hard to stop, they are designed to keep you involved and obsessed - in a similar way that pusher sells heroin. It's extremely hard for any parent to compete with this - it's the combined knowledge money and power of hugely wealthy and competetive games corporations. Parents will never be able to stand up to this (the average, bog-standard hard working busy parent anyway - not the helicopter types) and that's why government controls need to be much tighter.

Someone quoted Mark Twain's analogy about censorship - I think if Mark Twain knew what was happening to the minds and the imaginations of young people today he would be turning in his grave and fully endorsing censorship.

We have to remember that children have always done 'gaming' - even in Mark Twain's time. It was called 'soldiers' or 'cowboys and indians' and girls played 'doctors and nurses' or 'weddings'. The difference is that children made the rules amongst themselves, not huge moneyed corporations.

gotnotimeforthat · 13/05/2014 17:13

dame you are forgiven... Just Wink

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 13/05/2014 17:16

Got-whatevsWink

Cantabile · 13/05/2014 17:16

Almost the whole of dd's year have decided that a particular boy needs to be given a bit of a lesson, as he keeps groping dd despite her making it very clear that she doesn't appreciate it or like him. She told a friend of hers last week that the boy keeps groping her chest. This week, the boy has been marched into a corner by half a dozen other pupils and told to leave her alone, pushed, tripped. He has been taken aside and talked to seriously by at least four groups of pupils. It's only Tuesday.

I feel sorry for him in one way, but she and her close friends had been dealing with it politely since Christmas and he wasn't paying the slightest heed, so part of me is delighted (and I am ashamed of that). Having read this thread, I can see that perhaps the drastic measures being taken now will teach that lad to behave better as an adult. They are 14/15 now and better now than in 10 years.

MrsWinnibago · 13/05/2014 17:19

Cantabile a better way with longer lasting results would have been to complain to the HT that DD was being sexually harassed. It's time sexual harassment was made a serious enough offence for expulsion.

Fleta · 13/05/2014 17:22

So just to clarify Unrealhousewife - you want certain games banned because some parents refuse to be parents?

gotnotimeforthat · 13/05/2014 17:22

Unreal.

Firstly you can pick and choose what your children can access on the Internet. You can block single sites or even a group of sites. So no need to block the Internet.

As for children badgering and sulking that's parenthood I'm afraid.

Yes adults and children like to play video games but to say either are obsessed is a bit of a strong statement to make.

And I'm not even going to start on the supposed similarities between selling heroin and a game.