AIBU to think that 14 (y10) is too young for Call of Duty?

[tigerdriverII]

According to DS "everyone " plays it. Do they? AIBU to say that if you're 14 you don't get to play 18 games?

TBH, I cant get worked up about games, as dbrother is a marine in active service and ds had a long chat with the armed police on the tube yesterday! A bit of shooting on a video game is small fry when schools are practicing lock down!

Am I the only person who doesn't let their ds (10) play any games at all? :) He can when visiting friends, but at home he plays with Lego and reads books. He's totally ok with this btw!

Our children were/are very aware of the difference between games and reality especially where COD is concerned because DH is in the armed forces.

DS is the least aggressive person you could ever meet. He doesn't argue, he doesn't shout, he doesn't hit. He's been like that since he was a baby and it's never changed, even with playing COD.

He 'joined the army at 19, he had lads in his troop who were just under 18 when they joined up. By law they couldn't play/buy COD but they could do a lot worse in their day job.

No one wants to expose children to violence but it is there! Its all over the news, its around them and children talk! COD is just a single person shooter unless you let them play on line, id rather fight the screen time battle myself rather than the but everyone else has it line.

Most 14 year olds do play COD. For those who say their kids dont get to play it, i believe you, but trust me your child is in the minority. Adult DS has been playing games since he was 8. There were the same concerns floating around then yet he (and all his peers) have grown up into relatively normal law abiding citiziens. I put the frothers in the same category as historical idiots who claimed reading books would make your mind flabby or watching television would rot your brain. On its own, if you are raising your child in a loving respectful supportive household, then playing COD wont have any detrimental effect on your child. If your not raising your child in that environment, then playing COD is the least of that childs worries and definitely not the root cause of bad behaviour.

I've never played it so I don't know. I certainly wouldn't allow it just because his mates were playing it though. Have you checked out reviews of the content or played a sample of it?

I wasn't keen for DSS (12) to play it but DH said it was fine provided the gore filter was on. There is definitely a filter as we use it so perhaps go ahead with the proviso it's used. Also it filters out bad language.

Loads of kids smoke and have sex at fourteen.... mine aren't doing that either.

Unless you keep your 14 year olds locked in the house you don't know for sure what they are doing.

You can but hope they aren't doing anything you wouldn't allow.

My sons and their friends all played it much younger than 14.

They are 18 for a reason. I didn't let my son play any games that were 18 while he was at school. They way I looked at it was i wouldn't let him watch 18 films so why would I let him play a game. But I am a parent who doesn't care what everyone else does

I can't think of any other thread on MN where a poster says, 'my child wants to do [something out of their advised age group, like drinking]. If they don't they will suffer socially, shall I let them do it' and the majority of poster say 'yes, my child does/did it and is fine'. Most posters respond saying no.
Just because you can't see the damage that something is doing to your child's brain, and they act normal, doesn't mean that there is no damage. Why wouldn't you rather be certain than go down the 'well, I'm the parent, what the hell do experts know' route?

Mine played from about 13. I'm also a parent who doesn't care what everyone else does.

No no no. As a avid gamer I'd say no. No. No. They are very very violent very gorey. Not suitable for under 18's. Actually film restrictions are more arbitrary than gamers ones. The chances of any parents seeing most if the game content is practically bill although you'll probably watch a two hour film. Don't do it. Play it first and see what I mean even as an adult I find these games a little much and I play a lot. Play the damn thing before you give this to your child.

No YANBU, the realities of war are not fun or a game. The culture where it is normal for 'every' 14yo to sit at home playing COD safe in their home, whilst across the world people fear for their lives is bizarre. There are numerous studies proving that video games alter young people's mindset in regard to violence and combat- no it doesn't suddenly turn them into violent individuals but they do begin to normalise it, because of the way children's brains are programmed to learn and copy behaviour subconsciously.
There was an interesting documentary recently where an American family, fed up of their sons requests for video games, took their children to Syria for a few weeks. They stopped asking after that.

In my experience, most 14 year olds have graduated from COD and play Battlefield.
One of them (Modern Warfare?) is a 16.

The only rule I have is that they have to mute other people's mics (don't want to listen to other people swearing) A lot of the players online are clearly in primary school judging by how young they sound.

Absolutely agree with FRETGNIKCUF and others regarding age limits. They are there for a reason and the research into the impact on children's developing minds is real and quite frightening.

I have an almost 13yo DS and would agree that lots of his mates have 18 rated games (and many are allowed to watch 18 films) but that doesn't mean it is OK. I had a chat with DS this weekend about games for XMas, he mentioned COD and I said no, not happy and had a sensible conversation into why. I'm not blind enough to think he'll never play it at someone elses house but I can only do what I can do as a parent and say this is not something that's going to be in this house. He has an 8yo brother who I also don't want seeing that.

Oh, and he hasn't been bullied for it yet.

Why would you allow a child to play such a game? It scared me playing it! My mum thought it was ok to let me watch horror films, I actually think the films have phsycologically effected me. I'm a very frightened anxious person.

Me too. Fulltimemummy85

And one more thing. There are hundreds of non violent physics based logic games to play that are actually exceptionally good for your brain. Check out portal. Portal is amazing.

I wouldn't let my DS 10 play COD yet and probably not for a good few years. PEGI ratings are not just arbitary! It's an awful game anyway, it glorifies war and violence in a real life context. i don't mind them shooting imaginary characters in a cartoonish way (Overwatch for example) but COD is far too realistic for kids. In my mind it's worse than watching a violent film because you are immersed in the action - you are doing the killing rather than watching someone else do it.

Lots play it round here but certainly not all and it's generally seen as bad parenting to let the under 16s loose on it. The Head of the local secondary says he'll report parents who let their kids have access to it/GTA and the like to social services and suggest you try the school down the road if you are keen on 18 games for your children.

I have seen it and don't like it. All about soldiers killing each other complete with realistic blood and gore.

Oh not just soldiers killing soldiers cannotfind - the game contains plenty of opportunities for gunning down unarmed civilians too.

What could be more natural and healthy, or a better way to relax

I used to work for Game, and we had a moral obligation to warn parents of the content of 18 rated games. If you won't let him watch 18 rated films or drink alcohol then don't let him play the games.