13yo not allowed GTA. Aibu?

[Raaarrrrrrrr]

Hello all. Son, 13 last week, wants to play Grand Theft Auto. His older brother has never been allowed it.

He thinks we are the worst parents in the world. AAALLLLLLLLL his other friends are allowed it.

TBH I only know what they say, prostitutes, drug deals etc, I've never looked into it more than that.

AIBU to say absolutely not?

I'm open to views...

TIA

Watching with interest....Similar here!

I thought it was an 18?

On the basis his older brother wasn’t allowed it then I wouldn’t. Equity and all that.

Watching with interest too as my 13 year old has asked for it. I have said categorically no!

I's say only if you're happy for him to do other things that he's not old enough for (which I assume you're not). Can you help him find something more appropriate?

I'd say not before 16 (parent of a 15y.o.)

It's a game for adults and is absolutely not in any way suitable for a 13 year old. Especially an only just turned 13. Do not give in. Ive played and loved it and there are some things you can do in it like cycling around the world and jumping out of planes, but if he starts playing through the missions then there's stuff I wouldn't want a 13year old to see in there. Easier to just say no

p.s I got around it by letting mine have 16 games at 13, like spiderman & horizon zero dawn....

We're having the exact same argument here with our 14yo. My DH is more clued up on games and he says no

Definitely not unreasonable.

I played it when I was younger and it’s 18 for a good reason.

Probably best waiting a few years.
DH has played it and said the content is not suitable for kids of that age. Our 13yo knows he can't play it yet.

YANBU purely on the basis of other players' behaviour. The game content is too much for a 13yo I'd say, as a 38yo who plays it!

I've enjoyed playing GTA V. I can categorically state therefore that it is rated 18 with good reason.

I have played it and yes, it's 18 for a reason

Nope. My husband works for Rockstar. He was involved in making GTA and Red Dead. He says it's an eighteen for a good reason. He would maybe let a fifteen year old if there were mature otherwise no way. Yanbu.

On the other hand, DH is fine for DS to play Skyrim which is an 18. But a completely different type of game which DH plays himself too so knows it's okay for DS to play as he is clued up on PC games.

The content is not at all suitable for a 13 year old. For example, there are scenes where you torture another human and you are the torturer, you pick the instruments used etc. It would be really inappropriate to let a 13 year old play imo

I played gta from about age 12 when my parents didn’t know much about monitoring tech. I turned out fine but it’s a pretty graphic game. But because I also read books way too old for me - it didn’t expose me to anything new.

That said, there’s no way I would allow my own children to play gta younger than 15 or to read the types of novels I was reading (both gratuitously covered topics such as rape, prostitution, drugs, child abuse and trafficking without the filter or child friendly context).

It’s rated 18.

He’s not 18.

It is definitely not an 18 for no reason, I wouldn't let a 13 year old play it. Some games that have higher age ratings aren't really that bad, and I do think it is ok to ignore the age ratings on certain games but GTA is not one of them.

Tell him my 17yo isn't allowed GTA either.

Actually he won't be 'allowed' GTA until he has left home because im nt having that in my house....

Both ds have survived btw.

Thank you all. You are all coming from the same place as me (but you're more knowledgeable). DH says, "But all his friends are playing it!" Would he say that if they were all smoking, I wonder?

It's hard as his mates (closest) are playing it. Their parents have apparently sat and played it with them (there you go, better than us there, too!) and think it's ok.

I'm also in agreement that if his brother hasn't been allowed it, then he won't be either.

Hate parenting teens 😢 BANG! That was his door...

Having seen my husband play it recently, I wouldn't let a teenager play it! The language is shocking and there are frequent references to drugs, sex and violence.
Call of Duty is a much better choice if he wants to play what other kids in his year do (I'm a secondary school teacher and hear far more kids discussing COD than GTA). Hope that helps.

@Raaarrrrrrrr

Thank you all. You are all coming from the same place as me (but you're more knowledgeable). DH says, "But all his friends are playing it!" Would he say that if they were all smoking, I wonder?

It's hard as his mates (closest) are playing it. Their parents have apparently sat and played it with them (there you go, better than us there, too!) and think it's ok.

I'm also in agreement that if his brother hasn't been allowed it, then he won't be either.

Hate parenting teens 😢 BANG! That was his door...

Hilarious that their parents have sat down with them to play it and concluded it’s ok.

When my parents were in the room and wanted to know what my brother and I were playing it was easy to convince them that GTA was just a driving game where you had to stop properly at the lights and run little errands in time. hilarious - I’m sure they wouldn’t say it’s ok if they sat through a torture errand or one of the many prostitution scenes- but it’s easy to avoid those if playing for parent approval.