Would you let your 13 yr old watch or play 18s?

[Offandonagain]

I know the rating is 18, but personally I think that is unreasonable and totally depends on the film.

My 13yr old is not allowed to watch psycho/horror gore Halloween type films such as Halloween at this rating, or sexy stuff such as Wolf of Wall Street

But he has gta on his computer due to him moaning to me that his friends have it and he wants to be able to play with them.

He is also currently on to season 2 of breaking bad, which I didn’t realise he was watching until yesterday as he’d binge watched it whilst ill and I was in work. I’ve seen them all and know what to expect. I don’t want to stop him because he’s really in to it and I know if it was me I’d be pissed off.

yabu - bad bad parent

yanbu - it depends on the individual film/game?

Oh please don’t feel sorry for me. I have an amazing 12 year doing exceptionally well in school, has a great group of friends and social life. Does very well in his chosen sport. Is polite, courteous, empathetic and an absolute joy to parent so a couple of hours of GTA here and there is certainly not being detrimental to him or his ideals.

The levels of violence as a society now are way higher than in the Kray era....the whole moral code of average society is way lower. People used to feel safe on the streets at night including women and children so your point is?

That all violence cannot just be blamed on games, considering how violence was still prevalent in gang era times.

Maybe society has always been unsafe,.only these days with mass media rather than just newspapers. ?

Mine were brought up with 18+ films playing and played 18+ video games including GTA from a young age.
I remember buying my eldest son GTA when it first hit the shelves when he was very young. He loved it.

Now happy, well adjusted adults with good careers, married with their own children and have never been in trouble with the police.
So I don't think films and games are to be blamed, but I think the lack of discipline while growing up is.

Yes but there’s a world of difference between the old GTAs and GTA 5.

The old GTAs from the 90s had cartoonish, 2-dimensional graphics and human beings were barely even recognizable as such. There was no pornographic content.

Now, the graphics are extremely realistic and the game includes topless strippers for the player to grope - i.e. interactive porn.

That I'll agree on, that they are very detailed, and interactive.

Not saying it's right for all children but myself and my brother were planning GTA younger than 13 and believe it or not we've turned into decent adults with no lasting trauma from it 😅 If kids can differentiate between real life and fictional games you shouldn't have a problem!

How GTA used to look in the 90s compared to how it looks now.

The game itself is uncensored, but I’ve had to find an image with censoring added to try and prevent myself from being banned!

I completely agree that the link between video games and violence is either non-existent or extremely marginal.

My issues are specific to parents buying games with realistic pornographic content for young children.

Before this thread, I would have assumed most parents wouldn’t knowingly buy porn for their children.

I agree.
My young grandson enjoys playing GTA although.

What are your views on buying porn for young children?

Why would anyone want a 13 year old to play this

Nobody’s saying that a thirteen year old can’t tell the difference between real life and a video game. They’re saying that (although they might not replicate the actual content) young preteens and teens shouldn’t have access to interactive violent pornographic content because it can impact their minds and attitudes to others. And if we’re actually honest about it op agrees with that - she won’t let him watch old campy slashers or what she calls ‘sexy’ films, so she obviously does think there’s something undesirable about him having access to sexualised/violent content. Except when she’s too lazy to enforce it because he’s already watched/played it.

Why wouldn't they.

Do do you also believe that mass media has no role in increased suicide, self harm, eating disorders, body dismorpia, depression. Are teenagers not influenced by the beautiful people they see on the ads....that obviously you believe font influence anybody in their buying decisions and companies just waste money? Becouse its ridiculous to say these are an influence but exposure to violence and intolerance through games and films are not. What about TV personalities like soap stars that people are convinced are like that in real life, plenty of stars report this? We live in z society where plenty of adults believe everything they see on TV and read in papers but are still developing children have more maturity and can differentiate.
Can we all honestly say we are as shocked at images of starting children as we were 10 years ago? It's a process of desensitisation the more we see the less it impacts us. Like a fair ride it scares us thr first time the second and third but overtime it scares us less.
People comparing games to whe they grow up should take a look at how they have changed and proved graphics or even just watch old TV programmes from 10 years ago they are less realistic.
Many people are in disbelief when their normally adjusted child turns out to self harm, be depressed etc so saying my kids are fine well adjusted etc should come with a caviat of I belive

It depends on the child and the context.

GTA - no way (glorifying crime and sex with prostitutes totally unsuitable for teens)

Breaking Bad - no way (much too graphic and no 13yo needs in depth knowledge of the meth industry - themes are way too adult)

However, ds13 has played Call of Duty, as I think he has the sense to separate playing a war game with the blood and gore turned off from reality.

Looks like porn. Do your young dc play it?

Because it’s interactive porn for god’s sake.

Are you trying to groom your grandson?

I judge each film/game on its merits,but generally I am not keen mine spending too much time on this sort of thing,so try and keep them busy with more active pursuits
Certainly at 13 there would be no binge watching

We are just about to watch Breaking Bad with our 13 year old. I wouldn't want him watching it by himself.

GTA is a flat no, despite all his friends having it. It's the misogyny that bothers me most.

I don't this the certificate is the issue, but you should know what they're watching and what the content is.

I've not read the entire thread but as for the OP question: I have a 13 yo, and I'd leave it to individual cases.

However, as a lifelong gamer, I'm far more likely to let him watch an 18 film than play an 18 game. Games are very realistic and immersive now, and I'd need to know exactly which game it was etc but I probably wouldn't want him on an 18 game until he was 15 or so. Remember it's not even just the game itself, but it's also the incredibly toxic/aggressive culture on voice comms.

My DC are all adults now.

Thank you for your rude comment why has someone who disagrees with you got to be belittled and bullied? I never said violence was less but it was different and criminals by large had a code or predictable targets....obviously yes there are and always will be exceptions. Have you ever done any safegaurding or psychology? If media is so safe why do we have to protect our children from snuff videos, media posts on self harm, being drawn into terrorism and extremism etc? Surley these well adjusted confident happy children know that their idols don't actually look like thd pictures they publish? As I have said it is a process of desensitisation that means we are less shocked .....and by the posts on here it proves thd point becouse allowing 13 year olds to fictionally rape murder and abuse is fine 10 years ago with less realistic graphics more parents would be saying no its not okay....
Your bullying is obviously something else you deem acceptable.