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?

Depends. Watched some horror films with my mum that were 18s at that age.

Used to play GTA back in the early 00s in primary school, but not the missions, just for free play running around the city robbing cars and doing stunts and killing people. Used to play with my little brother and it was loads of fun. Didn't seem sinister or gory, didn't do anything sexual. Also used to play Mario, so it's not like that's all we played.

I did get through a lot of the missions on RDR2 though! Unfortunately I don’t have the time to sink into it regularly, and it takes me an age to re-learn the controls and systems.

I remember Bully being good fun for a while too, but Bethesda games seem to be the open world ones that hold my interest.

GTA 3 / Vice City / Sam Andreas (ie the games from the early 2000s) didn’t have the same sort of pornographic content, so far as I recall (and even if they did, the graphics were still very primitive).

Yeah it was VC and SA. My point was more that as kids we only played it as a sandbox game not doing the missions that involve drugs and the prostitutes etc. I don't know if the game has changed since then in terms of that? So the way we would play would be to run people over and get 5 star police chases and then run away from the helicopters and stuff and that was fun enough.
Maybe it does have more sexual content in the sandbox now?

So yeah it would depend on how sexual it is. I'm not too concerned about violence in the same way as I am about the sexual stuff iyswim

I completely agree.

For me, issue by issue:

Violence: mostly does not concern me. I do not think it would have a negative effect on the majority of younger teens.

Bad language: a slight issue with some younger teens but broadly does not bother me.

Misogyny: I understand and appreciate that the misogynistic attitudes in the games are intended as satire. I think it has become more prevalent in recent releases. I worry that the satire would be lost on younger teens and I don’t think it’s out of the question that it could help nurture unhealthy, sexist attitudes. That said, I don’t think GTA V is going to suddenly turn a well adjusted child into a raging misogynist.

Pornographic content: this is the issue for me. GTA V contains interactive soft core porn. This was not an issue in earlier releases in the series but, for me, renders it completely inappropriate for younger teens to play (except under close supervision).

That's understandable, I was similar e.g. Codes list but with gta vice city

As soon as you’re into the sandbox of GTA V (i.e, once you’re through the mandatory tutorial mission) you can go to a strip club.

You don’t HAVE to go to it, and could avoid it entirely. I have no doubt that younger players could get loads of enjoyment out of the game without visiting it. I also have no doubt that the majority of young boys, if left unsupervised, would visit the strip club.

Then it’s titties, thongs and groping, via a first-person perspective.

It only gets worse

So people who talk to each other daily can’t be friends?

do you think people who date online aren’t in relationships either?

Still waiting for you to show any evidence that plenty of psychologists and child psychologists think children of 13 can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality btw. Or to show the relevant crime stats since you’ve asserted violent crimes are more prevalent now than in years gone by.

It really depends.

I have 3 boys, 2 nearly 14 one is 11. I let them watch things over their age if I’ve watched it first in the main. I don’t let them play GTAV, I own it and play it myself and don’t think it’s suitable. I let them play COD as it’s a shoot em up with no storyline - they are not allowed to talk to strangers.

PS - for those of you saying that you ‘murder and rape young women’ in GTA - this isn’t actually a task or anything. If someone is doing that, it’s purely their choice. Not saying it’s nice to have the option available, but it’s entirely possible to play and not do that.

Numpties 🤣🤣 aka parents who have a clue and are actually concerned about what their kids play online. My kids have free reign within their age. I guess I could be like you and think ah fuck it, they're not bothering me. Unless of course you're sat playing it with them. It wu

It would not Suprise me!

@Sometimeswinning but you clearly don’t have a clue

hence why you’ve been called out for posting BS, and when asked for links or studies that back up your opinion you don’t seem able to do that.

yet the poster who initially called you out has been able to provide many cited studies on this matter to prove the opposite of your point

I don’t let mine play GTA, have no need to. But posters like you make me chuckle as you seem totally ignorant to how silly you come across when making baseless claims and refusing to back them up when repeatedly asked.

There’s generally a lack of nuance in the thread.

There are some (presumably) non-gamers who are parroting debunked or massively overblown arguments about the supposed evils of gaming.

There are those who played GTA games many years ago who are opining on GTA 5 without realizing that there are very significant differences between the games of 15-20 years ago and the latest ones.

There are gamers who, at times, are being overly
defensive or dismissive of particular concerns with respect to certain, specific 18-rated games.

Games are like any other kind of media. Some are suitable for all ages. Some 18+ rated games are far milder in content than others. Some may be reasonably deemed appropriate for some younger players. Some, on the other hand, have sections that are simply not appropriate for younger players.

I would say that anyone who is providing a younger teen with an adult-rated piece of media (particularly to watch/play unsupervised) has a duty to first inform themselves as to the reasons for the adult age rating, so that they can make an informed decision. To do otherwise is negligent.

And I’d further say that I would have deep concerns about any suitably-informed parent who allowed their 13 year old to play GTA 5 unsupervised.

The Witcher 3 is another. Amazing game. Not as problematic in GTA 5 in many respects, but does have a lot of realistic nudity and sexual content that rules it out for being appropriate for younger players.

Howling at this 🤣🤣🤣

I do. I work with children. I know the difference between those who parent and those who don't. I work with 8 year olds telling teachers to fuck off and hope they get raped. Ive been hit and kicked this week (again 8,9 and 10 year olds) regardless of whether ive followed the script of behaviour! You're right, I can't expect every parent to get it or care. I just hoped one person may see the results and parent differently. Please don't assume I've not got a clue though. There's no way you're chuckling if you work with children.

Thing is, in order to experience the full story mode in GTA you have to play for probably 20-30 hours. I've played the full story mode, and some of the worst violence (Trevor, the psychopathic torturer) doesn't appear until quite a long way in maybe 10 hours or so. BTW, the torture techniques available are waterboarding, electrocution, club with wrench and tooth extraction with pliers - cutting off fingers is not featured.

It's not really practical for most parents to play the whole game and make a decision on its suitability. So in the end you have two choices. You can either go with the recommended rating, as compiled by experts/psychologists. or you can go with "I know better than the experts and my kids aren't at all affected by this".

Which do people think is the most likely to constitute the best parenting ?

Two more things I would say. First is, if you actually look at the comments, the vast majority of people (if not all of them) that have played GTA story mode in full say it is a hard no for letting young teenagers play the game. Secondly, if GTA doesn't constitute your limit for what is acceptable for an immersive experience for a young teenager, what actually would ?

Finally, I have played both GTA V and Witcher 3. They are both software masterpieces, incredible games. But not suitable for young teenagers.

I agree with almost all of this.

Save for that there are many parents who are also gamers, who might well complete an 18+ rated game and decide that they are comfortable with their child playing it.

And I don’t imagine any who have played through GTA V would allow their young kids to (except, perhaps, supervised, sandbox play).

@GasPanic

Just to be clear, in response to this particular part of your post:

Secondly, if GTA doesn't constitute your limit for what is acceptable for an immersive experience for a young teenager, what actually would?

If that was aimed at me, I have consistently said, throughout the thread, that GTA V is not suitable for younger teens.

If you’re asking me what I would consider to be an 18-rated game that would be appropriate for some younger players - it’d probably be a FPS of some sort, or maybe even an older game (like the 2D GTAs).

So your happy for your teen to meet s friend in town becouse they have been chating on line for a few weeks?
I work with children who at 14 say they want to be snipers as a career ordinary normal never in trouble children. One was busy saving to go to the US to meet his friends as soon as he could...yes maybe he would grow out of it before he was old enough but at the time he wanted to go and see their real gun collection. Do you know how online grooming works? As I said I've done many safegaurding and prevent courses I've been envolved with social services supporting families and children. And yes in my 29 year plus experience more children are becoming entrapped bullied, suicidal or have behavioural issues. Treating girls like possessions is a growing issue and yes gaming is a common thread. It's worrying but I also get its easier to say okay to your child than no.

On line dating by the way has risks as adults we take the advice of meeting safley etc a child presented with a 40 year old instead of the 13 year old us not in such a safe position but I'm sure you will disagree.....an online date is not a friend they may become one but it should take time unless a one night stand is all your after.

The thing is almost any game can be modded to contain violence and sexual content. Sims and Skyrim for example, have a huge number of adult-themed mods.

Whilst I don't necessarily believe actively allowing a 13 yo to play content like this is the right thing to do I do think, if your child games or has access to the internet mobile phone, it is impossible to protect them fully from this content.

I can guarantee almost all 13yo's will have viewed some type of pornographic or violent material at some point either via streaming sites while their parents are not looking or via friends' devices.

Discussing the issues around porn and graphic content is far more useful than an outright ban on certain games and films.

’Adult’ mods aren’t available on consoles. I’m not a pc gamer but I assume Steam and alike have parental controls that would prevent the installation of mods.

And although I hear what you’re saying (that at some point, education re porn and violence is necessary, rather than prohibition), I’m far, far from convinced that GTA V is the appropriate piece of media with which to impart those lessons to a 13 year old.

And certainly, I do think that just buying them GTA V and leaving them to it, like the OP is doing, is neglectful and potentially damaging.

I was reflecting on this issue recently! My son is turning 11 this month, and a couple of weeks ago he went to a sleep over for an 11th birthday where they watched a Pg film, ate sweets and chatted about Pokémon. He's so young. I can't imagine in 2 years time he would watch 18s or play 18 video games.

Then I reflect back to my childhood.

At 11, My friends and I (posh girls school!!) we're having sleepovers and watching psycho, Friday 13th, Chuckie....

I have turned out ok!!!

But .... what the hell were our parents (all apparently happy for us to watch this stuff, all giving permission for this nonsense) thinking????