violent computer games - 7yr olds friends

[incywincyspideragain]

just after some general advice - ds is 7 and in yr3 - we don't really have video games at home (we have a wii but they rarely play on it and when they do its sport type games or mario karts) he has started playing minecraft, creative not survival and enjoying that but talking more and more about the games his friends have that involve killing zombies or Germans, one that is for 18 yr olds and asking to play minecraft survival.
He doesn't have any kind of tablet or computer himself - he borrows mine.

He is fascinated with one boy in his class who has these games and more and more of his games with his brothers are now involving pretending to have guns.

I don't think he should be playing any kind of killing games at 7 but by not getting on board with games in general am I making them more attractive? is there a middle ground?

Well, there are plenty of kids' games around, so I'd let him play some of those but I would maybe have a word with your son's teacher and see if she can say something to the other parent, as 7 year olds shouldn't be playing 18 certificate games.

I think its the fact he wants to play the games his friends are playing - he played minecraft today but it wasn't good enough as he wants to play survival and I'm just unsure about a 7 yr old playin games that involve killing... apparently I'm really mean...

I didn't allow any first person shooters in the house until my DC were 16'ish and have, give or take a year or so, stuck yo the proper age ratings. I still refuse to have the very objectionable games in the house such as grand theft auto even though my DCs are adults .
We all really enjoy playing computer games I our house but manage yo find lots of brilliant non-shooty games.

My adult sons think grand theft auo and done of the very violent games are awful too. They play violent games now but not the really bad ones.

Even at 7 I am sure your son can understand why he can't play the violent games. Maybe the middle ground is finding other great non-violent games for him to play.

why cant he play survival on minecraft - they are killing make believe things not people? Mine plays that but doesnt get to play any of the older age rated games.

I have 2 boys aged 8 and 6. They spend a lot of time playing good vs evil (ie killing) games both on the wii and off it. They are never allowed to play games rated above age 8 either at home or at friends but skylanders etc that's ok.
There is a lot written about the link bw superhero games, defeating baddied, violence and children's development which suggests its a normal phase. Ultimately though, if you don't want him to play such things, you' ll just have to explain why.

Thanks for replies, it's good to hear views and think about it more, I think I'm going to stick to non violent games, I find games killing anything unnecessary, I'll have to explain the reasons why I don't see it as a game which I haven't done, I've let him have more time on tablet this week so hopefully it'll be more of a middle ground