call duty black ops

[clue]

I have a 13year old boy nearly fourteen and keeps on about wanting this game but it is rated 18 which I don't agree with him playing. he sees his dad every weekend and plays 18 games which causes conflict when he comes back home. Do most parents have this problem with the call of duty game.

My son and his friends (16) are thinking about CoD Black Ops as they all have the previous one. My DS does not play his XBox all the time at all due to sport, etc. Sometimes he does not play it for weeks at a time. His younger brother (12) watches him play or sometimes joins in.

I also think that a lot of the people who are mealymouthed about these games do not have teenaged children.

So long as your child is not on the console all day every day, ie in moderation, then I think these games are fine, but obviously not for anyone not yet in secondary school and maybe not until they're about 12.

I have a friend whose DS has SN and she once said a very wise thing to me. She used to compare ages for children reaching certain milestones like going to the shop on their own, but that drove her mad. She says that each parent knows their own child so it should be up to the parent to judge the appropriate age for each action.

I think far too many people are judgey about parents nowadays. We are made to feel guilty for every little thing, but we are human!

I agree wholeheartedly with your last sentence, IlJJ. That said, the sorts of things that truly violate innocence, imho, is graphic imagery (we are a very visual species) of the worst of humanity: stuff like murder, rape, sex, etc. That's what gets me about games like COD, it's not just the idea as part of a story but a fairly explicit representation of such violence that one can't even skim over, the player really has to pay attention to it in order to play the game at all.

I don't understand the rush to encourage them succomb to the pressures to grow up. The real nasty world is out there, but I don't want DC knowing too much about it any earlier than they need to. So 16 for COD, maybe, but 12 is dodgy. It's only an opinion, I'm not going to do worse than invisibly lift eyebrows at parents who choose otherwise, but OP asked for opinions, hence why we're giving 'em! :)

We have let my 15 yr old son have this game. Although it is an 18, when you first log in to the game you have the option to "enable graphic content" or not; this, I understand from a friend of my husband who has this and similar games, screens out the worst of the violence. I sat with him when he logged on to ensure that he ticked the correct box.

I was reluctant to let him have this game; as a child he would often act out scenes from Toy Story and Harry Potter, for example.

We have not noticed him becoming more aggressive since having this game (and CoD before it).

I believe this game differs from Grand Theft Auto in that GTA features apparently ordinary people in normal streets; circumstances he might well find himself in. He is not likely to find himself in a situation such as in Black Ops/ CoD unless he joins the army. I find the settings for GTA more disturbing than the war settings.

Interesting reading.

My DS is young and has been playing this COD games since the beginning of the year, he really enjoys these and there appears to be no side effects of this game. DH is an experienced long term serving solider and he has looked at these games and the latest black ops, often playing with DS, he has no problem with allowing him to play, as DS likes to think he is in the army with his dad. Even if he wans't playing these games on xbox, he is playing soldiers with friends and his little green army men, its a boy thing. All I can say is that these games appear to go right over his head.

He does however keep asking for GTA which we will absolutely not let him have because of it's content.

Scuse me for getting in on this line, but am at wits end with 14 yo who wants CoD Black Ops. The guy in the game shop suggested I look on youtube for gameplay footage for this game and what I found was shocking. The level of violence is sickening - I wonder if we get swept along for children's desire to be cool and chat with friends etc. but not look at the content of the game. Most of us would censor a violent book, or images of violence, or foul language, but we put up with it in game play. The peer pressure builds and I feel I am the only one holding out in my son's school.

HappyHappy. What is it you are worried about? I'd ban violent images if they were of real events but would I ban a comic with violence in it? No. But this is clearly a game. Since my son is well balanced, not aggressive and can clearly distinguish reality from fantasy, I don't see the problem.

If he ever shows any aggressiveness towards others, rudeness or any negative traits which I could attribute from the game then I'd rethink it.

You are NOT the only one who has taken a stand, that is your parental choice and you should be free to make it. However, the reason you may feel like you are alone on this is firstly because teenagers always claim their friends are allowed. According to my DD "everyone" have iphones at school yet can't name a single one of these friends.

Secondly many parents like me don't see the big deal and don't see any negative effects.