Topic: Teachers versus parents who let their kids play adult games

[Shiroi Koumori]

This is an interesting news article that sparked another debate about video games.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-30-headteachers-threaten-to-report-parents-who-let-their-children-play-18-rated-games

A gamer's response:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-04-01-publishers-must-stop-marketing-adult-games-to-kids

A teacher's response:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-04-02-he-suddenly-became-incredibly-sullen-angry-and-frustrated-he-was-10

I think this is a consequence of the financial success driven lifestyle that leads parents to leave their kids unsupervised.

I want to know what you guys think.

[theANdROId]

Hmm...well, both before and after reading, my first thought was to the Game Theory video I recently posted (watch here if desired).  The idea that stuff like this could promote, or could be intentional for the promotion of games is a little upsetting.  Especially when you consider some of the stories mentioned in these articles (such as the proud mother and sleepless child, both from the 3rd article).  Overall, I think the gamer's response was spot on. 

My other thoughts?  Well, first to mind and just quickly typed out:
- I believe everyone is affected by "mature content" in some way.  However, some can better handle that content -- and age often seems to be a big part of that ability.
- I think parental involvement/teaching/guidance is very important, maybe even for kids playing something as silly as Mario.
- We (the USA) fight so hard for this freedom and that one.  The problem with freedom is that responsibility is a necessary part of it, and all too often we enjoy the freedom and shirk the responsibility.

[BLOOD MONKEY]

As a kid, I am upset. Parents shouldn't let kids play M rated games if they can't emotionally handle it. It is all fault on the parent's side if they do not notice that their kid is being upset by this. My parents, they pretty much let me do whatever. Am I screwed up? No. I'm just fine. I have plenty of friends, I get enough sleep, and I don't plan on shooting any kindergardeners any time soon. I play M rated games, and I am just fine. It is parents fault, not games. That doesn't mean every parent who lets their child play M-rated games are bad parents.

[Shiroi Koumori]

With that Game Theory video. It makes everyone put a tinfoil hat on.
But I suppose, not everyone is ready for video games yet.
It happened to TV and other things before, it just takes time for some people to get used to this idea.

[Mooning Freddy]

I remember that my parents were never too concerned with me playing violent (adult-oriented) video games. They would often let me play Doom or Duke Nukem. I was personally never too fond of those games as a kid. I preferred platformers, RPGs and strategy.

But really, my parents were never concerned I would become violent or anything like that from playing video-games. They were, however, concerned that I'm wasting too much time on video games and internet rather than spending more time studying, finding more "useful" hobbies and socializing. I guess I was a shy kid who didn't have many friends, so video games were more of a way to escape boring reality for me than an obsession.

As for other "adult content"... I believe I sought out porn and other adult content since I was around 13-14. I was embarrassed that I was doing it and scared my parents would catch me, but I was horny, as I bet all young teenagers are.
This did not turn me into a sexual pervert, and I was quite disinterested in girls my age.
This makes me wonder. Should parents even care if they catch their teenage son or daughter "in the act"? It seems perfectly natural for teens to be fascinated by sex, and maybe their parents preventing them from seeking out sexual content is what's unnatural. My parents never gave me "the birds and the bees" speech, and by the tome I was in Junior High I already knew it all myself. Kids are often smarter than their parents think, and have their own ability to make decisions.

[zaxiou]

Parents uninterested in games or unaware, generally consider video-games to be babysitters so their kid can be busy with something instead of them having to pay attention to their kids' all the time. There are so many mediums with R rated restrictions like books/movies what not but only games get picked out because of how easy it is for parents to simply buy a game and be done with it instead of researching what it includes, as they would if it were anything else. You don't hear about kids accidentally getting entries for an A rated movie because parents make sure to know about what the film entails, but they don't when it comes to games. This'll continue to happen till people straight up consider video-games as just another hobby instead of a medium of entertainment like movies/books.

As for how the kids take their games, well that depends on the kid entirely.

[theANdROId]

My parents definitely used it as a "babysitter" for a little while.  Then at some point they became more aware of my addiction* and took action.  For a while, "Nintendo time" was only allowed on weekends and I had to behave properly to keep from losing it (I might have lost 10-15 minutes for disobedience or throwing a tantrum).  As I got a little older, they shifted to me earning time by doing chores, and I was allowed to play on other days.  Eventually, of course, I was given much more freedom in when and how long to play so long as I got my chores done and didn't act like a total jerk.  I think it was a decent system that I just might use on my own kids depending on how they handle gaming.

(*I would have played endlessly I'm sure, and I would throw fits about turning it off.  I sometimes wonder if the "God Damn Turtles" story may have played a part too.)

[Inccubus]

It's funny that this should come up just a couple of days after having a pregnancy scare with my girlfriend...

This is mostly just the latest attack on the video game media. There was literally nothing printed in any of these article that hasn't been said, and largely debunked, time and time again. What is new is the gross mishandling of the situation by this school organization. First off, who the hell are they to tell parents how to raise their kids in a way they see fit as long as no harm is done? This is a disturbingly totalitarian stance that is overreaching and plainly infringes on people's freedom. For the safety of the children? Really? It's funny how I didn't see anywhere a reference to any long term studies on the, very generalized, affects of exposure to violent media. Oh, that's right. Because all of those studies show that there is little to no affect on children.

Educating parents about what they should be wary of is fine, but threats are never received well and are entirely counter productive.
It is a parent's right to decide what is appropriate for their child. It's right and good for schools to report abuse, but to decree what parents allow their children to watch and play in a blanket statement is wrong. Why do you even care about what distractions are used by a parent when the child is being meaningfully abused? The ratings system is there for a reason. Assuming that a parent ignores the system is a sign of larger neglect is false. It's a false equivalence and a dangerous step towards totalitarianism.

The issue of game companies marketing adult content games to minors is a separate one. They shouldn't do it for the most part. However, if you ban Call of Duty toys, then how do you justify not banning army men, toy guns, and other "violent" toys? I didn't see anyone bring that up.

Additionally, these people never bring up places in the world like Japan that have very lenient ratings systems or none at all yet do not have issues with violent children or violence in general.

Here are some results from some studies that are actually unbiased and take the time to actually explain the complexities of the issue without over generalization.

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/video-games-saints-or-psychopaths-082814#2

http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games

This last one has a particularly interesting video from TED Talks that for me explained why I used to need glasses to drive, but when I got my license reinstated 2 years ago they told me I didn't need them any more.

[Johnny]

I think you could be any age and have a game scare the bejesus out of you. Though it is up to the parents to give their child the attention and emotional support they need to handle playing such games. I grew up playing games like Mortal Kombat, Prince of Persia, hell I even played a Strip Poker game on my old Atari 800 XL when I was about 6 or 7. It was always explained to me though that these are games. They are for fun. I have played games older like Eternal Darkness that even as an adult freaked me out to the point of making me bit uneasy after playing. All in all my opinion is and this is coming from someone who works in child care, in general the parents need to take a greater role in  spending time with their kids and putting them at ease. Mostly because its not good to have neurotic kids either who worry about everything. There is always going to be something traumatizing a kid, if its not scary movies and games, it can be getting hurt in the gym or at recess, swimming in a pool, or going on a trip and being homesick. It is up to the parents to make their kids more secure and less afraid by doing their absolute best in comforting them about whatever is bothering them.