GTA V Proves a Lot of Parents Still Don't Know or Care About ESRB Ratings 621
Deathspawner writes "Grand Theft Auto V has shown itself to be potential GOTY material, and has even managed to break a sales record already. But aside from that, the game has also become one of the most adult-oriented games ever released, with torture, drug use and sex prevalent not long after beginning the game. You'd expect this gameplay to deter most parents from picking the game up for their young children — but not so. An anonymous editorial at Kotaku written by a video game store employee says that out of the ~1,000 copies sold in the first week, at least 10% of them went to parents accompanied by a child. Clearly, this could be interpreted as a problem. Techgage adds that this is one of the biggest problems facing gaming today. With one breath, many parents criticize video games for being so violent, and with the next, they're saying 'thanks' at the counter after picking up these very games for their kids. While ESRB ratings and other warnings about violent games for kids have good reason to exist, many parents still ignore them, aren't aware to them, or simply don't care about their warnings."
as a parent. (Score:1, Interesting)
i commend all the other parents who want to bring this home so they can supervise play, and put it into context. .. god only knows what goes on over there.
The last thing you want is a kid playing a game like that at the neighbors
Re:Some people... (Score:5, Interesting)
This was brought up in another conversation I had today...
We have this idea that kids as old as 16 aren't "fully formed" people. But if your kid doesn't understand the difference between fantasy and reality at 10 or 11 or 12 then there is a parenting problem or other general mental illness. They aren't just lumps of clay that get reasoning ability by magic on their 18th birth day. It's amazing how most of the population forgets what being aged 10-18 is like later in life... this is something they should know already.
Hmmm..... (Score:4, Interesting)
I let my 3 kids play the GTA series. I even taught them how to fire REAL guns.
Yet they have never committed a violent act against another human being. Because they know video games are entertainment and fantasy. And they know the devastating power of real firearms and their intended purpose. They also know the value of human life and that violence is a desperate last resort.
They also know that if it ever comes to violence.... you need to be able to dish it out effectively and win.
Ya see.... I don't need the ESRB or the government telling me how I should raise my own kids. I'll raise them how I see fit and society can f**k off. I really don't care about the opinion of the masses of panicky, scared, arrogant, pompous mothers with extra cash to throw at lobbyists and "ratings boards". As far as I'm concerned they'd be better off spending all that cash on booze and choking on their own vomit.
They can shelter their kids to the point of being useless, "entitled", drooling retards but the second they try to force their views upon me, we have a problem. Oh... and for the record.... my kids are straight A students with a great interest in the Sciences and History. They also happen to like mowing down prostitutes in GTA for amusement after their homework is finished.
Re:Some people... (Score:5, Interesting)
I think you missed part of my point, which is that what a person can handle is based on that person. There are 30 year olds "kids" out there that can't handle GTA, but I'm sure that there are 8 year olds that can. There is nothing magic about the number, though my personal feeling (not a parent mind you) that a 12 year old kid should have a concept of art, that depiction of something doesn't equal promotion of something, and they can rollplay as a bad person without being a bad person themselves.
Kids aren't commodities. They are people (this is why the "fully formed person" and the hatred of teenagers get on my craw... they aren't non-humans) and each one is different. This article made some pretty sweeping statements about what is right and wrong for ANY person.
Re:Some people... (Score:3, Interesting)
That isn't actually my argument for atheism.
Its my argument for the majority of people believe in a fantasy that remains valid even for many of the individuals who happen to believe that one particular fantasy is real.
Re:Some people... (Score:5, Interesting)
What made you think that images of female nipples had to involve porn or sex? I mean maybe you're being a bit tongue in cheek here but let's face it - by classifying a woman's breast as 'dirty' and something that would 'taint innocence', puritanism has indelibly associated women with porn and lewd behaviour. Ironically the same applies to hardcore feminism, albeit from a different angle.
Re:Some people... (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't you think we should have a special word for people who are so gullible that they fall for supernaturalist nonsense, rather than for those smart enough to see through it?
It's a national embarrassment that so many Americans default to believing in fairy tales that demanding evidence for extraordinary claims is considered the behavior of an out-group.
Re:Some people... (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm waiting for the punchline here, because nudity is pervasive in European media (at least when I was growing up) and I got desensitized to nipples. They're about as exciting as men's nipples, like the nipples I seen in the mirror every day. It's actually shockingly sad you would compare a simple nipple to gory body shrapnel.
I mean, you could take your argument and apply it in favor of women wearing burkas.