Parents 'ignore game age ratings' 571
Jim Hall writes "With all the fervor recently over the 'Hot Coffee' mod and the upcoming 'Bully' game, I found it interesting that no press time seems to have been given to this little gem from the BBC: Parents 'ignore game age ratings'. I think most of us agree that the games are already rated appropriate to their audience - GTA:SA was previously rated "M" (17 and up) in the US, before public outcry forced the ESRB to move it to "AO" (18 and up). However, as this article points out, parents are more concerned about children spending too many hours playing games, rather than about what type of title they were playing."
Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Insightful)
"Parents are too divorced from what teenagers play," he said.
Most parents are too divorced from nearly all aspects of their children's lives because they are too wrapped up in their own and the lives of those they live vicariously through via the television.
As long as the television isn't telling them that the video games are bad and the politicians aren't doing "their job" and telling parents that the video games are bad then they must be just fine.
Remember, everyone wants the politicians living inside the little electrical box to tell them what to do. Anything else is too much added stress - unless they can place the blame on someone else.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, there are a select group of parents that spoil their child and just cannot say no.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Insightful)
I still thing that the rating system needs to be re-evaluated. First of all, they need a distinction between violence and illegal activity. Fighting to defend the Earth is different from murdering innocent bystanders. There are some games that are designed specifically for a perverse pleasure in being a monstrous villain. In AvsP, it's one thing to kill the marines who are shooting at you, it's another thing to kill the scientists who're begging for mercy - but to the ESRB it's the same.
Secondly, they need to distingish game content from game data. There are various good technical reasons to include clandestine data within a game, such as for regionalization, physical needs (cloth modelling could one day have nude models under clothes), or laziness (Chex Quest was a kid's game based on the Doom engine that still had all the nasty doom graphics in unused parts of the Wad file). This needs to be clearly outlined, and possibly marked on the box, same as if a game can have adult content when played online as opposed to at home.
FCC, do me a favor and fuck off (Score:3, Insightful)
No, if a parent wants to buy their kid a video game, the parent should be allowed to. Will some parents buy out of stupidity? Sure. On the other hand, I don't need to be told that my sixteen year old boy can't play Alien Vs Predator because uncle same as deemed it too graphic for his fragile little mind until he is a year older.
Government officials are comp
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't think they can do that anymore, though.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:3, Insightful)
Apparently the idea of human beings having sex is more repugnant than the idea of human beings knifing, shooting, and driving cars over people.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Insightful)
And that is the reason why we still have politicians taking the stance that this stuff is bad for the children. In the collective mind of the older generation, video games are always for kids. Any rating system therefore exists inside that box -- In their minds, M isn't for adults, it's for mature children.
Personally, I think that parents ought to be able to decide for themselves whether their children are able to handle higher-rated content. Being discerning is what parenting is all about. But I'm not naive enough to think that's what's happening here.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:3, Insightful)
Um, no, the idea that such material could harm children is unfathomable to me.
Why does the violence-in-media debate always start with a preordained conclusion and work backwards from it? Where is the supposed wave of game-fueled juvenile crime? If you look at the numbers, at least in the US, it ain't happening.
Somebody's premises are wrong.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:4, Informative)
I wonder what they would make of me then. I was one of the ones who would get bullied at school al the time. I then went home and took it out on the characters in the first person shooters or the pins at the bowling alley. It helped me cool off steam instead of punching someone in the nose.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:3, Insightful)
The only kids that are "affected" by video games are the ones that can't tell fantasy from reality, which most kids over 10 can do.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Insightful)
Politicians take this line because it's a tried-and-true battle cry. Both "for the children" and "for the greater good" have worked for thousands of years; just ask Socrates.
Max
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:3, Funny)
We can't. He's been dead for 2,404 years.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Interesting)
I agree completely with this. I worked at a video game retailer for some time while I decided what I wanted out of life after school, and actually had parents basically say "Oh, but Johnny is mature!" when he's really a 12 year old.
Hopefully enough adults in the under 30 catagory don't fall into the believe that video games are just for children. I'm sure I'll still be gaming when I have children, and I'll sure as hell know what games contain that I purchase for them and for myself. (I'm 26, btw, and am planning to start a family in the next few years.)
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Interesting)
I agree. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm 24, with no kids, but I'd always considered "comic books" to be kids' stuff. This year I finally opened my mind and checked out some of the classic graphic novels like V for Vendetta. No way is that stuff at a kid's level; I think most kids would completely miss at least 50% of what Moore was saying there, and the violence level was disturbingly high in that, as well as, say, something like The Watchmen or Hellblazer. Again, not something I'd imagine most parents would want their kids to be steeped in. GTA sounds like it's at about that level.
With that said, I also think most parents are complete morons when it comes to deciding what their kids should/shouldn't be allowed to do, and also morons for blaming anyone but themselves if they aren't keeping track of their kids and have no idea what they're up to.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:3, Insightful)
But hey, I'm sure you could fabricate any sort of rationale that makes your point for you.
I never liked rap very much, but I thought GTA:SA was a lot of fun.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:5, Insightful)
The ratings exist for precisely the reason that parents have little interest in the games their children play. The rating labels exist so that a parent doesn't have to play the game or completely supervise to make a reasonable judgement about its appropriateness.
You have to know next to nothing to use a rating to your advantage. If little Johnny has trouble with graphic violence, the parent looks on the box and sees "graphic violence" in the little white rectangle and says "maybe next year, son".
Anything less is negligence, and in that case, the games aren't the issue.
Mod Parent Up (Score:2)
I don't feel that the parent post is a Troll. Quite the opposite, I feel that this statement is very insightful about poor parents (which most parents today are). People don't spend time with their kids anymore. They don't get involved in their lives and find out what makes them tick.
I blame the way that everyt
Re:Mod Parent Up (Score:3, Insightful)
1) When I was a kid I could get to watch X rated movies if I wanted.
2) I don't believe _most_ kids are affected by sex or violence in films and games any more than they are by violence in cartoons. I have watched loads of kids grow up, not just my own: some are fragile and need protecting, but not many. Anyway, TV news is pretty horrific - blown up peopl
Paying attention to the wrong thing (Score:5, Insightful)
The research showed that parents were more concerned about children spending too many hours playing games, rather than about what type of title they were playing.
Never mind the fact that some video games can be educational and good for you. Gentle Brain Exercises [gamespy.com] for the Nintendo DS comes to mind. Additionally some studies have shown video gaming can improve hand-eye coordination.
The older generation needs to realize that first of all, video games are no longer just for kids. The kids that were playing them back in the 80's have now grown up and have children of their own, but many of them are still playing video games. This means that there just might be games out there tailored for this more mature audiance.
And to a certain degree, sticking an 18-rating on a game made that title more desirable. "We called it Magic 18," said Mr Freund. "The 18+ label was seen as promoting the content, promising adult content rather then saying 'my parents will stop me playing this.'"
As has been shown with just about anything you put an age limit on (drinking, smoking, pornography), younger children will find this content more desirable simply for the fact that they're not allowed to have it. This might make them curious as to what about it makes the content not for them. In other cases the children will want to use the product to feel rebelious or more mature. Regardless of whether this idea of thinking is stupid or not doesn't stop it from happening.
You'd think that being young themselves at some point, the older generation would understand this phenomena and figure out a way to stop it, but obviously not. You could say that regulartory boards are designed for this, but they've failed miserably as far as I'm concerned. So rather than take direct action, people for the most part seem more interested in abdicating their parental responsiblity to government legislation.
Of course the people who need to understand this most are the people who don't read slashdot. The tech savvy crowd here is generally well aware of modern video games and the content they can contain, both good and bad.
Ironically, most people knew that games had age ratings, the study by the Swiss research firm Modulum showed.
Doh! So they actually do know that games can contain really bad content.
However, parents were still letting their children play 18-rated games.
Double Doh!
To quote the parent, "Most parents are too divorced from nearly all aspects of their children's lives." According to the article it would seem that more people than expected know about what their kids are playing, but just don't give a shit about it. So when society goes to hell because the children of today, just remember it's your fault for doing a shitty job of raising them and have no one else to blame but yourselves.
Re:Paying attention to the wrong thing (Score:3, Funny)
Hmmm.... Perhaps now is the time for me to invest in a diverse portfolio of handbasket companies. I have a feeling lots of people will be needing them soon...
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:4, Interesting)
People need to realize that there are several on-going plagues in our society right now and it has nothing to do w/what the media is saying.
1. Parents are ignoring the *needs* of their children and are giving into their *wants* instead. It's a sad state of affairs when people justify their malaise with "but I'm just too busy/stressed at work."
2. People want other to do their work for them and only use the failure of *others* doing the parenting as an important enough reason to get off their couch and do something.
3. People like you, the ones that refuse to read and comprehend what others are saying that might even teach you something or change your way of thought. You ignore intelligent discussion and instead want to chastise and destroy it.
Stop being a troll and instead become a productive member of Slashdot. It will help everyone.
Re:Their lives are too stressful to pay attention! (Score:4, Funny)
I think it's about time (Score:4, Insightful)
The rating isn't some kind of magic shield that prevents your child from playing the game, parents - YOU have to use your discretionnary power(i.e. MONEY) to influence your child's gaming habits (i.e NOT BUY THE "M" GAMES).
Re:I think it's about time (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it's pathetic and quite sad, but just like like parental locks on television and internet, they aren't trying to "do" something about their problem. They want something done for them. On a relatively general level (i.e. not always the case but usually), those that propose bans/restrictions on games are personally offended, and those that support the former don't want to change things, they just want it removed completely so they don't have to worry about it at all.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I think it's about time (Score:2)
What a joke- does anyone think that kids who have absentee parents are going to be okay as long as they play age appropriate games, and a well nurtured kid is going to be a thug if he plays GTA?
The first thing our eyes see when we are born is a vagina. A vagina is a natural, beautiful, wonderful thing. So are breasts as
Re:I think it's about time (Score:5, Insightful)
Too true. Remember the V chip? That was a huge fricken deal that parents could block out certain kinds of programming that they didn't want their kids to see. Its a mandated part of every TV manufactured for the last several years. Just about every TV show has ratings and shows them as often as after each commerical break.
With all of this in place, people STILL complain about whats being shown on tv and the same lame "think of the children" argument.
As reasonable as these advocates try to appear, the fact that they're not appeased after all of these ratings systems are instituted is proof positive that nothing short of eradicating objectionable material will please them.
Re:I think it's about time (Score:3, Insightful)
> these ratings systems are instituted is proof positive that nothing short of eradicating
> objectionable material will please them.
Why do you think that that will please them? They will just find something else to hate/complain about. At one time Rock and Roll was the end of civilisation. Before that it was women voting.
jfs
Re:I think it's about time (Score:4, Funny)
We knew this (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:We knew this (Score:2)
I think people should me more worried about those parents who buy games like GTA for their 8 to 10 year olds. Sure, they won't like the fact that they can't get the game, but what can they do? Most 8 year olds don't have $50-$60 lying around, and I think most cashiers wo
Re:We knew this (Score:3, Insightful)
You know rather little about kids, do you?
Trying to tell kids stuff won't work. Telling them does. If they do brake the rules, a suitable (non physical) punishment should be issued, like grounding them with no computer and/or TV access.
Naturally, good behaviour should be rewarded as well.
But assuming you can't control a teenager to a reasonable degree is simply weak. Of course teens will disobey you from time to time, but tha
Re:We knew this (Score:3, Insightful)
No. Assuming that you should "control" a teenager is disgusting. Unless you've fucked up badly as a parent, you should be able to talk to your kids about games, movies, drugs, sex, and whatever else so that they know what's garbage and what's not. Hiding things from teenagers is just stupid. Let them play GTA. If you've done your job, they should know that beating up hookers is a sick kind of fantasy.
Re:We knew this (Score:4, Insightful)
And they'd probably be right, since no one has ever managed to present a single solitary shred of empirical evidence pointing to a causal link between behavior in a computer game and behavior in real life. Can't blame the parents for ignoring the tiresome shrieking and wailing of the bullshit morality-mongers for once.
Max
Flat Out (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Flat Out (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Flat Out (Score:3, Insightful)
"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die."
Re:Flat Out (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Flat Out (Score:3, Funny)
My brother still laughs about it.
Re:Flat Out (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course not. But a "shock value" gimmick is so much easier to make than, you know, actual good gameplay.
Re:Flat Out (Score:4, Interesting)
Part of me wants to go to Rockstar's developer staff and yell out, "GROW THE HELL UP! You're making the whole industry look bad, you idiots!" And part of me wants to applaud them for finding such a good solid revenue stream.
I think that game's great (Score:4, Funny)
In the same way, Quake II is still helping me resist the urge to strangle my kid sister, with the added bonus that I'm less likely to deliberately start an interstellar war.
Re:Flat Out (Score:5, Interesting)
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, I had fun by stealing a police bike (since they are easy to acquire and relatively fast), going to the top of the big skyscraper downtown, gunning the engine and flying into the air.
Did I do this because I was desensitized to the idea of my own death? Of course not! Did I do this because I personally harbor suicidal thoughts? I doubt it.
I did it because it was interesting. It was a game, and I knew I wasn't driving off a skyscraper. I was seeing what was possible in the game engine. (Turns out that if you land the bike just right, you take minimal damage).
In the same light, I drove up and down the big hill in the SanFran clone town. Its possible to get quite some air on the bumps in that hill. Of course, a few unlucky pedestrians did die when I came over a hill too fast. So am I a reckless driver? Or did I realise that the pedestrians were simulated computer people and I have no intentions of doing such an act in real life?
I think the main point is that this was only a game, and I understood it was only a game.
The game is called , IIRC, Stair Dismount (Score:2)
Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:5, Insightful)
Plus, maybe the 18+ games should not be mixed in with the other games. Maybe they should be kept in an area where kids can't shop them with all the other titles. Like they keep 18+ magazines behind the counter. If a parent wants to buy it, they can ask for it.
There IS such a law (Score:2)
Re:There IS such a law (Score:2, Funny)
and if you put Mature and Adult only games together, you see what you get?
MAO!
I for one, welcome our Chineese Videogame Oppressors.
Yes, Virginia, There IS such a thing as "too much coffee."
Re:There IS NO such law (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure they could charge the store with corruption of a minor or some other crap.
I know the ESRB's official definition mentions extreme violence, but has any game been rated AO for it's violence?
Re:Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:3, Insightful)
A) porno is not the same as a video game.
B) that's up to the store to decide
Re:Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:2)
Not really.
There are some communities which passed laws saying grocery stores could not sell alcohol in the main store area. Rather, they had to be off to the side, with only one entrance and exit, and someone to check ID's. Alcohol was only sold at that one register, with a specially trained worker (someone who will check ID's). The result in the community was less DUI's and less underage drinking. The downside was there were longer lines to get beer, and then the sho
Re:Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:3, Insightful)
It doesn't really work with alcohol and cigarettes. And these two are, for the moment, considered more dangerous than 18+ games.
Re:Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:2, Informative)
Titles rated by Pegi (the european equilavent of ELSPA) don't fall under such a law, but the kind of titles that most people might find offensive are covered by the BBFC anyway.
Re:Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:2)
Re:Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:4, Insightful)
The primary problem is that the parents purchase the games for their kids without any concern about what might be within.
After all, video games are for kids, right?
Re:Do stores restrict sales by age? (Score:3, Interesting)
In America, while there may be local or state laws, in general, movie ratings are enforced by the MPAA and are not legal restrictions. Does anyone know if Best BUy or any other store restricts the sale of R movies? More and more stores have ths cash register request a birthday if you buy an M rated game. Do they do the same for R rated movies?
Children and 'adult content' in games. (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're trying to get a child to turn out well-adjusted, which is more important... making sure the kid is never exposed to sex, or making sure he actually goes outside sometimes and makes friends and has a life?
All this says, I think, is that most people really do believe the latter. Media hype generally ignores this... but since when has the media cared about reality? Remember the West Nile Virus, which is really not much more dangerous than influenza? The 'sex bracelets' which most kids had never heard of before the TV was claiming they were all having middle school orgies? This isn't any different.
my take (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:my take (Score:2)
The government sees the governed as children, regardless of their age. Regardless of the party in power, "it takes a village".
And did you ever notice that it's always someone else that might be tempted to do something horrible by these awful, awful video games, and it's this someone else who has to be protected by having the games banned?
Just once, I'd like some blue-haired fundie
HOLY CRAP! I didn't realize... (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course parents don't pay attention to the game ratings. They're printed right on the box! in Letters, often Boldfaced, right there!
You'd have to actually read to learn what the rating is!
When's the last time you saw the masses pay attention to anything that has to be read?
As a correlary: How many of you went to see South Park, The movie in the theater? Now how many of you remember sitting within 20 feet of a bunch of little kids?
Exactly.
A) People piss and moan that there aren't enough warnings.
B) Then they ignore them so they can piss and moan about what they were warned about in the first place and demand bans.
C) Then when the thing gets banned, they complain about how the government is too intrusive.
[Almost forgot: D) Profit!]
one word: fucking people.
To stop the influx of stupidity (Score:2, Insightful)
As a parent (Score:5, Insightful)
I am involved in what my kid plays, what he watches, who he hangs with.
I let him be exposed to more and more as his maturity level grew with him.
I showed him consequences for bad behavior.
I explained why bad was bad.
He's seventeen, and a great kid.
Not that I'm taking my hand off the switch just yet.
Re:As a parent (Score:4, Insightful)
Moreover, a responsible parent might also consider the cost to the child of being the only kid not allowed to play Beastkill VII. ('Consider' here means 'recognize and assess'...)
Re:As a parent (Score:3, Interesting)
That is all she does, watch TV. She talks to herself, has imaginary friends, and is *SO* happy if mom is willing to give her a few minutes of her time.
She is spoiled. If she screams about it she gets it. She drinks her own special drinks, she has cookies and ice cream anytime she wants it. She has any toys she w
Re:As a parent (Score:3, Interesting)
Your story gives me the shivers. It is earily close to my own, except that I was the father out of the house working all the time and it was my ex spoiling her daughter and ignoring our son.
Luckily I wised up to what was going on and had guts enough, after trying and failing to make changes at home, to leave her and fight for the kids. Unfortunately, I couldn't get custody of her daughter, but I did get my son. Now he's 12, an honor student at the magnet school, active in scouts, and overall someone I am
Re:As a parent (Score:3, Funny)
But I like your kids better. Mine are bastards.
Parents can't say NO to their kids, today (Score:2, Interesting)
The same parents also got conned into buying: a 60" TV, Skis, ski pass, clothes and god knows what. When she moved out: an Xbox, a Bed, another TV, a Sterio...
Parent are so afraid that their kids will come back later and say: you were a BAD parent.
Re:Parents can't say NO to their kids, today (Score:3, Interesting)
Confusing the issue (Score:3, Insightful)
B.
Re:Confusing the issue (Score:2, Offtopic)
Parents have to be called on it... (Score:5, Interesting)
Case in point: A few years ago I worked at a game store. Woman comes in to get a game for her son and after several questions to narrow down which game it was (she forgot, but knew it had cars in it), I got a copy of the latest GTA game for her to purchase.
After asking if she wanted the hint guide to go along with it, and her refusing, she asked if this game was appropriate for her 12-year old.
"No Ma'am. This game is NOT appropriate for a 12-year old. Each game has a rating on the cover (quick explanation of the rating system) and this one is rated M for Mature. It means you should probably be 17 to play it. We don't enforce it, but we do encourage it." I flipped the copy of GTA over and showed her why it had been rated mature.
Needless to say, a parent left a little more educated and her son did not get the game that day. He probably also got a talking to over trying to get one over on mom, but I don't know that for certain.
Re:Parents have to be called on it... (Score:2)
Re:Parents have to be called on it... (Score:2)
I was still working halfway through Feb. of the next year.
Re:Parents have to be called on it... (Score:5, Insightful)
There were only 37 parents who gave a hoot (Score:3, Insightful)
The rest of us simply did what we still do; decide what we are and are not willing to supply our children with on our own. Ratings are meaningless for this and I rather resent the implication that making up my own mind is somehow "wrong."
The ratings are just there to placate those few vocal twits who think they need a panel to make their decisions for them and believe they have the right to enforce that panel on others with more brains.
I am the only rating system that counts for my children. I'll screw 'em up as I see fit. Go screw up your own.
KFG
Before we all start screaming at "bad parents" (Score:2)
If our leaders (both Republicans and Democrats) did what they were elected to do, maybe most families wouldn't be burdened with multiple jobs and working parents and they could actually have time to monitor what their kids are playing. You know, when having a stay-at-home parent is a luxury in our society, that's a sign that we're heading down the wrong path. Point
Re:Before we all start screaming at "bad parents" (Score:2)
Lousy parenting is what shouldn't be accepted or explained away - parents need to step
It isn't blame (Score:5, Insightful)
They chose to work two jobs, they chose to have kids, and they choose not to supervise them properly. With freedom comes responsibility.
They could work less (and yes do with less money) and supervise their kids.
They could have not had kids.
My wife and I have decided that when we have kids we will have to make certain sacrifices to our personal lives and careers and standard of living to raise them properly. This is one of the tradeoffs of having kids.
I know some other people who think a child is slightly more responsiblity than a puppy and that it shouldn't really impact your life too much.
Re:It isn't blame (Score:3, Insightful)
I often wonder how my father, a factory worker, could solely support a family of four when I was growing up -- and we were reasonably well off. (cue jokes about secret drug trafficking job)
MOD PARENT UP - THIS ONE SHOULD GO TO 11 (Score:3, Insightful)
God I love the irony! (Score:3, Insightful)
Future parenthood- views (Score:2, Interesting)
i am 20 atm so the earliest i would have game-hungering kids would be in 20 years... thats alot of time, alot is gonna change. for the worse? i don't know. i hope not (i still remember the GREAT non-violent games i got ahold of like 7 years ago...they should make more of those! ie Anno 1602)
but as people have already stated- getting hold of "adult" material is just too easy nowadays, whether in games, TV or newspapers/commercial ads. blockin
They Just Need to Retool The Ratings System (Score:4, Funny)
Well of course. (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe (Score:2)
I'm not saying that kids shouldn't be allowed to play those games or anything (personally I think its harmless, if a kid is going to grow up to kill hookers, then if its not video games influencing him, its
I resemble that remark. (Score:2)
I don't have time to vet the standards of the standards boards and I don't trust them; I disagree with them most of the time. For these reasons, the def
Small nitpick (Score:4, Funny)
HTH
Ratings Aren't the Only Thing Parents Ignore (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyway, I have a boy (9) and a girl (5). The boy is the main video game player and game selector, and he knows that games have to be rated E (everyone) in order for him to play it. There are exceptions to this, but they are on a case-by-case basis and they are extremely rare. He might have been allowed to play a T (teen) game once or twice.
Of course, I'm the exception. I'm one of those fathers who pays attention to what his children are doing and I don't use video games as a babysitter. OK, in the spirit of full disclosure, maybe I do just a little bit, as I know that the kids will be entertained while playing games and watching TV. But I'm never far away and I always know what they're watching and playing. Heck, I've turned into such a prude that I'm considering banning Nickelodeon and the Disney channel (the latter having turned into nothing but an advertising vehicle for Disney properties).
My point is that it's no surprise that parents don't pay attention to ratings, since so many of them don't even pay attention to their children. The decline of the quality of the family is THE biggest issue that we face as a nation and it's very often the answer to other national issues that we face.
RP
'Bad Parents' (Score:3, Insightful)
Most of you are idiots. (Score:5, Insightful)
And for those of you that whine about parents not looking at the Rating...Have you thought that maybe a huge number of them understand that ratings bodies are designed for the lowest common denominator. Being 36, and having the 20/20 hindsight of over 20 years, I can say with confidence that by somewhere between 10 and 13 there was absolutly no content that I was not able to deal with.
It is popular today to retard our children. Historically 13 was a full adult. These "Children" built nations, ruled nations, fought wars, married, had children, ran farms and businesses. Maybe your genetic line has degraded into mush in the last 100 years, but mine has not.
And before anyone spouts off about how 'we live in more complicated times', I will call BS on that. We live in the safest, easiest, most gentle time in history. Not once have I ever had to fear that the hords were coming to rape our women and steal our crops because the weather was good. I've never had worry that me and my family were going to die because we had a bad season for our crops. (except during a brief period during a bathroom remodel) I have always had indoor plumbing, and all I had to do to get rid of my shit was to pull a little handle. The fact is, even if you have no job, and are homeless, SOMEONE will feed you. I know this is the case here in the US, and I have good reason to believe that it applies to any country that has wide distribution of video game systems.
Calling parents that don't follow the ratings 'bad' is just plain hypocritical. If anything that is in any game currently availible is going to damage your child, it is already too late, and you have already failed as a parent.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Sock! Horror! (Score:4, Insightful)
What is the world coming to?
Re:Play with your kids it is fun (Score:2)
Re:Play with your kids it is fun (Score:2)
Their idea of time together was doing what they wanted to do while you came along and didn't disturb them. Really fun family.
Then again, their idea of my being selfish was not doing exactly what they wanted. go figure.
Re:No (Score:2)
Re:Some parents ignore their kids (Score:2)
Re:well clearly (Score:5, Funny)
This is uncontravertable proof that partents know how to parent than senetors.
No, nothing was clear there.
Re:Welcome to the state of things... (Score:3, Interesting)
That's nothing. I've seen a movie given its rating for "Thematic Elements." If I could only remember which movie...
Re:Parents (Score:3)
1) Adults solve their problems by hitting people who's behavior they don't like.
2) The consequences of doing something wrong are that your parents will hit you.
Lesson #1 will land you in jail or dead.
Lesson #2 Nobody is around to hit you for doing something wrong when you are an adult, only when you do something illegal.
From what I see, parents that hit their children only do it to releive their own stress and not because they really care, because if they d