Age for more violent video games?

ppants

I'll be honest.  I'm pretty strict about the movies, TV shows, and games the kids watch/play.  Right now, they are 8 and know that somethings aren't appriopriate for kids their age and that's why we limit the content.

We went over to another boy's (8 yr old) house for a brief play date this weekend.  He was playing a first person shooter game.  I don't know which one it was, but before he turned it off, he hadn't "shot" anything.  DS was playing with this boy's tablet and he had a Call of Duty app, but I wouldn't let DS use it.  They seem young to me to be playing those types of video games I guess.  My kids are the same age so it's also easier because I don't have an older child's influence in the home.

Do you follow the recommended ages for video games and the like?  What age are most kids playing these types of games?

august06mom

Ugh. We ran into this recently. Another boy a year older than DS (this boys is 8.5) is allowed to play Assassins Creed. I'm not cool with that at all. Then another boy in second grade said he likes to play Halo. I naively thought we wouldn't have to deal with this until middle school.

ppants

Thanks for the replies.  My two do play minecraft.  I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks they are too young for such games.

neverblushed

I play video games myself, which creates an advantage and a disadvantage in my home.

Advantage: I know about games, and I know what to look out for.  I can play a game and get a feel for the reasoning behind the rating, and whether I'm okay with it for my particular kid.

Disadvantage: If I want to play an "M-rated" game, it's hard to keep the kids from being exposed.

The only M-rated game I have allowed my kids to play is Skyrim.  I played this for about 10 hours myself before I allowed them even to watch me play.  I did not allow them to start their own game on it until they had watched me play for a good while, which gave us a chance to talk about it.  

I will allow my son to watch me play Assassin's Creed, but not to have his own save file.  When he's watching, I avoid violent cut-scenes, and I don't assassinate anyone.  He knows that this is what the game is about, but the cut-scenes are intense and realistic.  Even though you actually whack more "bad-guys" with your sword in Skyrim than in AC, Skyrim just doesn't seem as emotionally charged.

I do not like or play FPS games, so we don't have anything like Call of Duty or Halo in our home at this time.  My 9 y/o son reports that MANY of his classmates play Call of Duty.  He knows he's not allowed to play Skyrim when friends are over.  We have plenty of games that are okay for kids that he can play when friends are here!

I will say that playing Skyrim together and letting him watch selected parts of Assassin's Creed has provided many "teachable moments."  Skyrim involves a civil war in which side A is oppressing the religious freedom of side B, who are themselves discriminating against others on the basis of race.  The player can choose a side, or choose not to take a side in this conflict.  We have had many interesting conversations about the issues raised in these games, and about the real-life historical inspirations for the scenarios in the game.

I say know the game and know your kid, but don't hesitate to say "no" if you're uncomfortable.  It's a LOT easier to let the genie out of the bottle than it is to stuff that sucker back in!

rsd12

My oldest is 8 and does not play any violent video games. Thankfully he has not been exposed yet. My husband does have a violent game but would never play infront of our kids. I don't know what age would be appropriate yet but since he has 2 younger brothers we are in no rush for him to be introduced.

ppants

DH plays video games so I rely on his input.  He plays his games once the kids are in bed so we don't have to worry about this content of what he's playing. 

I do agree @neverblushed that there certainly can be teaching moments and we'll try to use those opportunties as they present themselves.

Thanks again ladies!

summererobinson

I am going to be the bad mom here ( and i mean that in how other people may see it, personaly i dont care at all what people think and it works for us) my son plays whatever he wants. He has been able to since he was about 6-7. My husband plays all the M rated games and there is just no way to keep them away from him. i also think its crap that games make kids think doing bad things is ok. My son plays black ops, grand theft auto, ect. he knows its a game and that the stuff in the game is bad. I dont like treating kids like they are stupid and cant understand concepts of right and wrong. Let me add I work in a prison and have never once had soemone say the games /shows made them do it.

As for shows, same thing. My son was watching freddy at 3.

la79al

We came across this recently too.  We were staying with some people who had their 6 year old playing Grand Theft Auto.  I ushered my kids out of the room and was quite vocal as to why.  I told the mom that my stepson was not allowed to play that game in our house until he was at least 14.  They were shocked by my reaction to 'just a game he plays all the time'. My kids have about 0 interest in video games but DD1 will glue herself to a TV, regardless of what is on (she has already picked out a name for her Roomba).  

Rocshana

Thankfully, both my son and daughter have hardly any interest in video games of any kind at all, violent or non-violent. My guess is that this is because they haven't been exposed to video games as such but then I am pretty sure they will at some point of time, at a friend's place or something. As long as they don't get addicted to it, I think it's okay once in a while to play some shooting game or something. They do like spending some time online though. Just a month or so ago, they watched this How to Train Your Dragon 2 movie and discovered this website which has some dragon games related to the same. Now, they do spend some time online playing those games but then I keep a check that it doesn't come in between and hamper their usual routine.

Nowadays, when I read about kids going overboard and spending all their time on such stuff, neglecting their studies and other activities, I wonder how their parents allow them to do so. I mean, one can't deny the fact that the parents are responsible for it. And as I see it, there isn't any age which can be deemed to be proper for violent games, provided you aren't an adult.