What do you think of teens playing M rated games?

[CmdrShep2154]

Do you think it is bad? Do you think most teens are not mature enough to handle serious themes or do you feel that they can handle it without any effects to their morals and behavior?

Would you give Mass Effect to a mature JROTC cadet like this one who is serious about a military career?
https://www.army.mil/article/200902/...orida_shooting



If a JROTC cadet played renegade would we end up having a more ruthless potential soldier or military officer or are they mature enough to understand the Geneva convention?

[Rotted]

I think it depends on the individual, I played them and it never did my any harm what so ever.

But I know some people who played them 24/7 and people who craved to play them to a near point of addiction and getting a fix when they went to a friends house to play one and they had some serious anger management issues growing up. Correlation doesn't mean causation of course, but still.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Oh look, it's another Commander Shepherd thread!

Personally, I'd look over any game that before I'd consider giving it to my child, but in today's day and age where kids have smart phones, can run off to their friend's house to play, watch a let's play of a banned game, or simply break into a computer and play it, there is realistically no way to stop a kid from getting what they want if they try hard enough.

[CmdrShep2154]

Oh look, it's another Commander Shepherd thread!

Personally, I'd look over any game that before I'd consider giving it to my child, but in today's day and age where kids have smart phones, can run off to their friend's house to play, watch a let's play of a banned game, or simply break into a computer and play it, there is realistically no way to stop a kid from getting what they want if they try hard enough.

I would not call a mature teen a child.

And you spelled Shepard wrong!

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I would not call a mature teen a child.

In that case, there is very little I wouldn't allow.

And you spelled Shepard wrong!

Whatever!

[CmdrShep2154]

I think it depends on the individual, I played them and it never did my any harm what so ever.

But I know some people who played them 24/7 and people who craved to play them to a near point of addiction and getting a fix when they went to a friends house to play one and they had some serious anger management issues growing up. Correlation doesn't mean causation of course, but still.

What kind of games did they play? GTA? CoD? Manhunt?

[Rotted]

What kind of games did they play? GTA? CoD? Manhunt?

GTA San Andreas was the popular one when I was a kid. Probably some CoD thrown in at some point. Even for the kids who were allowed those copies, none of us were allowed Manhunt.

[Moxal]

Its up to their parents to decide if the child is mature enough to play a M rated game. For my child, the answer would be no unless they were 16-18.

[CmdrShep2154]

GTA San Andreas was the popular one when I was a kid. Probably some CoD thrown in at some point. Even for the kids who were allowed those copies, none of us were allowed Manhunt.

Did they play any Bioware or Kingdom Hearts/FF games? What did they think of those? Did they think they were kiddie games or games that were too long or too boring?

[callipygoustp]

Depends on the teen. Some teens I would have absolutely no problem with them playing a M rated game.

[MisterBigglez]

I remember being 4 years old playing the likes of Silent Hill, Nightmare Creatures, Quake, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil. Games rated M or 18+

I remember being 8 years old and playing GTA: Vice City, going round shooting peoples heads off to see the blood fire out, completing the missions such as robbing a bank, stealing a tank, selling drugs in an ice cream van, running over people. You get the picture.

None of these games that I have played have caused me in any way to do bad things to myself or others. I grew up with M rated games, I know I shouldn't have been playing them when I had other options like Rayman, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro etc, but I had access to them, so I played them.

Because of this, if I had children, I would let them play these games.

[Aoyi]

I think it should be up to their parent. If the parent is okay with it, more power to them. Its just like an R rated movie. A teen can’t get in by themselves, but are welcome to watch it with an adult. An teen isn’t suppose to be allowed to buy the M rated game, but the parent can buy it for them. If I had kids, I’d make the decision based on the game, but in general I’d be fine with it.

[Torto]

It's not fair to lump 'teens' into a single group. Some games will affect some teens differently, depending on the different characteristics of each individual teen. I've seen some teens play gory blood splatter games and shrug it off, and other teens wake up with nightmares. Some teens will enjoy games with sexual references and other teens will get embarrassed but it.

This is why I hate generic rating restrictions. Parents should decide what appropriate for each individual teenager.

[Wilian]

Depends on the kid but in general I'm live and let live on this matter. I played about all games from side to side since I was a wee kid and didn't get murderous tendencies or nightmares, it mostly intrigued my imagination and if the kid can handle that I don't really mind.

[sinilaid]

Does anyone even care about the game ratings? They might as well not exist.

[Tech614]

Because of this, if I had children, I would let them play these games.

Uhh you might want to define this better.

Every kid's brain develops differently. Good parenting should know when a kid is ready for experiences like this, but they certainly aren't from the moment they play their first video game.

This thread is literally full of blanket statements and is a blanket question to begin with. Most kids will be able to handle games rated M long before they're 17, some might not even be able to handle them once they're a full fledged adult.

It's also hilarious to compare ps1/ps2 graphic level shit to what we have today. A game like The Last of Us for example is something I would never let my son touch until I knew he could properly digest and handle what was in the game. Stuff like GTA is almost comical compared to the shit in that game. Satirical violence like in GTA or MK(which are the 2 most controversial IPs) are actually much easier for a developing brain to handle then real violence depicted in some games like torture, suicide and general suffering.

If my son(who is currently 12) asked me if he could play GTA I would probably let him, and monitor how he reacts to the game and see if it changes about anything he does in real life. No, not to make sure he doesn't turn into an zomg "school shooter" just to make sure he is still being himself. I have seen kids in general get more disrespectful or try to bully others just by being exposed to things they aren't ready for. That's the key. Then with the more horror esque stuff it's about whether they can handle it without it effecting their sleep before they're ready. Stuff like TLOU I mentioned, would be far down the list of things a kid will probably be prepared for. It's not the shitty slasher movies you watched as a kid.

It's really not about "turning out fine" eventually most people turn out fine. It's about what is good for that specific kid at that specific time. I always hate the argument "I turned out fine".

[PACOX]

Its all about parenting. I was playing M rated games when I was 12. Some M games were a huge no, others were fine. The only GTA I've should've been allowed to play according to the ESRB was GTA V, I've owned and played all of them.

[Jtbrig7390]

Depends the parents and the child in question.

I was playing Resident Evil and Grand Theft Auto III when I was young, It all depends if your child can handle it.

[Rotted]

Did they play any Bioware or Kingdom Hearts/FF games? What did they think of those? Did they think they were kiddie games or games that were too long or too boring?

That's testing my memory the gang I'm thinking of were your typical school ground boys, defiantly wouldn't be interested in anything like FF games, just street racing and shooting people.

[MisterBigglez]

Uhh you might want to define this better.

Okay, I would let my kids play these types of games, but if I started to notice anything unusual about their behaviour, I would stop them from playing them.

Every kid's brain develops differently. Good parenting should know when a kid is ready for experiences like this, but they certainly aren't from the moment they play their first video game.

How can a parent know how a kid would handle certain things until they experience them? You say its not from playing their first game, but you can't compare a kid playing Spyro as their first game to a kid playing The Last of Us as their first game. Unless for some reason your kids is scared shitless at Spyro for some reason.

This thread is literally full of blanket statements and is a blanket question to begin with. Most kids will be able to handle games rated M long before they're 17, some might not even be able to handle them once they're a full fledged adult.

It's also hilarious to compare ps1/ps2 graphic level shit to what we have today. A game like The Last of Us for example is something I would never let my son touch until I knew he could properly digest and handle what was in the game. Stuff like GTA is almost comical compared to the shit in that game. Satirical violence like in GTA or MK(which are the 2 most controversial IPs) are actually much easier for a developing brain to handle then real violence depicted in some games like torture, suicide and general suffering.

So you're saying that back when ps1/ps2 were the current consoles, you didn't think the graphics were good? That was the best at the time and many of us thought they looked really good. so your argument of saying the graphics were shit compared to now really doesn't work in this case. I'd even argue that the scary stuff on the ps1 was more freaky because the models were more jagged and the textures were often glitchy.

If my son(who is currently 12) asked me if he could play GTA I would probably let him, and monitor how he reacts to the game and see if it changes about anything he does in real life. No, not to make sure he doesn't turn into an zomg "school shooter" just to make sure he is still being himself. I have seen kids in general get more disrespectful or try to bully others just by being exposed to things they aren't ready for. That's the key. Then with the more horror esque stuff it's about whether they can handle it without it effecting their sleep before they're ready. Stuff like TLOU I mentioned, would be far down the list of things a kid will probably be prepared for. It's not the shitty slasher movies you watched as a kid.

Tell me, as a parent, how do you know when your kid is ready to experience such things? Is it a gut feeling? Do you slowly introduce your kid to more mature things as they grow up? Do you look back on how you were exposed to mature stuff and try to compare? Do you base it on where you live and the type of people who live in your area? Because a parent letting their kid play horror games like Silent Hill at the age of 4 to most people would probably sound like bad parenting.

It's really not about "turning out fine" eventually most people turn out fine. It's about what is good for that specific kid at that specific time. I always hate the argument "I turned out fine".

The argument to "I turned out fine" is often used when people claim that violence is caused by video games. The news always says that video games are evil and that you shouldn't play them otherwise your kid will become a murderer or commit other crimes, to which the vast majorty of us tell them to fuck off cause its not true.