Would you be pearl-clutchy about this?

[cbwm1]

An 8 year old with intimate knowledge of first person shooter games like Halo, Resident Evil, 5 Nights at Freddie's, and others like Mortal Kombat?

Do you clutch your proverbial pearls, or no?

[Deleted]

Yes.

[katfco]

Is he also watching The Walking Dead?


These things have a mature rating for a reason.

[eb777888]

Absolutely, yes.

[Deleted]

5? Yes

[aussiecrush]

Yes, and that's said as a wife of a gamer.

[eb777888]

David's cousin is seven and he was telling me that he watched one of his friends play this game at his friend's house and it gives him nightmares. It really scared the shit out of him. ETA: It's the Freddie's one.

The only game David plays is Minecraft and we had H play it first for awhile to check it out. We won't be doing violent/scary games.

[Narwhal]

Yes. I despise guns.

[angelaa73]

Probably. But less so if there is an older teen brother if that makes sense.

[tripleshot]

Yes. That's ridiculous.

[everyjuan]

Yes.

[Narwhal]

Apr 21, 2015 18:00:57 GMT -5 everyjuan said:

Yes.

Your sig pretty much sums up my feeling about any and all gun games/toys marketed for kids. Haha. 

[motzie]

Yes. My nephew has been playing these games for years. He has a much older brother, but he also has a POS mom.

[everyjuan]

Apr 21, 2015 18:02:36 GMT -5 Narwhal said:

Apr 21, 2015 18:00:57 GMT -5 everyjuan said:

Yes.

Your sig pretty much sums up my feeling about any and all gun games/toys marketed for kids. Haha. 

Ha! Awesome.

I'm relieved that this is what this is about. I saw the notification that you quoted me in this thread, and I was like "OHHHH SOMEBODY WANTS TO FIGHT! But I only said one word, what do I dooooo."

[halfpint]

Yes.

[cbwm1]

My BFF's just turned 8 year old plays all of these games when he's at his dad's on the weekends.

And we're at music therapy with Will right now. Another kid (no more than 8) was talking to the teacher about blowing someone's head off in Halo before class started and she was absolutely horrified.

DH and I are too, but I wanted to make sure our heads weren't too far up our own asses on this issue.

We allow Will to play Minecraft, Disney Infinity, and Skylanders. And that's it.

[junebug]

Yes.

[franklin]

Apr 21, 2015 17:59:48 GMT -5 angelaa73 said:

Probably. But less so if there is an older teen brother if that makes sense.

I agree, the younger kid would most likely at some time see or hear their older sibling playing/talking about the game. But first hand knowledge and "understanding", yeah I would.

[junebug]

Apr 21, 2015 18:05:03 GMT -5 cbwm1 said:

My BFF's just turned 8 year old plays all of these games when he's at his dad's on the weekends.

And we're at music therapy with Will right now. Another kid (no more than 8) was talking to the teacher about blowing someone's head off in Halo before class started and she was absolutely horrified.

DH and I are too, but I wanted to make sure our heads weren't too far up our own asses on this issue.

We allow Will to play Minecraft, Disney Infinity, and Skylanders. And that's it.

H used to play Call of Duty, and I was always amazed at how young the kids that played sounded (you could hear them talking during the game. H didn't have a headset.) Like, they sounded elementary school aged, and it blew my mind that they played such a violent game.

[underwaterrhymes]

Yes.

[wildfloweragain]

Yes

Sent from my SM-G900V using proboards

[Narwhal]

everyjuan LOL! I'm clearly still a newb so I have that same panic attack every time I see a notification!

[Narwhal]

Apr 21, 2015 18:11:16 GMT -5 junebug said:

Apr 21, 2015 18:05:03 GMT -5 cbwm1 said:

My BFF's just turned 8 year old plays all of these games when he's at his dad's on the weekends.

And we're at music therapy with Will right now. Another kid (no more than 8) was talking to the teacher about blowing someone's head off in Halo before class started and she was absolutely horrified.

DH and I are too, but I wanted to make sure our heads weren't too far up our own asses on this issue.

We allow Will to play Minecraft, Disney Infinity, and Skylanders. And that's it.

H used to play Call of Duty, and I was always amazed at how young the kids that played sounded (you could hear them talking during the game. H didn't have a headset.) Like, they sounded elementary school aged, and it blew my mind that they played such a violent game.

I have kindergarten students who tell me about halo, call of duty, whatever other game is popular and all I say is that I don't think guns are cool and they aren't allowed in my classroom.  It makes me sad for these kids  

[rugbywife]

I can name PLENTY of instances of kids in grade 1 (all boys, not going to lie) who play those games on a regular basis, and in many cases, with their fathers. It is...disturbing, to say the least. So 8 doesn't shock me at this point after hearing 6 year olds talk about it.

[Gato]

Yes.

[rosiebear]

Apr 21, 2015 18:21:32 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

I can name PLENTY of instances of kids in grade 1 (all boys, not going to lie) who play those games on a regular basis, and in many cases, with their fathers. It is...disturbing, to say the least. So 8 doesn't shock me at this point after hearing 6 year olds talk about it.

Do you notice any effects on their behavior, attitudes, etc that you would attribute to playing these games?

[MixedBerryJam]

My 17yo just got Grand Theft Auto, and I'm pretty pearl-clutchy at myself for allowing it. In OP's scenario would clutch my pearls if the 8yo doesn't have a (much) older sibling. It's hard to keep the little ones away from those games if the older sibs are playing them, though.

[itsme]

No. I am one of those parents that allowed their kid to play them. She's a teen now but played those types of games or saw people play them when she was younger.

[rugbywife]

Apr 21, 2015 18:24:19 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

Apr 21, 2015 18:21:32 GMT -5 rugbywife said:

I can name PLENTY of instances of kids in grade 1 (all boys, not going to lie) who play those games on a regular basis, and in many cases, with their fathers. It is...disturbing, to say the least. So 8 doesn't shock me at this point after hearing 6 year olds talk about it.

Do you notice any effects on their behavior, attitudes, etc that you would attribute to playing these games?

In the vast majority, yes.  

But there could be a reason for that...

So when a 6 year old emulates particularly violent behaviour and images (I am thinking of one in particular, years ago, as I was walking the class to the bathroom to wash their hands, he was using a straw as a gun and pretending to get shot in the throat and using his hands to be blood...it was...graphic...anyways)...once you see it as a trend, you ask them about it...non-chalantly, like 'do you pretend play with guns at home?', 'who do you play with', 'tell me what's happening in this picture (that has red crayon for blood all over it and black for tanks)...you soon find out that the kid plays these horribly violent games, as I said, either with a parent (see kid I mentioned above) or with older siblings.

The thing is, there could be other kids who ay those games, never role play/show any negative affects at school and therefore I might not have ever entered into a conversation with them about it and therefore don't know.  So it is easy for me to say YES, VIDEO GAMES MAKE KIDS...whatever, but it could just be that when I see that behaviour, I ask them questions and in many cases, low and behold...

So I have nothing beyond anecdotes and 15 years in education.