Comments on: Opinion: Why I WILL Let My Kids Play GTA IV

By: Octavian

Octavian — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:55:40 +0000

That’s golden words. Bravo.

By: Octavian

Octavian — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:54:14 +0000

They just don’t have any children. Thats why they are thinking children are idiots.

By: Octavian

Octavian — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:51:18 +0000

My little brother (he is 10 now) played GTA since he was 4-5 years old (actually he played almost anything he wanted and could). He was not good at reading but he was fine at killing some bastards in a game. And know what? It didn’t make him aggressive or whatsoever.

He perfectly understands it is a game. Bang bang, kill some cartoon guys. Phew, that doesn’t do anything, it is not real.

On the other hand there is a lot of realistic shit on TV which can be much more harmful then guys jumping and burning each other with a firethrowers.

By: Gary

Gary — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:53:14 +0000

I have very specific opinions on children and M-rated games. One thing I have learned is that the more you restrict a child, the more likely they are to do the thing you restrict them from doing. It’s good old fashioned curiosity. From personal experience, I know that the things you can’t have are far more desirable than the things you can. I would let my child have such M-rated games but, I would personally monitor the kid’s behaviour before hand to make sure he/she is mature enough as one thing that really annoys me is the parent who simply picks up the M-rated game the kid is waving in front of their face and simply buys it without a second glance. One such thing happened to me the other day, I was browsing through the pre-owned games in a shop and I saw Brothers in Arms: Hells highway. I went to take the game when it was snatched by a small kid who couldn’t have been older than eight and he showed it to his mum, I thought she would see the rating on it and proceed to tell him to put it back when she simply took it off him and added it to the staggering pile of games she was already carrying! That’s a sign of bad parenting and should be properly discouraged. Long story short, if the kid is mature enough in YOUR eyes, buy the game.

By: MADD gets mad about GTA IV

MADD gets mad about GTA IV — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:03:30 +0000

[...] it Grand Theft Auto didn’t have enough parental critics, that latest organization to come out against the game is MADD. Specifically, the group takes issue [...]

By: Kevin Johnson

Kevin Johnson — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:26:11 +0000

No shit and I got kids. A four year old girl and a year old boy. I’d let them play gta Iv.

By: Jovi

Jovi — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:56:18 +0000

I am 12 years old, I have three GTA’s but I am not going around shooting people, stabbing people, smoking crack or any other stuff in the GTA’s! It’s not about the game, it’s about your parents/carers tell you what is ok and what is bad.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:16:56 +0000

Like Allison said…
I’ll be the judge of if my kids should get to play a violent, slaughter-oriented game. If they’re mature enough–fine. If they’re not, then they can stick with their Wiis and Mario Kart.

By: Fox

Fox — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:30:55 +0000

I totally hear you. I used to work in the electronics section of a department store, and there’d be 10-year-olds trying to buy mature games like Black and GTA 1-3, or Diablo for the PC, or R-rated movies, and I’d always tell them the same line: “I can’t sell this to you. You’re too young. That’s a mature rating, and you shouldn’t play/watch this until you’re that age.”
Then that same kid always came back the next day, or only a couple hours later, with an elderly grandma in tow. You know, the kind that can’t hear AT ALL and if you try telling them they shouldn’t buy this, they start ranting “My grandson is the brightest, most mature boy I’ve ever known. He’s smarter and more mature than you and could be your manager if he got a job here!”

I hated those days.

By: Fox

Fox — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:24:32 +0000

I’m sorry, but 9 years old and watching R-rated films? Bad parenting.
I started watching R-rated films when I was 4 or 5 because my uncle would be watching them in the living room at Grandma’s house where I was supposed to be sleeping.
Now, at almost 21 years old, I have a hard time with horror films and I have a serious neck-phobia -I’m afraid of something happening to my neck- thanks to those films.
My actual *parents* didn’t let me see even PG-13 movies until I was 12, and then R-rated until I was 14, because they knew how badly those movies messed me up when I was a little one.
And that M-rating? That’s there for a very specific purpose. There’s sexual innuendos that you should not a) even see or b) shouldn’t understand yet.

Great article BTW. I know that I’ll have my kids READING and playing Mario and Pokemon before I let them tackle the more mature games.

By: edwin

edwin — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:18:28 +0000

kids can tell the difference between game and real…i know i am 11 sean R movies sence 9 been playing M rated games at 8 1/2 they dont chang you you let all your anger in the game

By: kathy

kathy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:01:53 +0000

i am 11 and my dad let me watch R rated movies when i was 9 and bought me halo3 and dead rising i am very good at handling M rated games but my mom is ESRB slave and i am not a bad kid M rated games dont chang kids i know because i am.

By: Chad

Chad — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:30:53 +0000

Another argument organizations like MADD are giving is that “kids can’t tell the difference between video games and real life.” I’m sorry but that is just utter bullshit. A normal person’s mind is far to sophisticated to confuse the two. Obviously there is something already wrong with you if you can’t. And part of reasons why there are so many parents jumping on to this blame video games bandwagon is the media. They blow shit way out of proportion, a few months ago I saw a story on Fox about the game Mass Effect, and they were ranting and raving about some side boob and an ass crack that should make the game AO. They had a “psychiatric expert” there for correspondence. I use the quotes cause that bitch was stupid. She said that the University of Maryland has conducted a study that showed kids can’t tell the difference between games and real life. WHAAAAATEEEVVVVEERRRRR

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:06:24 +0000

I AGREE 100%. These dickheads saying video games are to blame for violence=epic fail.. I’ve already responded to 4 things like this, and I don’t want to have to explain everything again.
IN A NUTSHELL: PLEASE, LET OUT KIDS PLAY VIDEO GAMES.

PARENTS::::AT LEAST TEACH YOUR KIDS THAT WHAT THEY DO IN THE GAMES SHOULD NEVER EVER BE DONE IN REAL LIFE.

By: wholesomedude??

wholesomedude?? — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:58:35 +0000

completely agree with you, im sick of parents now a days thinking that the government has to protect the children or its always someone elses fault that a game is rated mature instead of AO, which is retarded cause mature should might as well be considered AO, whats the point of having a teen rating then mature then AO. whats the mature group suppose to be? its 18 to buy a mature game anyway right? does AO make it like drinking, “You cant buy this game until your 21!” if it were that way i assure you someone would die. haha. basically what im getting at is what happened to good old fashioned parenting? what happened to the days where the parent took responsibility for what they kids are doing and tell them what may be dangerous, if gaming is at all. if anything gaming is a good way to vent i think. there i go again with the sidetracking. parent your children people stop blame shifting and raise your own kids.