Do you let kids watch you play "mature" games?

[PhunkyPhazon]

This is mainly directed towards parents, uncles/aunts, or people who have really young cousins and the like. Say you're playing a game geared towards adults. I'm not necessarily talking about games like GTA and the like because you really *shouldn't* be letting younger kids watch that, but say you have something a bit more mild like Assassins Creed 3, where sexual references are few and far between and gore can be turned off. With a game like that, do you think it's ethical to let a kid of, say, less then ten years of age to watch you play it? Let's keep answers in a more general sense, as I know they might vary depending on the kid.

I'm just feeling conflicted about this. My 6 year old nephew loves watching me play Assassin's Creed, and while it by no means a super-violent-sexy game, I still feel like the giant "M" on the cover should be enough reason to disallow him despite it not being a super mature game. What do you guys do in this type of situation?

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Okay, I posted this two days ago and it hasn't even shown up in the topic list. Wouldn't normally double post, but maybe this will help push it through.

 

[Eleuthera]

I don't really play (a lot of) M rated games, but the ones I do play I don't really see the problem with smaller kids watching. I think they'd get bored by them more then anything else really.

Note that none of these games are really gore or sexuality heavy, at most they're shooters and those don't seem very emotionally damaging, since there's really nothing to see...

EDIT: I will note I don't have any kids of my own and that my opinion is likely to change if/when I do have them...

 

[omega 616]

There is an article right now about how Russia is thinking of banning violent games, I bet if you went to that thread you would see people mocking the idea and defending violent games.

At the tail end of last month a thread came up about would you let your kids play violent games, a lot of people said they wouldn't or base it on something. Which I find weird, they defend it constantly but won't let there kids play.

I would do as my mother did, let me play resident evil at about 9 and my brother played it when he was 8! Which means why not let the little guy watch you play? It's not going to fuck him up.

Sorry for any spelling and grammar, typing on a phone and on this site sucks!

 

[RedDeadFred]

I don't have kids around me really often but I know that when I am a parent, my kids will not be playing M rated games (in my house at least) until I think they are actually mature.

 

[bigwon]

I usually just flip it off while the youngins are about given the addictive nature of them. I'd rather them playing, and interacting with each other at that stage of there life.

I mainly speak of the 0-7 range as that's all i've got experience with.

But as far as the subject matter goes it's more then just the big 'M' mark on it. Alot of the 'idiot box' programming in general (stuff more to do with values) is something i wouldn't suggest to anyone never mind an impressionable child (although impressionable people would probably fit even better). Or just letting a television raise a child even that goes a ways beyond the question.

I'd probably introduce a kid to snes/sega emulators when there around 10 if anything. It's a lot less suggestive, leaves more of gap for the kids imagination to fill. And that's if i find the kid has a competent enough mental stability......hehehe

 

[Tanis]

I've been watching 'R movies' and playing 'M games' since I was 5.

I think it REALLY depends on the kid.

 

[spartan231490]

This is mainly directed towards parents, uncles/aunts, or people who have really young cousins and the like. Say you're playing a game geared towards adults. I'm not necessarily talking about games like GTA and the like because you really *shouldn't* be letting younger kids watch that, but say you have something a bit more mild like Assassins Creed 3, where sexual references are few and far between and gore can be turned off. With a game like that, do you think it's ethical to let a kid of, say, less then ten years of age to watch you play it? Let's keep answers in a more general sense, as I know they might vary depending on the kid.

I'm just feeling conflicted about this. My 6 year old nephew loves watching me play Assassin's Creed, and while it by no means a super-violent-sexy game, I still feel like the giant "M" on the cover should be enough reason to disallow him despite it not being a super mature game. What do you guys do in this type of situation?

YES!!! I'm not a parent, but I'm an uncle and a cousin, and yes I do. Why? Because I played M rated games when I was only 10 or 11. It's not about age, it's about the individual. I don't let my 6 year old nephew watch me play call of duty, but my 10/11/12 year old cousins? Hell, they usually play with me.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

This is mainly directed towards parents, uncles/aunts, or people who have really young cousins and the like. Say you're playing a game geared towards adults. I'm not necessarily talking about games like GTA and the like because you really *shouldn't* be letting younger kids watch that, but say you have something a bit more mild like Assassins Creed 3, where sexual references are few and far between and gore can be turned off. With a game like that, do you think it's ethical to let a kid of, say, less then ten years of age to watch you play it? Let's keep answers in a more general sense, as I know they might vary depending on the kid.

I'm just feeling conflicted about this. My 6 year old nephew loves watching me play Assassin's Creed, and while it by no means a super-violent-sexy game, I still feel like the giant "M" on the cover should be enough reason to disallow him despite it not being a super mature game. What do you guys do in this type of situation?

YES!!! I'm not a parent, but I'm an uncle and a cousin, and yes I do. Why? Because I played M rated games when I was only 10 or 11. It's not about age, it's about the individual. I don't let my 6 year old nephew watch me play call of duty, but my 10/11/12 year old cousins? Hell, they usually play with me.

I certainly won't have qualms about it when my nephew reaches that age, no. Hell, by the time I was 12 I was playing the crap out of Vice City. I don't know if I'll let him actually play those sorts of games, but watching should be okay in most circumstances.

 

[distortedreality]

If a kid is too young to play a game, he/she is too young to watch someone else play the game.

Admittedly there are exceptions, and the individual kid should be taken into consideration.

 

[theprisoner]

As long as the child is being taught the the difference between video games and real life I see no problems with it, hell, I've was playing Half-Life since before I started school and I'm not faffed up.

 

[Pink Gregory]

If anything letting them watch you would be an exercise in putting things in context.

What I mean to say is, if they were going to experience a 'mature' (ie violent/sexual themes), it's best that they're not alone, that there's someone there to give them context, hell actively watching someone else play it is context enough.

Of course, that's not a guarantee of good context, but to be honest it's difficult to not be exposed to that kind of thing; so perhaps it's something that has to be considered.

 

[BenefitEvil]

Speaking as a kid who's father let him watch R rated movies at 13 I do not let my kids watch me play M rated games without first explaining what is going on and the context of what is on the screen. Depending on what I'm playing ie strong sexual situations or excessive gore/blood I think I would hold off of letting them watch. I've worked in video game retail and its sad to me that parents let their children (of age 8-10) play grand theft auto because they don't want to hear them whine.