Poll: should parents monitor what video games their children are playing?

[Fitscat]

This is a question which I have seen popping up a lot recently and I'm very interested to see what real people think about this issue, opposed to some academics theoretical paper.

I'd love to hear from both parents and non parents, so:
should parents monitor what video games their children are playing?

 

[RatRace123]

Yes, even if you're not into restricting the games your child has access to you should at least know a little bit about the games they're playing, especially if you bought them.

That's my thought on the matter anyway, I'm a non parent, by the way.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Of course. It's simply good parenting. But likewise, they should also keep in mind the maturity level of their children and react accordingly.

 

[Miles000]

YES!

Then they can stop blaming other people for their shoddy parenting...
Not that they will -_-

 

[Torrasque]

Non-parent here.
Yes, I think parents should monitor their children's video games, but also trust their kids.
I mean preventing their 12 year old kids from playing CoD and swearing it up on xblive, but also being able to trust them if they deserve it.
My parents generally trusted me when I grew up. I played Conkers Bad Fur Day when I was 12, lol.
Most parents should keep such games away from their kids cuz they can't handle it, it changes them. But if the kid can handle it, then by all means they should keep it from them.

But since you said "monitor", yes, parents should monitor all activities that a kid partakes in, it is called good parenting.

 

[redisforever]

Not monitor, but take an interest. For example, I play games with my dad. He knows what games I play, even though I'm 16, I am allowed to play M rated games, and I gave been playing them for years. It's because my dad made sure I knew it was just a game.

 

[Zach of Fables]

It would be stupid not to.

 

[Panzervaughn]

Absolutly, but they shouldn't knee-jerk reaction if theres violence or a Side-boob.

When i was 17, my Mother watched me play Oblivion for 20 minutes, right as i was starting my Dark Brotherhood quests.

"Why did you just kill that guy in his sleep, he wasnt attacking you. You just killed someone because a stranger would let you in their club?"


Goddamn awkward.

 

[Fiad]

Without a doubt, I have seen parents buy San Andreas for a kid that looked around 8. And that was before the patch that took out the whole sex scene thing. Don't be so strict about it, just have some damn common sense. Make the choice if it is really the best option for your kid.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Yes of course you should be watching what your child is playing. No you don't have to sit and watch them play but still at least find out what the game is all about before you let your kids play it.

 

[krazykidd]

Without a doubt, I have seen parents buy San Andreas for a kid that looked around 8. And that was before the patch that took out the whole sex scene thing. Don't be so strict about it, just have some damn common sense. Make the choice if it is really the best option for your kid.

Although i agree with this, i think it depends on the kid. I mean is he a kid that understands that it is just a game? Is it a kid that has violent outburst regularly? Is it a kid that tries to do what he sees on tv? I personally learned very young how to play games , and my dad thought me the difference between games and real life . Therefore i could play mortal kombat as a child before school , go to school and not try out the finishing moves from the characters on other children , i knew the difference. My parents never restricted me to children games , but since my dad was a gamer , he knew about the games . The only game that i wanted and he refused to buy me was conkers bad fur day , becauwe he read up about it and decided that no , it was way too " mature"( or immatuee depending on how you look at it . That being said games like resident evil or silent hill , golden eye or doom/quake , even gta 3 they had no problems with it , but when the ps2 was out i was a teenager so they deemed me old enough to not he an idiot. But it's a case to case thing . Besides childre ( primar school kids ) swear more than adults and talk about sex ( i use to talk about sex since i was 8) , so kIds know about these things , i think parents should explain to kids when these things are in games so they understand instead of trying to hide things they alreasy know but don't understand from them.

 

[badgersprite]

Of course. That's just responsible parenting.

You don't necessarily have to do anything about it, but you should at least know what your child is exposing themselves to or being exposed to through media. At the very least, it opens an opportunity for conversation and education about the material.

 

[Jandau]

Yes, of course!

Now, I'm not saying they should force their children to play Hello Kitty games until they are 21, but maybe letting your 6 year old play Splatterhouse might be a bad thing. Keep an eye on the kids, on what they play and what they see. MAybe turn off the gore if you can. They'll get exposed to plenty of violence in the media soon enough, no need to rush it.

Also, most importantly, make sure you teach them (and they understand) the difference between what's real and what's virtual, that things that are OK in games, books and movies often are not in real life.

 

[Furioso]

Hell no, my 5 year old is CLEARLY old enough to decide if he is ready to play GTA, hell, I'll go buy him manhunt! Be right back son, I need to go on vacation for a while, you know how to feed yourself right?

 

[DementedSheep]

Non parent: Yes! Well take interest but not monitor constantly. You should have some trust in your kid but atleast know what they are playing. They should also avoid knee jerk reactions and actually discuss the issues with their kid tho there are some games I would not let a kid (by kid I mean under 15) play. My parents use to monitor what I played but never restricted me from anything.

 

[Balmong7]

My parents monitored every game I played. I didn't get any M games until I was 15. It sucked when all my friends had halo in elementary school, but I got over it. Of course parents need to monitor their kids games.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Absolutely, but that does not mean keeping games that are above their age bracket away from them.

My parents monitored my gaming, and yet they still allowed me to play games like Tomb Raider when I was only eight. They kept an eye on the whole picture, and saw that Tomb Raider was only a tiny facet of my gaming as a whole, and I was far more focused on Pokemon, Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy etc. My parents both tried gaming, and my father probably would have gotten into it if he'd had more time. (Now he has an iPad and over the last month has spent more time gaming than I have)

It's the same as anything. My parents let me see 12 and 15 and even 18 rated movies when I was young, after they had seen the movies and knew that I was mature enough to handle the topics within. They let me read whatever I wanted, as long as they knew what it was first. They engaged with me about gaming, and once they'd made sure I understood the difference between tiny pixels exploding and real humans who I shouldn't try and kill they were perfectly happy.

Parents should monitor nearly everything a child does, their playtime, their education, their friends. As long as they don't then try and control every aspect of their child's life then it isn't a problem.