TV News Report Warns of "Cyber-Bullying" on Xbox Live

doomspore98

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While I am not promoting ignorance in the media, I do see a problem looming over electronic devices and cyber bullying. In fact, a kid in my town shot himself for just this reason. On the other hand, parents, if you are planning on buying your eight year old child Call of Duty, I would stop complaining about the game, and look yourself in the mirror. Another thing, if you want your kid to not listen to all of this stuff you can A: mute the player who is swearing at people or B: make them set the headset down and play without voices. Don't and I repeat DON'T have the news report on how your kids are about to commit suicide due to online swearing. If all else fails, make the kids stop playing the game online.
 

Alexchaser

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Nov 9, 2009
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This is a major problem in gaming that needs to be solved by GAMERS. Its nice to see an actual adult playing games and giving reasonable answers instead of trying to burn video games at the stake.
 

jovack22

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Most of what is said in this news report is completely accurate.

Tanis said:
Seeing as how the WORST players I've met online sound like 8 year old...

Maybe parents should parent their kids before bitching about others'.
Lol this too.
 

orangeban

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Nov 27, 2009
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"Cyber-bullying" is one of those phrases that gets people who have no idea what it actually means all up in arms. "Sexting" is another one.

However, for people in the know about cyber-bullying, we know it's not the greatest menace to face humanity, and it's pretty much old news at this point.

But, this doesn't mean it isn't an issue and that we should just ignore it. There is a real culture of trash-talking around videogames, hurling slurs over Xbox Live seems to be accepted, by some people, as "the thing you do". There are various reasons as to why we have this culture, but I'm not going to get into that.

The point is, it's not the best enviroment for a child to be exposed to. On a bad day the constant swearing, threats and homophobic slurs (which, as a member of a sexual minority, do sting) have been enough to make me turn of the Xbox and go to bed. For a child of, say, 8, it's an incredibly nasty and hostile enviroment to be exposed to.

Which is why parents need to be aware of this, and need to educate their children and restrict videogames accordingly. Let the child know that A) people might very well say nasty stuff, B) they don't have to put up with that, there are things they can do and C) just because everyone else does it, that doesn't make it appropriate for the child to do the same thing.

It's just a common sense, heads-up warning.

Edit: Oh, and some people seem to think that we can solve this problem by not having children playing M-rated games, but that doesn't solve the central problem, that there is this accepted idea that it's okay for people to be shitheads while playing multiplayer.

Keeping children away from nasty online communities is like keeping people away from Chernobyl. Sure, it's helpful, but it doesn't solve the real issue now, does it?
 

kwagamon

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It's an M for Mature game. If parents want to give it to their kids when they're legally too young to get it themselves, I don't really take issue with that. The violence really doesn't screw kids up as much as some people say it does, and it is the parents' decision to determine when their child is ready for mature content in this matter.

What I DO take issue with is when those same parents are them legitimately SURPRISED that people who are old enough to use swear words without getting put on the naughty stool for 10 minutes play the game that has an age minimum of SEVENTEEN to buy, and demands that we are change our behavior so their special little snowflake isn't exposed to stuff that, quite frankly, I believe he/she should be exposed to in some form or another. Everyone should be on the receiving end of some minor nastiness in their young life. Now I don't mean they should be verbally abused every waking moment of every day, but if they at no point have cruel things said to them when they're young, then they're never going to develop that mental armor against it. And trust me, you need that mental armor. If I hadn't been relentlessly harassed every school day from fourth to eight grade, I never would've been mentally ready for high school, where the REAL bastards come out to play. Getting called a fag every two seconds over XBox Live is nothing compared to what these kids deal with in school (even to those that are actually gay, who deal with WAAAAAAAAAAAY worse in school), especially since school is getting worse and worse as kids get more and more desensitized to suffering.

EDIT: I would also like to add that clearly the concerned parents have never played DotA, Heroes of Newerth, or League of Legends. If they were that up in arms over mild curses, then they'd probably cancel their internet service if they saw the foul things cooked up in the minds of MOBA players.
 

Johny64

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Therumancer said:
You do know, when it comes to games like "Call Of Duty" these kids shouldn't be on these servers to begin with. If I'm playing a game aimed at a fairly mature, or at least teenage audience, I am not going to conduct myself with the level of decorum that would be appropriate for 8 year olds being around because there aren't supposed to be any around.

What's more if your concerned about "bullying", understand that while I mostly play MMOs, when I run into a young child that shouldn't be in the game (of any sort) I have been a part of efforts to drive them off, because to be honest in a T or M rated game he shouldn't be there to begin with and his continued prescence creates all kinds of problems, one of which is having to be concerned with their prescence and having to walk on eggshells.

To be honest I'm not sure if the community using bullying to chase kids out of a community that shouldn't be there to begin with is a bad thing. That's a form of policing that probably should have already taken place with the parents saying "no" when their little kid wanted the T or M rated game.

Understand gaming is intended to be something where you can put your hair down and relax. A lot of the foul language and uncouth, and un-politically correct behavior is part of that. People who have to play the role of being nice, entirely tolerant, and polite all day at work or at school in the face of a lot of jerks (obnoxious customers, etc...) want to let their hair down and let off some steam. The kind of language and venting (which is just that as opposed to heartfelt racism in many cases) that you see is typical of sitting around with the guys or hanging out in a bar where your known. It's nothing unusual for adults, or even teenagers who we all know aren't exactly the most polite people in the world when they are off on their own kicking back. You don't let 8 year olds wander around unattended in bars or teenage coffee houses for a reason, and that reason isn't just to protect them from human predators or fear that they are going to saunter up to the bar and bite the neck off a bottle of JD like a bad cowboy movie and start guzzling. You let your kid into CoD, or WoW, that's just like letting them hang out in a bar populated by off duty longshoremen (or really anyone), your going to hear crap that doesn't fly in polite society because the entire point is that they are not supposed to be in polite society. When I play a game that isn't suitable for little kids, I do not want to have to act like I would if I was walking around an elementary school.

In short, while many people might disagree with me, I think this is more or less a non-issue. Kids of the age being discussed aren't supposed to be playing anything above the "E" level for a reason, and parents who don't respect tht have no right to complain. What happens to their kid is on them, not the community, or the service providers.


As far as those shocked by the stupidity of parents, understand that this point also isn't really "stupid". It's called "rabble rousing" it's actually very intelligent because the points are being made to incite attention FROM stupid people, knowing that simply because a kid is involved the ignorant are going to rally, which gives the people involved five minutes of fame... and also promotes the "experts" who want to get their books out there to the intended audience. Basically the people who are dumb enough to not understand this are the target, but wouldn't themselves be able to bring this to anyone's attention. Like it or not there are people out there who will embrace anything that tells them their failings as a parent (or anything else) are not their fault, and buy products like books that will tell them what they want to hear.
There is no excuse to be rude, profane and downright mean to another person, in real-life or online.
 

Drenaje1

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Apparently parents nowadays don't want to actually step up to the plate and PARENT. Why is your, what, 8, 9 year old kid playing this type of game in the first place? Are you even getting involved at all? I mean, who would have thunk that mixing your precious widdle babby into an online killy stabby explodey death scenario with a bunch of teenagers and/or adults could have A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON HIM? WOOOAUUUURGHHHH? MY ENTIRE CONCEPT OF REALITY HAS BEEN SHAKEN TO ITS CORE!
 

shiajun

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I'll grant people the fact that the original video doesn't mention any specific game by name, and it's a big slip by Greg to add it in his article, but the video clearly talks about x-rated content and has a close up of a box with a big ol' M on it. It may not be call of duty, but the fact remains that if your kids managed to get their hands on a game that is either M or contains X-rated content, or both, the parents are to blame for not monitoring their child's activities. The advices given are sound but the first and formost advice is what everyone is raging about here: DON'T BUY YOUR KIDS M RATED GAMES. It's sad it's the only one NOT mentioned in the video.
 

Vault101

I'm in your mind fuzz
Sep 26, 2010
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AC10 said:
Vault101 said:
I feel kind of left out....

...I never get abused over mic....:( mabye that because Im on PSN and no one uses a mic (or Im not playing the right games)
Do you re-animate your avatar yourself? Seems like it's different all the time :p
yeah...

this one I did from scratch
 

Thyunda

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Zachary Amaranth said:
Thyunda said:
I was always allowed to play games above my age rating, and I came out just fine. The problem here isn't that the kids are playing violent games when they're too young, it's that they're not being taught to handle it properly. I'm nineteen now and I STILL have reservations about swearing around family, and y'know, stabbing people is just out of order.

Also. Captcha - 'ear candy'.

I sense an ironic connection.
I was a teen before the ESRB was an industry-wide thing with big symbols on everything. I was playing stuff like Doom and Mortal Kombat and the like before they decided it was detrimental. I was graduating the year od Columbine, when shit allegedly got "real."

I don't know, I knew things weren't real on TV by the time I was five, well before my first game console. This always seemed obvious to me, but then, my parents paid attention.
It's kinda bizarre, isn't it? Haven't to acknowledge that some people aren't as mentally resilient as you or I, and that something as basic as Grand Theft Auto, the original games before shit got 3D, were actually capable of making people violent.

Apparently.
 

Something Amyss

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Dec 3, 2008
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Thyunda said:
It's kinda bizarre, isn't it? Haven't to acknowledge that some people aren't as mentally resilient as you or I, and that something as basic as Grand Theft Auto, the original games before shit got 3D, were actually capable of making people violent.

Apparently.
I'm not sure they're made violent. Maybe they're set off, but it seems like people already have some penchant. I mean, most video game studies at best show that aggressive people like violent video games. There is a link between violence and aggression and video games, but not link that sets them up as the cause.

I'm more the opposite. It's bizarre to me that I even need to quantify that I'm not going to shoot up a building any time soon. Most gamers are relatively normal. Especially if you include casual gamers. Because we run a spectrum and are human, there will inevitably be some crazies among us. but Charlie Manson thought he was getting secret messages to kill from the Beatles. Nobody ever assumes the Beatles are going to turn you into a serial killer. Well, not anymore. Kinda like that whole rock and roll scare. "If we let our kids listen to negro music, they will become overridden by animal lust and start fornicating!"

Pretty sure puberty had more to do with me having sex than Elvis or Lennon.

People have imitated TV, comics, music, literature. It will happen time and again, and with pretty much every medium. If some opera fan watched Der Ring Des Nibelung, would we crusade to shut down operas en masse? I'd hope not.

And you consider half the video game related shootings they use as examples aren't relly video game related....It's so messed up.

I think kids just need to learn right from wrong. That will help the 99% that can be helped. There are, inevitably, time bombs among us. As with everybody.

Now, I know it's partially unfair to blame parents. Parents have to work much longer these days on average to pull in the same cash. Kids are marketed to, and it's hard to monitor them when the model of one-parent-working is slowly going extinct. But it should be easier to instill right and wrong than to constantly monitor them.
 

T8B95

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And in other news, the sky is blue. The sun rises in the east. Fire is hot.

OH MY GOD THIS IS NEW INFORMATION.
 

CleverCover

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Comando96 said:
As soon as she left... or rather after an Admin for the server went on a kicking spree and perma IP banned that kid, the first question asked was "did anyone record that shit?"

I don't think anyone did because most people said no, or I wish I did/could.
Aww, damn. Well, I imagine it would have been gutibustingly wonderful.

Comando96 post= said:
rent if I had to choose. The news reporters report whats happening.
Just because they are reporting on stupid parents who haven't thought things through doesn't mean that they should be given a slap. They should be slapped if they don't ask the question "why are you letting your kid play on a game that says 15+/18+ on it?"
Did anyone actually ask that in the article? I skimmed it so I'm not sure if the journalist included it or not or if the piece was supposed to be as shocking as it seemed to be. I really wish someone had asked that of the parent. What about the person that asked a story be made on this? Is it possible this is an article from 2005 and no one published it until slow news week?
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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KiKiweaky said:
Therumancer said:
I can see what your saying to be fair, the kids shouldnt be there in the first place, playing call of duty etc... but you and I both know that there are thousands of them online regardless of a games rating. I generally play on the pc so I hear alot less of them but my brief stint on xbox live I'd say I heard more kids talking than I did adults.

This bullying thing that you seem to agree with as a form of 'self policing' is a bit much though, the guys firing the insults arent doing it just because its a kid they're talking too I doubt many douchebags online give a toss what age the person they are insulting is. If the person being bullied deserves it or brought it on themselves all well and good fire away but if its just someone playing the game who's a bit younger than most, whats the problem?
The problem being that they don't belong there, saying that "well the kids are going to be playing anyway" and dismissing it, is EXACTLY the reason why we had that whole stupid fiasco with the goverment wanting to criminally enforce game ratings.

Now, you ARE correct that a lot of people are just doing it in general, but half the point is that an adult can just shrug that off, and a kid can't, which is the entire bloody point. If you wind out chasing the kid off, sure he might go and cry for a bit and not play the game anymore, but that's no worse than scaring one and running one out of a bar when they don't belong there. In the end it's the parents fault, who should have been paying attention to what their kid was doing to begin with, and probably winds up doing less damage than letting the kid do whatever they want.

Now granted, there are exceptions to everything. My attitude on how behavior should be in a very low rated, kiddie game, is entirely differant. Some dude goes into say "Hello Kitty Online" and starts swearing and talking all kinds of smack about differant groups of people (intentional or not) then he's the problem, especially seeing as he probably shouldn't be in a game intended for little kids to begin with, if he's there you expect him to be on his best behavior like in an elementary school or whatever.... but that's not really what this is about, nor is it the example given. As soon as the issue of pre-teens playing "Call Of Duty" came up any validity to any point the article was trying to make was wrong and it became 100% about the parents and what the kid was doing in that enviroment to begin with.

It's like sneaking your eight year old into a sex club, and then complaining because there are a couple of lesbians going at it on stage in front of him.
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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Johny64 said:
[
There is no excuse to be rude, profane and downright mean to another person, in real-life or online.
I disagree 100%, but to put this into the context of the discussion there is a time and place for you to do that. By being "M" rated or even "T" rated these games are quite clearly marking themselves as being that time and place, and letting everyone know it.

It's like a horror movie, you bring your kid into some horrendous blood and guts movie and watch it with him, don't be surprised if he has nightmares for months afterwards. That's not the fault of the movie, it's your fault as a parent for bringing him there to see material that was clearly unacceptable.

A lot of people will argue that there is no reason for horror movies to exist either, but I disagree with that too.

The point is that these games are clearly marked, and even include disclaimers in most cases that the experience online can change what's listed on the pakcage. If you as a parent let your kid onto open CoD servers, you have no more right to complain than if you sneak your kid into a horror movie or adult sex club.

Decrying the negative aspects of humanity and it's needs in that direction, and the darker aspects of entertainment is all well and good, but it's out there and part of who we are. Exposing kids to that early on is NOT a good idea, they will grow into that aspect of humanity as time goes on. It's the job of the parent to actually be a parent and shield the kids from that until it's appropriate, trying to blame the video gaming community for something that is their own fault is outrageous.


... and as I said, I think a lot of this comes down to self policing. Bullying a kid out of a game where he doesn't belong is similar to scaring a kid that wanders into a bar and chasing him out. The damage is a lot less than letting him hack out where he's not supposed to be, and if anyone is the blame it's the bloody parent.

We as gamers have to take a degree of responsibility and this is a way of doing it. We got into that entire attempt to criminally enforce game ratings because nobody was doing anything about kids. Bullying a kid out of a game where he doesn't belong might not be nice, but it does show a bit of defensible community responsibility. If you don't like it, step in as a parent and ensure your kids aren't in that position to begin with.
 

acosn

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Why are you letting people who aren't even in highschool play a mature rated game? Were you about to take them to Texas Chainsaw Massacre too?
 

Artemicion

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Dec 7, 2009
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Protip, parents: The game is rated M. For mature. 17+.
And online interactions are not rated by the ESRB.
 

Loner Jo Jo

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I agree with most people here that this is ridiculous. One, this isn't news. Two, most games that involve any real player interaction online are rated M anyway.

However, why did ABC feel the need to include the fact that the average gamer is 33 years old? Yes, older players may be more likely to cuss when they are losing which I can understand a parent not wanting their child to hear. However, it's always people under the age of 18 in my experience who start trash talking in the first place.
 

Valanthe

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You know, I was just gonna put a "You don't say?!" image here, but upon reflection, no, this is one of the few times the news has actually run a video game piece that doesn't either A. Blame the games industry for all the world's problems (In fact they do the opposite, and applaud Microsoft's efforts to control their userbase), or B. Tried to justify the censorship of teh media in order to 'protect the children'.

Yes this story is years late to the party, but honestly the reporters are -actually- saying that it's a parent's responsibility to protect their kids from this, not the government's, not the games industry, and not God's, but THE PARENTS'

So skip the sarcasm, thumbs up from me!