Thyunda said:
That's another concept that bemuses me. This apparent immunity offspring possess regarding their actions. Never once does anybody say "The kid shouldn't be swearing over Live." It's always kinda victim-blaming - Why are your kids even playing that game? They're too young?
Good point, really. Though, to some extent we have this view of kids in all fields. Kids can't generally enter into contracts until the age of majority, can't drink, drive (until sixteen), have sex without it being considered rape due to lack of consent, etc. It's not surprising we offer it up to parenting. Parents are guardians of their kids in both a de facto and a very deliberate sense.
Well, I'm sorry, but the rating is for violence, not for language. They could be playing Viva Pinata online and they'd still get this kind of abuse - if that game had a competitive online multiplayer.
Now that I think about it, that's kinda horrifying.
Yeah, kinda. I mean, all it takes is one jerk.
Though as a sidenote, pretty much everyone in my school was exposed to swearing by age eight. Schoolyard, the bus driver, our own parents...My father let me listen to rap when I was ten because he figured everything I heard there was no worse than what I'd already heard "on the street." And it's true. Hell, even "******" was old hat to me. Incidentally, I'm still uncomfortable using the word.
The reason I bring that up is I'm always curious as to how much parents can even stop their kids from this content. I mean, my parents could stop me from listening to rap at home, but as my dad pointed out, I'd heard it all before. And it's not like it impacted my language much; one summer at my grandparents, they were shocked to hear me use the word "damn" once, even though I was like fifteen at the time and not a serial cusser. I mean, it may impact other kids' language. Who am I to say, really? None of us can speak for everyone, but the point is, a lot of kids already know this language before playing online. I'm not even entirely sure how much protection they need. In this day and age, it seems impossible not to be exposed to profanity, unless you're Amish or raised in a monastery. Like, if you want to protect your kids, it seems like you'd need a plastic bubble and home schooling, because swearing is pretty common these days.
Course, when us gamers appear to be the only people who are aware that games AREN'T the cause, it doesn't work...and since gamer is such a vague term it encompasses anybody who so much as possesses a Nintendo Wii, there is nobody that can actually defend it. It's like trying to say heroin is a miracle cure for cancer when you have a needle sticking out of your arm - even if it WAS true, nobody would believe you because you clearly have a personal stake in it.
There's also the element that we take information in rather casually these days. Rather than process what studies say, people run with the sound bite.
Using your drug reference, a lot of people can't even tell you what the negative effects of pot are. I don't smoke it, I don't condone it, but the fact is, people are all "POT IS BAD!" And can't even tell you why. Well, I can: They saw it on TV. Or some other media, possibly even on the interwebs, but we've got to the point of not challenging ideas at all. Look at the number of people who thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9-11 when the US went into Iraq.
On the flip side, the gaming community has had trouble being objective about this, too. This site has seen a ton of people outright deny any link between violence and video games, even though the link isn't causal. There's a lot of defensive hostility in the community. I can't entirely say it's without merit, though, since I've grown up with the pitchforks and torches.
But of course, the non-gamers, those who shun the abhorrent machine devils, they are the Enlightened Ones who have escaped the brainwashing and know the dangers of videogames, and the perfect world that was lost to the virtual violent hypnosis. Ah, the 40s. Such a peaceful time...no violence at all. The last bastion of serenity in a world quickly lost to degenerate gaming.
XD. I like that.
Earlier today, I made another post talking about the 50s, and how they were so much better. You know, as long as you were a straight, white, Christian male of middle class or better. Who hadn't been accused of communism, of course.
Pretty close to the 40s, as well.
Ok, that made me laugh more than pretty much any other comment I've seen for a month or so. Bravo, sir. Bravo.
