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

[Samurai Silhouette]

8, 9, 10 year olds being exposed to profanity? Why are they even on Xbox Live/Playstation Network in the first place? Playing Call of Duty? It's okay for them to go on a killing spree, but when called a fag it's unacceptable? GET THE FUCK OFF MY INTERNET!

 

[crono738]

"All content ratings go out the window." Doesn't pretty much every game say that online interactions aren't rated by the ESRB?

 

[Screamarie]

......I find it really, really, REALLY fucking hilarious that they did this report about 8, 9, 10 year old kids playing this game.....when COD is rated Mature....I also find it almost as funny that they don't realize that a LOT of that profanity comes from 8, 9, 10 year old kids. Believe it or not they know what "pussy" is and no we're not talking about the cat.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Question: Why the hell are parents letting 8-12 year olds play Call of Duty in the first place?

 

[JordanXlord]

Spoiler: Wait, give me a minute, I have it here somewhere.. *Rummages* Aha, here it is!

I guess maybe now parents might actually have a care what they let little Timmy play and will actually monitor his gaming consumption instead of using the Xbox like an electronic nanny.

Ha, of course they won't.

Did you steal my thoughts and put them in forum post form?

 

[Rad Party God]

Uhuh... what's even more appaling, is the utter failure of the mentioning that they're playing an M rated game... fucking idiots.

 

[Lord S. Binkleheimer]

Also on ABC, a report on how the sky is blue, water is wet and people die.

 

[Vault101]

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)

 

[RaikuFA]

Until they learn to play more civilized games like Magic

I lol'd, that was a funny line.

OT: I wish they'd just ban kids from playing these games online.

 

[swolf]

I have to agree with the consensus here. COD is a violent game about WAR. Yes, it's a "game" but it's a game about KILLING PEOPLE. Yes, there may be some adult language involved. This is as ridiculous about as the hot coffee gta controversy. That game had a warning label that went on forever and was about criminals (love it).

 

[Aeonknight]

Obviously what follows will vary per individual experience, but I find more often than not it's the kids freaking out and throwing racial slurs out and such.

I've yet to be called a @*$!#$ by someone my age. Mainly cause we don't talk when we game.

 

[Mauso88]

8-9-10-11 year olds are the worst offenders for this kind of foul-mouthed bullshit on xbox live, most 20-30 somethings just mute the little shits as we don't have kids and don't want them ruining our gaming experience.

My Xbox Live bio simply states,'' Keep kids off Xbox Live.(Failing that, there's always MW3/BF3)''

 

[Comando96]

Solution... don't let them have head sets so you can hear whats going on.
And so that they don't have a mic to agitate people with their high pitched voices.

[/enddiscussion]

Yeah, its not a cheap baby sitter and you need to involve yourself with what your kids are doing.

-------------

Back in ye old times of COD4 I witnessed a child on mic... players weren't friendly but weren't too bad considering the high pitched voice annoying people. Some player called someone a "fucking camper", not the kid... but the kid got his mum because a "naughty word" had been aired. When his mum criticised the gamers as far as I could tell she was systematically reduced to tears with the barrage of abuse for letting her child play this game and how she was a bad mother etc etc, one of the main attackers being (or claiming at least) to be a parent himself and how he'd never let his child on the game.

... make of that what you will but I do think we need to smack a few parents around the head before they give into the demands of their kids in terms of video games. Content may not be appropriate ie... shooting people... shooting LOOOOOOOOTS of people however in an environment where people are allowed a microphone in an uncensored and anonymous theater... fuck that's just asking for trouble.

 

[-Samurai-]

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)

What's your PSN name? I'll shoot you a harassing message, then follow you into a lobby and whisper racist, homophobic, antisemitic comments to you. Then I'll follow up with all the classics. I'll call you garbage, a kid, a 30 year old in his moms basement, a baddy, a nub, and I'll tell you to get good, scrub.

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

How is profanity "cyber-bullying"? I mean, I've always figured that there had to be a higher standard for people to be concerned than name-calling I know bullying has been the new buzzword for bad things that need to be "eliminated", but it won't be, because it's how kids (and some adults) establish social status. So people need to stop panicking over bullying in general and cyber-bullying in particular, and instead try to focus on setting limits and protecting really vulnerable kids from the worst of it, plus giving them some coping mechanisms. I suspect that all of these attempts to "end bullying" are likely to make kids even more angry and likely to take it out on their targets when no one else is watching.

 

[intheweeds]

To be fair, the article never mentions any game by name. It says "when your child takes the game online and players start interacting, all content ratings go out the window" and "Don't let your kid go upstairs and close his bedroom door, and sit there and play all night," said Kinney. "That's crazy. You have no idea what's going on, who's saying what". These are good things. Perfectly reasonable things.

The only person who mentioned Call of Duty in relation to this article is Greg Tito. Read the friggin article people! Slipping an unrelated phrase into a write-up is how Fox news fools morons. Don't be a moron. Read before forming an opinion. Look at how many of you jump to call out people! This article is about online games 'in general' and how you need to watch what your kids are doing.


This article is actually quite reasonable and benign. No one is suggesting 8 yr olds are playing Call of Duty except Greg Tito.

The final point of the article? - "Proactive parenting will allow kids to enjoy the games while still staying safe."


To be fair again, I did not watch the video, maybe someone said something, but I can't watch video right now. The text however, I don't see a problem with.

Edit: Nope. Just watched the video. Not one mention of a Call of Duty or any other M or T rated game. No specific games mentioned at all. I actually kinda hoped there would be so I could stop thinking bad of Greg Titos journalistic integrity (if he has any).

Stay classy, Greg!

 

[Vault101]

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)

What's your PSN name? I'll shoot you a harassing message, then follow you into a lobby and whisper racist, homophobic, antisemitic comments to you. Then I'll follow up with all the classics. I'll call you garbage, a kid, a 30 year old in his moms basement, a baddy, a nub, and I'll tell you to get good, scrub.

and Im a girl so that entitles me to twice as much abuse for the same price right? (cmon! I want the full online gaming exerpeince!...its xsin_r101)

ok..I kid..I kid

 

[CleverCover]

Back in ye old times of COD4 I witnessed a child on mic... players weren't friendly but weren't too bad considering the high pitched voice annoying people. Some player called someone a "fucking camper", not the kid... but the kid got his mum because a "naughty word" had been aired. When his mum criticised the gamers as far as I could tell she was systematically reduced to tears with the barrage of abuse for letting her child play this game and how she was a bad mother etc etc, one of the main attackers being (or claiming at least) to be a parent himself and how he'd never let his child on the game.

I'm kind of hoping someone would have a recording of that for future lulz. It sounds like it would be a pretty funny moment.

OT: Any argument the parent had about internet safety went out the window when he said it was COD he was playing online with his little ones and not anything else. My God, is there not Castle Crashers or...well UNO is kind of awkward...but there are loads of other games to play with your kids that isn't rated M. There is a reason it is rated M.

And, not gonna lie, my brother's friends in high school are more of a deterrant to staying off than people my age. They flirt and curse you out at the same time.

I can't believe someone didn't slap the parent or slap the journalist for the news piece.

 

[Baresark]

Ah, yet more fodder for the hot button issue of the year. Gimme a break. I mean, you're letting your children play games where the goal is to blow your friends faces off, and you are worried about swearing and bullying.

I love parents who can't parent, and I love companies and government agencies that are poised to take over when the parents are too stupid to do it themselves. I also love how it's the internets fault this happens and not their own.