UK Schools to report parents to the police if they allow their children to play 18 rated games.

JoJo

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Well shit, now I feel awkward for letting my eleven year old sister play GTA V, going to have to lie low for a while >.>

Seriously, this is dumb. Ratings are already jacked up ridiculously high, how many eleven year olds are going to be traumatised by playing 12+ Super Smash Bros? They're fine as guidelines but the parent or another carer should make the final decision, not some social worker who doesn't know the context of the situation or the kid in question. Just playing a game doesn't mean the child has experienced the worst it has to offer either, I only let my sister freeroam on GTA (no inappropriate missions) and always supervised.
 

teqrevisited

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Seishisha said:
teqrevisited said:
Sounds like nothing more than a colossal waste of police time and resources.

But my opinion doesn't really count as I used to play GTA when I was 10 and now I'm a mass-murderer wanted for innumerable horrific crimes in 17 different countries.
I suppose your also a serial arsonist who kicks puppies, since you know games and all made you into a sociopath. Oh gawd what's that noise behind me... why do you have an axe and ... how did you even get in my house...
Now now... It'll all be over soon.

I'm also the one who eats all of the good chocolates from selection boxes and leaves the strange, indiscernible one that everyone thinks contains nuts but is never quite sure so they just throw it away.

I'm the one who leaves the toilet seat up. The one who drinks milk from the bottle. The one who parks just close enough to someone else's car that means they have to creep sideways to get into the passenger side or, better yet, climb through from the driver's side.


But seriously I hope it doesn't become a thing.



[sub]And I don't do any of those things. What kind of sick, twisted, moustache-twirling individual drinks from the bottle?[/sub]
 

Scarim Coral

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So what is stopping the parent and the children lying that the child is playing 18 rated games or does the staff have to record every children conversation during break if they talked about the said 18 rating games?
 

tippy2k2

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CymbaIine said:
tippy2k2 said:
Will that actually do anything though?
If the schools report this as a safeguarding issue most social services departments would investigate as standard. Investigate is a very broad term in this context and may just mean questioning the reporter for more details then taking no further action. However it is standard practice to then send a letter to parents to let them know they were investigated. The police would likely defer to social services to determine if there was a crime as neglect laws (and all child protection laws) are very vague.

It's scare tactics, most parents are scared of social services and have very little understanding of their role and powers.
Then that is a damn shame and something that I would fight tooth and nail if I were affected by it (though that's easy for me to say considering I don't have any kids and I'm way over here in 'Merica).

This is clearly a policy designed for serious/necessary reports and this group is basically hijacking it to push their own morals on students. Frankly, I can't believe that this would be legal (maybe "Filing a false police report"?) considering all of the time and effort that will be wasted on Tommy playing Call of Duty at 14 rather than a student who might actually need some intervention from shitty parents abusing them...
 

Ryotknife

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hmm, and here i thought the US schools had a monopoly on stupid. Hey UK escapists, this will make you feel better.

Apparently schools in the US can not even hint that a child might have a learning disability of any kind because then they would have to test for it, which they cant because no one at the school is qualified to test for such disabilities. So yea, kids might have a disability of some kind and the teachers are not allowed to inform their parents about their suspicions.

Although i should point out that this was second hand information from a friend in Kansas, so I dont know if this just applies to Kansas or all schools.

But could you imagine if doctors worked the same way?
 

J Tyran

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tm96 said:
Just why? Isn't it a parent's job to decide if something is appropriate for their child? It just seems like a odd and dumb move to me.
Yes and no.

Yes in as much as I believe that it is and should be that way, no inasmuch as the age limits on media are legally binding here in the UK and its a criminal offence to supply them to underage children or teens. Usually I see it as a good thing, it prevents stores from being lax and selling adult rated games to people they shouldn't which usually makes the parents job of deciding whats suitable a little easier.

Legal experts might be able to pick this bullshit apart though, if the police actually bother I doubt they would do any more than verbally tell the parent they shouldn't. They won't want to waste time on this, especially when the CPS and courts will end up in a row about the nature of "supplying" and if a parent allowing a kid to play an age rated game qualifies or not.

Social services are at breaking point, they cannot handle the workload they already have with children that are actually in danger and/or being abused[footnote]UK voters need to remember this at election time... just another Tory crime against the nation, social services were in a mess to begin with, slashing their budgets was really going to help wasn't it?[/footnote] without this bullshit. They might use it as a jumping off point for further action or investigation but thats about it.

This school is being stupid though, a simple letter to parents about how they can monitor what their kids are playing would be enough.
 

lacktheknack

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I, for one, support this motion.

Finally, I won't have to deal with popping online only to be greeted with "u fookin wot m8 y don't u do this fr reel I'll 1v1 ya and bop u on the bonce I sware on me mum"
 

kasperbbs

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Wow.. How are they even going to know what the children are playing? Eavesdropping on their conversations? Asking other children to rat out their classmates? And don't they need proof? Will they search the house? And then what?

How about taking care of bullying in schools or something else that actually matters? I don't even think that they could, but the schools could at least pretend to try instead of wasting their time on something else that they can't prevent.
 

laggyteabag

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Yes, because parents like nothing more than being told they are neglecting their children.

If a child wants to play a game above their age rating, then the parent should check to see if the game is suitable for the child to play, and even so, some parent supervision should be required. That being said, even children know their limits. I for one was was absolutely fine with blood and gore, but zombies and horror scared the crap out of me, so I knew what games to buy and what games to avoid even when I was much younger.

Besides, children are crafty. If they desperately want to play Call of Duty or whatever, chances are they will go to a friend's house and play it there instead. No matter what you do as a parent, your child will always find a way to do what you tell them not to.

Im not saying that every 12 year old should be running around playing GTA, Dead Space or whatever else, but this just sounds like a huge waste of time to the relevant authorities.
 

Bizzaro Stormy

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teqrevisited said:
Seishisha said:
teqrevisited said:
Sounds like nothing more than a colossal waste of police time and resources.

But my opinion doesn't really count as I used to play GTA when I was 10 and now I'm a mass-murderer wanted for innumerable horrific crimes in 17 different countries.
I suppose your also a serial arsonist who kicks puppies, since you know games and all made you into a sociopath. Oh gawd what's that noise behind me... why do you have an axe and ... how did you even get in my house...
Now now... It'll all be over soon.

I'm also the one who eats all of the good chocolates from selection boxes and leaves the strange, indiscernible one that everyone thinks contains nuts but is never quite sure so they just throw it away.

I'm the one who leaves the toilet seat up. The one who drinks milk from the bottle. The one who parks just close enough to someone else's car that means they have to creep sideways to get into the passenger side or, better yet, climb through from the driver's side.


But seriously I hope it doesn't become a thing.



[sub]And I don't do any of those things. What kind of sick, twisted, moustache-twirling individual drinks from the bottle?[/sub]
The fact that you have Edmund Blackadder, from the second series no less, as your avatar makes your last two posts more wondrous.
 

flying_whimsy

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I can't help but think this is a direct result of the current moral panic about gaming. All that progress we've made over the last couple of decades is slipping away. Thank you media.

:mad:
 

Pseudonym

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Can the school even legally do that? I don't know about the law regarding these things in the UK but I believed that the rules were ussually set up such that a parent may buy a violent video game for their child if they chose to. You can't just go around threathening people with legal force when they haven't done anything wrong.
 

MCerberus

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What's dumber, arresting and suspending students for truancy or spending all this time and effort moralizing a legally untenable position?

Trick question, the answer is getting rid of recess while wondering why there's an obesity epidemic and social skills are declining. It wins because it's both pointless AND harmful and it's all the rage everywhere.
 

Someone Depressing

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This is why the UK's education system needs to be rebuilt. It's patronising and intrusive.

Besides, this is a complete waste of the police's time - which the school openly practices - but the whole thing is just ridiculous. I hope the school is pressured to give this up.
 

Parasondox

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First Turkey bans Minecraft for being "too violent", now in the UK, parents will be reported to the police if they discover that the parents allowed their kids to play 18+ games.

Actually, I dunno. I get it to be honest. How many times have we heard from parents shout "Games are too violent and can make kids murder things meh meh" and yet those parents are the ones to still let them play COD every night because "we let them make their own choices at 14". This is why we have a rating system.

HOWEVER!!

Reporting parents for that? Really? Will you do the same if they were exposed to horror films? We can't keep reporting and arresting parents for the minor things and I notice that happens a lot in the country. A toddler didn't have their coat on, someone called the police on the parents without actually finding out WHY!!!!

To be honest, I still dunno. Sometimes parents have to walk on eggshells or else social services will step in. But I understand why because of what happened with Baby P. Since then, social services and authorities have been pretty harsh of late.
 

Fox12

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Elfgore said:
And I hope the Police that get those reports burst out laughing in those teachers' faces. Same for the Social Care people.

And I'm sorry, Dogs of War? Do you mean Gears of War? Unless it's some game I've never heard of, at least know the fucking names of what you're being idiots about.
Nope, apparently it was totally a real game. Look upon its horror!

As best as I can tell it was an 80's game featuring Canadian Rambo. Or maybe they just really hate Shakespeare, what do I know?

Sometimes I think it would be best to leave america, but then I remember there really isn't anywhere to go. Once again the government oversteps its boundaries. What else is new?

It's not like having children report on their parents is a bad thing.
 

Jamieson 90

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I'm a Teaching Assistant and we really don't have the time to be doing this, especially over something so trivial. It's not even illegal. It might be illegal to supply an 18 rated game to under 18s but that surely only applies to retail, a parent is perfectly within their rights to buy an 18 rated game and then later give it to their child.

I don't agree with letting kids play games that they're not mature enough to play, but I don't want to see parents' rights and civil liberties infringed upon, not when we have to focus on more important matters like teaching and real child abuse.
 

MysticSlayer

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Elfgore said:
And I'm sorry, Dogs of War? Do you mean Gears of War? Unless it's some game I've never heard of, at least know the fucking names of what you're being idiots about.
There is a game called Dogs of War Online [http://store.steampowered.com/app/219700/], but I doubt that that is what they are talking about. Medal of Honor: European Assault was also going to originally be called Medal of Honor: Dogs of War [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor:_European_Assault], but I really doubt anyone is playing that game anymore or knows of the original name (unless they followed MoH a lot before the reboot). Maybe they're referring to the board game [http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/158435/dogs-war]?

Yeah, I'm going to go with them just not knowing what the names of the games they are talking about are.
 

Vendor-Lazarus

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I remember a movie I watched on a school-trip with my 6th grade class.
I can't remember it's name right now but it was very similar to Battle Royale.
A bunch of kids had been shipwrecked on an island and a division caused two camps to spring up.
What ensued was a lot of blood and murder.. Hmm, fly something..

And lets not forget the memorable Curious Blue and Curios Yellow sexual education movies.

Why does yesteryear seem more tolerant than today??