Thread: Protecting kids on the internet/ violent video games, rubbish!

I'm sorry, but the argument that parents restricting this stuff would create a whole generation that is unable to cope with anything as adults is ridiculous. How many of you, as kids, have actually complied with these sorts of demands from parents? If you don't buy your kid certain games, he or she will just play them at a friend's house. Parents might be trying really hard to "protect" their kids from whatever, but come on, when does it actually work? Not very often, I'm sure.

I think there's a certain problem about the internet that people miss when trying to argue against over-protecting children. Kids can chat online to some really creepy people, tell them their address, and then the story goes from there. This is a very real problem. I'm not saying that kids shouldn't go online because of this, but I think that parents need to provide freedom and explain how to use the internet safely (and this goes for avoiding viruses and the like).

The internet, like anything else, can be used properly and improperly.

A child could very well stab him or herself in the eye with a fork. Should forks be banned?

Oh, and what Mes and others say with the parental thingger.

Mmmm. Obviously we don't want over-protection, but we do want some degree of thought towards what minors are exposed to.

The parents idea doesn't desparately work when you realise that there are bad parents out there, but this isn't the fault of the children. Why should their upbringing be messed up because responsibilty was given entirely to incompetent parents who weren't helped by the state?

posted by guerilla
I don't think videogames or movies, or the internet is the source of the problem.


The source of the problem is bad parents, people think they can just have kids and they'll loosely watch them and everything will be ok. NO, thats not how you parent a child im afraid talking on the phone and bullshiting with friends while your child is playing doom3 is irresponsible and immoral.

If parents had the will and the motivation, you would see many less school shootings and whatnot.

If some retarted mother and father don't monitor what little johhny plays on his computer or playstation then when little johhny shoots up his school its not grand theft auto 4's fault, its his idiot parents fault.

#1 most inappropriate movies and games are 17+
#2 parents should read the fucking ratings
#3 parents should lock up anything 13+ away from kids, movies or games
#4 parents should see what kind of kids their child is hanging out with, they could be negatively influenced by friends MUCH more then any silly videogame.
#5 parents should highly restrict web-surfing
#6 myspace, dating sites and other social sites should be blocked from the kids computer
#7 porn should be blocked on the pc
#8 parents should start using key-loggers to see what their kids are talking about, if their planning a school shooting, or something...

slow down there, with all that the only thing you'd learn from the internet is educational stuff

Originally Posted by Soldier

slow down there, with all that the only thing you'd learn from the internet is educational stuff

well thats what kids should be focused on, not other material bullshit like xbox and ipods and cell phones, im sorry to burst your bubble but the level of education in kids today in america is appauling, everyones too pre-occupied with technology to sit down and read a book, and educate themselves.

Originally Posted by cuddleyperson

While i'm just watching the news( in England) and their talking about how their giving new advice to parents to protect kids online and also have more clear video game ratings( whats so hard about 16+, the official 18 certificate, etc) so parents don't buy violent/sexual content games for their kids.

Well for one thing they showed footage of the game "halo 3" when talking about violent video games. LMAO! Sorry but i own all three of the halo games and if you've ever seen them you'll know really they are not very violent at all, especially when you consider they showed online footage. A guy shooting a rocket at another guy, his body flying away( no blood at all) going "uhh". So really it;s like they want every kid up to 18 to play little disney advemture games or something. Look 18 certificate, just like movies... means ok there;s probably violence, some sexual scenes or something which maybe isn't suitable for younger kids.

16+ generally means the game itself is rather complex and a little kid may not understand, Halo is 16+, generally 16+ suggests come "violent themes" as in a shooter is about shooting other players, but no gore.

Also about the internet... it's like they think porn just appears on your screen when you click IE or firefox. What parents and anyone in politics who wants more internet controls doesn't seem to understand is that their child has probably gone to google and searched " naked people" or "sex" or something. Before i willingly looked at porn on the internet, i had never come across porn just popping up on the kind of websites kids visit. The only time I've seen clear porn on a non porn site is from some dodgey sites where you download trainer( things that let you cheat at games that don't officially have cheat codes). Sometimes their will be a pornographic banner ad, but that's it really.....

Maybe parents and others need to stop shielding their children from every little thing. Otherwise were going to have a generation that can't cope with anything.

*shakes head*

First off, I believe the first thing I ever did when getting an assault rifle in the single player of Halo was expend an entire clip into the dead body of an alien because I was just delighted to see that florescent blood being blown out of its body and all over the walls of the ship. I'd consider that a little gory and rather violent, but then when you are calling a game that focuses around the murder of species that you don't agree with I fail to see how you can't see the inherent violence there. If it wasn't violent, you wouldn't have guns, grenades, or a sword.

Second, you present a flaw in your own 'argument' when you point out that kids have probably gone to Google and searched 'naked people' before. See, that's exactly why they want more 'control' of their kids internet. Because their kid is looking at things before the parent believes they should, but that's not a reason to over react and go try to get legislation passed. That's a reason to buy a keylogger and punish your damn kid when they do things they shouldn't do.

Originally Posted by cuddleyperson

What i think is bad though is that if we continue to be told by our Government that we must protect children from everything then their going to grow up without a way to cope with anything. They'll never have even seen and heard about a traumatic event let alone personally been in one, they'll never have life experience to cope on their own. If someone they know dies they'll become completely distraught as they've never got to see death or anything horrible. Even psychically they will suffer since with all his cleaning every surface with bleach and over using medicine( pain killers for a cold for example), their immune system will be poor and their ability to cope with injury will be non existent.

I just think that no matter what people do kids are going to get exposed to things, just try and educate them to know the difference between good and bad, remember to teach them the difference between games and reality and just let them have their own life experiences. As long as a child has a good basis of morals their going to do ok.

I can sort of see where you are coming from with the 'being unable to cope' argument, but that is a bit extreme. I think it might do people good to return to a state that isn't so jaded as we are now. With the things we hear about on the news and see on TV so commonly I have to admit I'd much rather have my kid be distraught for a while over the death of a loved one than just continue playing their video games like nothing happened when they get home from the funeral...if they even went to it. Because as a kid? That's exactly what I did. "What? Funeral? I don't want to go..." *pretends to be sad, not really caring, stays home and plays video games* Weee.

Of course, kids might have to read books if other things are restricted and then *gasp* They'll be exposed to such things and be able to cope! ...even though level of exposure is better at determining how jaded you get, rather than sheer coping ability because there are always those that can just naturally cope and those that will just break when something really bad happens.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

I'm sorry, but the argument that parents restricting this stuff would create a whole generation that is unable to cope with anything as adults is ridiculous. How many of you, as kids, have actually complied with these sorts of demands from parents? If you don't buy your kid certain games, he or she will just play them at a friend's house. Parents might be trying really hard to "protect" their kids from whatever, but come on, when does it actually work? Not very often, I'm sure.

I think there's a certain problem about the internet that people miss when trying to argue against over-protecting children. Kids can chat online to some really creepy people, tell them their address, and then the story goes from there. This is a very real problem. I'm not saying that kids shouldn't go online because of this, but I think that parents need to provide freedom and explain how to use the internet safely (and this goes for avoiding viruses and the like).

Agreed and also back to the keylogger. Call it an invasion of privacy if you want, but around the third or fourth time I stop them from talking to someone creepy on myspace or in a chat room and well, you get the point. Hell, after the first time even because it only takes one creepy person.

Originally Posted by guerilla

well thats what kids should be focused on, not other material bullshit like xbox and ipods and cell phones, im sorry to burst your bubble but the level of education in kids today in america is appauling, everyones too pre-occupied with technology to sit down and read a book, and educate themselves.

Yup. If kids read even twenty minutes more a day they'd do so much better in school. I believe at twenty minutes a day since they were little they are generally in the top ten percent of their class. 30 minutes is top five percent and sixty is something like top 2? Not sure on the exacts, but still. There are third graders that still can't read and tenth graders that commonly ask me what seventh grade level words mean.

Put down the fucking cell phone and pick up a book. Maybe then you'll learn that the English language isn't composed of misspelled fifth grade level words.

Originally Posted by Daeva

Yup. If kids read even twenty minutes more a day they'd do so much better in school. I believe at twenty minutes a day since they were little they are generally in the top ten percent of their class. 30 minutes is top five percent and sixty is something like top 2? Not sure on the exacts, but still. There are third graders that still can't read and tenth graders that commonly ask me what seventh grade level words mean.

Put down the fucking cell phone and pick up a book. Maybe then you'll learn that the English language isn't composed of misspelled fifth grade level words.

exactly, the vocabulary of an average student today is quite lacking.

Originally Posted by guerilla

exactly, the vocabulary of an average student today is quite lacking.

You'd be surprised how many times I have to explain the words I use, to not only other students in my class but the teachers as well... Pathetic...

Get it through their butyraceous brains!

There are advantages to being somewhat sesquipedalian, but the true apotheosis of language is the spoonerism.

Yuck Feah?

uhut sp

Personally I don't agree with putting age ratings on movies or games. It's up to the individual to decide if they are able to "cope" with the video game violence, language and sexual references. If they are responsible enough then let them play/watch it.

Besides how is playing say Grand Theft Auto any different for an 18 year old then a 17 year old. It's not like the exact moment they are 18 they can go wow I'm so glad I didn't play this a year ago, I wouldn't be able to cope with shooting a virtual man.

Mmmm...I had assumed the ratings were 'suggested guidelines' rather than fixed rules.

Originally Posted by Ynot

uhut sp

Fair 'nuff.

Originally Posted by NeAvO

Personally I don't agree with putting age ratings on movies or games. It's up to the individual to decide if they are able to "cope" with the video game violence, language and sexual references. If they are responsible enough then let them play/watch it.

I DO agree with puting ratings on games, but for exactly the same reason that you don't agree. The only way for a parent to know if their child can "cope" with the games' themes is to give them a rough idea of what to expect outside of flashy package graphics.

However, I do think they should be guidelines only. If a parent thinks it's ok to buy their 10-year-old a mature game, let it be up to them to make an informed decision to do so.

Originally Posted by Siиdяed

Mmmm...I had assumed the ratings were 'suggested guidelines' rather than fixed rules.

True, I was getting 18's long before I turned 18 but then again I doubt the shop keeper cared

Originally Posted by Delphinus

You'd be surprised how many times I have to explain the words I use, to not only other students in my class but the teachers as well... Pathetic...

Get it through their butyraceous brains!

Well I admit my vocabulary isn't exactly stellar either, but I understand about 98% of what people say when they speak to me. I should personally pick up a book or two this weekend and maybe read instead of playing pc games.

This is just a secret "I don't like technology when my children use it" coming from some adults in the community.

Originally Posted by guerilla

Well I admit my vocabulary isn't exactly stellar either, but I understand about 98% of what people say when they speak to me. I should personally pick up a book or two this weekend and maybe read instead of playing pc games.

I read a book every chance I get... Usually they are uneventful, monotonous and redundant. However, Bill Bryson is a crude writer and makes me laugh.

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I read a book every chance I get... Usually they are uneventful, monotonous and redundant.

Tip: do not buy books at the grocery store.

Lol, I don't think they even sell them at my grocery store...

They do. Largely cheesy romance novels for those 50+ ladies.

Sweet, I'll check it out... I'm trying to think where they would even be... My grocery store is kinda small, thats why I figured they didn't...

But if they are for 50+ ladies, and romance novels, I will search them out with renewed zeal and vigor!

No no don't get them from a store, that's the point! Do you have a local library or something where you can get books for free? Before getting a book, I'd recommend doing some research online first to see what's good out there. I love to read, but I have never picked a book out at random before. If you don't know what to look for, it's very easy to pick a book that's just the dullest thing ever.

I'm kinda lucky when it comes to picking something out at random, I got Bill Bryson at random, and I love his books. I've only had one bad book that I got a random, and I should have known... I have a local library, but I don't like going there...

Women who read're sexy.

And I'll keep Delphy in mind if I ever swing that way xP

But seriously... I don't read as much as I used to. And I used to read a lot... chief reason being my school gave me a lot of books that were dull as dirt.

I loved The Fountainhead though, which I got from school. Ayn Rand's my favorite author now.