Wednesday 24 August 2011

When to say no to x box games - even if your kids hate you.

My son is currently not talking to me. The reason is this ...

He wants to buy Blood Diamond James Bond for the X Box. It is a game and its certificate is 16. My son is 11, therefore he is not getting it. I think that's fair enough, don't you? As I have explained to him at great length and with great patience, games and films are given certificates for a reason. It is not appropriate for him to play games that involves killing, maiming, swearing and general horribleness.

Personally I don't understand why anyone would want to spend their leisure time playing such games.

He nearly tricked me not long ago, wanting to buy a game that was certified 15. He gave me the box and the money and asked me to go and buy it. I really don't know what came over me, but I went up to the till to buy it without looking. I suppose, foolishly, I trusted him.



Luckily the lady at the counter asked me who I was buying it for and whether I realised it was a 15 certificate. Although it meant losing a sale she advised me not to buy it, saying that it was violent and totally inappropriate for an 11 year old. I was so impressed by her and felt so stupid to have not checked the box properly. She was excellent - advising me without being pushy or making me feel useless.

She worked for Game and I wrote their Customer Service team an email as soon as I got home. I am not afraid to complain if I am not happy about something, but also I am quick to praise. I wrote about how grateful I was for her professionalism and wanted to pass on my thanks to both her and the shop generally.

It does get to me though that games depicting death, blood, destruction, wounding, swearing - all these things - are sold at all. What is there that is entertaining about killing even a virtual person?? My son tells me that lots of his friends have such games. Their parents are fab because they allow them to have what they want. I have explained to him that actually I am the fab parent here because I won't let him have them.

It is so easy as a parent to go for the easy option. Let them have what they want and bypass all the bad feeling and grumpiness. Part of being a good parent however is to take the difficult option and be cruel to be kind. I hope he appreciates how brilliant I am some day!!!

5 comments:

Nicki said...

It was nice of her to inform you of the game content. I do believe that there should be restrictions but I also believe that parents all have the right to decide what is okay for their kids on their own. The warnings do not take the place of my judgement as a parent. For me, I allow my 13 year old games with violence and swearing. He hears swearing from me anyway. I don't allow games with drug references or sexual content. But I don't think that makes me a bad parent.

I am sure your son wasn't happy with you but I commend you for sticking to your morals instead of taking the easy way out and just giving in! Kudos!!

Gail said...

Good for you to stand up for what you believe.

sarah at secret housewife said...

Yes, I agree that parents have the right to choose, but I don't understand why death and killing with graphic spurting blood can ever be seen as entertainment.Maybe I am just a bit of a wus, but I just don't get it.I saw one game and in the opening sequences, before the game even started there was footage, real footage of a man being executed - shot in the head.Horrendous. Why would they put that into a game? Each to their own, but I am sure that some parents have no idea what is actually in these games. Obviously I don't mean everyone, but I certainly have friends who have never checked and that shocks me.
Sarah x

Nicki said...

Remember when games were just a circle with a pie slice missing going around eating dots and how we never thought, "boy, this game is lame. I wish these dots were more life-like!" Instead, we had a blast playing them! Now, there are some games that I can't tell if it is a movie or a game!

sarah at secret housewife said...

I remember getting excited when we got the tennis game that batted a dot back and forwards across the screen ...