Those weren't his favorites anyway... I didn't get to watch TV much because he was always playing Ocarina of Time, which in a few years morphed into GTA3 and Disgaea. I missed like, a whole decade of TV thanks to my brother. Well, I didn't miss much, I was busy on IRC.

Heh. I've missed.... hmm.... 5 decades of tv I think. I'm not sorry. And truthfully, I'm not "missing" them - in fact, if it weren't for husband, I wouldn't own a tv period.

I recently started getting back into TV and found a couple of shows I like. Which I usually forget to watch because I'm busy doing something else, anyway. Oh well.

But back to the topic: I don't have kids yet. I do, however, have the technical knowledge to be able to monitor their online activities without them being aware of it, so I'm not too horribly worried about what they might get up to online, because I will know about it. Also, like I mentioned, I spent a lot of time in my teenage years (and a good bit since then as well) sitting on a couch watching other people play console games. Actually, often I was more disturbed than my brother (who is 10 years younger than me), who was the one playing the things.

I don't know if anybody else remembers the game Eternal Darkness, but I couldn't sleep after watching someone else play that, and I was about 20 when it came out. My brother, who was 10, and was the one actually playing it, suffered no ill effects. People are weird.

Are you sure that they are women? I mean I have seduced enough men online to know that they are extremely gullible.

This. I did some pretty cruel online RP (by this I mean I was doing RP, dunno if the other person was or not) when I was young. Mostly to older men. I figured if they were gonna attempt to mess with me, it was only fair to mess with them back.

This thread is going from parental responsibility and advice comparisons to creepy online habits and deeds.......

LOL, it's a good example, though, of the sorts of things you might not expect. I was a teenage girl, and while creepy sixual predators trolled me, I trolled them right back. If I'd been a bit more sheltered as a child, I might have instead been tricked by them. But even so, I was still disturbed by graphic violence and scary stuff in video games (and still am to some extent). It's not that far off topic, really.

Since you used my post, and only part of it, despite not being directed at me, I'll reiterate that I pointed out a very simple philosophy of "if they're ready", because that's when it's time. Certainly the child being demonstrative of the type of maturity needed to be able to handle these games is a must, but it doesn't take very long for most children. The biggest issues I've seen with children this (OP) young related to video games is a) ignoring responsibilities like homework or cleaning and b) getting an attitude/throwing a fit about being taken off the game. That to me is more important than content because children will automatically let you know when they can handle certain things. They will communicate about it. That's when it becomes a parent's job to educate, which should be simple. I wouldn't go out and buy my daughter a game like Skyrim when she's 10 just because I was able to handle these types of games, but if she demonstrated that she wants it and that she can handle it, age isn't an issue for them. It's an issue for parents who have these strict unrealistic idealisms of when they believe their child ishould be ready which can be quite counter-productive to the notion of parenting and getting a child ready to handle things in the advlt world.

I guess it all depends on how mature the kid is, but this being a game where you can do almost anything, and also becomes addictive, I would only let her play under my supervision. Besides, this is a game I don't only consider for advlts, but also for reading a lot, understanding a story, etc. not just go out there to kill some orcs and trolls in a toon-like graphics. There are better games for that, like all those indie games you find on Steam for 3-9 USD$...

Also, we advlts sometimes forget how we felt when being a kid, and assume kids have a similar mentality, when that's a wrong idea. For instance, a kid should not play GTA IV, or Fallout 3.

When I was 12-13 (maybe it was a different time, anyway) the games I was used to play, and liked, where ones like Monkey Island, Indiana Jones Fate of Atlantis, some racing games like Lotus and flight sims like the MSDOS Flight Simulator and F-29 Retaliator. I started playing Doom years later, and I have to say it almost obsessed me with its dark atmosphere and violence.. and I was almost and advlt, even if I was still underage...

What I mean is that sometimes kids need to remain... kids, and do kid's stuff. It's NOT about to hide them the reality, or censor them things... just, to let them have fun with some other educative and more entertaining stuff. I guess it's OK to show them how you play while doing some entertaining stuff, while talking to them and explaining the questions they ask, etc... or even let them play a bit but with your guidance on about what to do..., to let them taste the game.

Maybe a bit out of topic but also related. Several years ago I worked on a place where people could go and pay for using Internet, playing games, etc. (I can't remember the name in english). Once I saw a group of 7-10 kids (around 11-13) all hyped around a computer, whith laughts and "whoaa!" expressions.. I went there and got shocked when I saw they were in a site with gore images from accidents, war bomb aftermaths, etc... Of course I closed it all, but I also let them know that I rather have them watching some porm, than THAT. There are things kids should not see, nor do.

idk, the game is rated 18, there's blood everywhere, even when killing the first wolf, in the introduction you see the guy trying to escape getting a arrow on his back and after that the dragon attacks burning everything. probably watching people beheaded with two-handed weapons and stuff its not the best for her age.

This game is rated Mature by the ESRB for a reason. Your character goes around killing, stealing, betraying and lying. It contains graphic violence and sixual references. If you were 100% sure you were doing the right thing you wouldn't even have this conversation. Children should be children for as long as possible because that is the only time they are truly innocent. You are taking away that innocence prematurely by allowing her to be constantly exposed to scenarios where she has to make moral choices and very few of them are good.

Just my 2 septims...

There's stuff on network TV more violent, gory, and graphically sixual than most M-rated video games. Even if you don't allow your children to watch anything but Nick Jr. they will hear about all kinds of stuff from the other kids at school whose parents are more permissive. There's a happy medium between keeping your child in a bubble all the time, and allowing them to do whatever they want, and where this area lies depends mostly on the child themselves. Good parenting seems to me to be less about protecting your child from knowledge, and more about managing what they are allowed to know so as to keep them from being unduly disturbed or overwhelmed.

Also, reality and fantasy are two different things, and morality can be different in each of them. This is an important lesson for anyone to learn, and I don't think it's a good thing to allow children to confuse the two, which is a common outcome I've seen in people who were sheltered from difficult moral decisions for too long.

I agree that there is such a thing as protecting a child too much. However, I do feel that it is not the job of a T.V. program or video game to teach children moral values. Sadly, that is what is happening in the world today. Instead of parents giving children a moral code to live by and teach them this code by example, they allow T.V. and games to instill whatever moral code it can. And then when the kids grow up and feel like strangers the parents can not understand why.

Yes there are exceptions where some children have a very strong sense of self and a well developed moral code which makes it possible for them to differentiate between "good" and "evil". But a lot can't and at an age where imagination and reality is blurred your kid might just grow up to believe it's okay to steal or even kill. It has happened in some schools across the world where a child ends up shooting fellow students because they had pshycological problems and got pushed over the edge by a video game. Your kid might be mentally stable or she might not be. Usually these things are only discovered when it's too late to undo the damage. Why take the risk by needlessly messing with her mind?

Look, I'm all for freedom of choice. But too much choice can hurt more than people realise. Let your kids be innocent until life itself teaches them otherwise. They'll learn the ugly side of life soon enough. Don't push it on them.

They are children. Not little advlts.

if you gonna let your 10 years old daughter play skyrim or any other rated M game, you can let her watch porm as well...will you?

She could get the WABBAJACK from Sheogorath and the Sanguine's Rose from Sam Guerne something

porm and violence aint really close to be the same thing

Ratings are a suggestion, really. All of them. Parents should preview any media they're going to allow their child to consume, and not trust the ratings board to do it for them. That said, part of parenting is knowing your child, and what stage of maturity they are at and what kinds of situations they are prepared to handle. Just going by the ratings is pretty lazy, especially considering how inconsistent they are (games are better than movies, though--the MPAA seems to be a lot more easily bought than the ESRB).

so you rather let your child watch violence and blood, you know, you get arrested if you kill someone in real life, , instead of porm, you usually don't get arrested by having six...

you know, kids learn from what they see, that's why the WWE commercial says don't try this at home, even if wrestling is fake.

but well, do as you wish, just don't get surprised or irritated when people blame videogames when a 13 years old kid steals a car a crash it because he seen it in a videogame (GTA)

I am 55 with 6 children and 5 grandkids, when my grandkids ask about the game, I just try to explain the difference between fantasy and reality, I tell them that things and people are not really dieing its just fantasy and make believe, and that there is nothing wrong with either. I do not let the ones under age 6 watch anything too violent. It all boils down to the fact you should know your childrens or grand kids capacity to know the difference and go from there.

I'm not a parent myself, but I have played games with advlt content since a young age, apart from Diablo, I wasn't really interested in them, even tough I could play them, gratuitous violence and gore were never appealing to me, because I had developed a strong sense of reality and morals from a young age, and this was mainly because of my parents, they teached me from the start what was good and evil, the fact I was interested in newspapers and news from a young age also gave me a bigger awarenes, and compassion for other peoples problems, and I wouldn't had developed so soon if I hadn't witnessed them.

So in my opinion the key isn't the fact your daughter may experience the DB questline, or even play a mmo, its her "moral maturity", sense of reality, empathy to others (how well she understands, and acts with others socially, always with the notion that others intentions may be harmefull to her) that would define if she may or may not play X game.

On a side note I would never let a son of mine play a mmo in a young age, because they are built specially to addict its users, wich it's a shame, because they are for good and bad entertaining ways to play with other people, something you can't do in single player games.

Good point, because they're the exact same thing. We'll probably throw in a couple snuff flicks before bedtime while we're at it.

??? I'm not exactly sure what you're responding to; I didn't use any part of your post. I actually tend to agree with your points. ...so I don't really know how to respond.

Can people just stop with that? If you kill someone or rob a car just because you've seen it in a game you are already mentally sick BEFORE you play it!
There is NO scientific proof of games making people mad... It is just something people think!

I played Doom when I was 5(With IDDQD of course). Hell, I played shadow warrior, duke 3d, and blood at around 7 or 8.

I don't feel messed up(Though those hands in Blood always bugged me), nor do I remember it influencing me to murder someone. But these sorts of things depend on the kid. If you don't think she can handle it, then just wait til she can.

of ya dont want ya kid playing killing games then i wouldnt allow them to play this game

yet i played doom and wolfenstein when i was young - i forget the age

and i loved em - and im no serial killer

i think sometimes games are a good way to release emotions and desires that u might have- such as i like killing stuff in game - so i have no desire to kill things in real life

but each their own..

im not a parent

to me depends on the kids maturity and what their interests are. -- i probably wouldnt allow some1 who isnt interested in the topics of the game to play it.