Poll: Minors and Grand Theft Auto

[senormidget]

It's up to parents to decide if their kids are mature enough for this game.

 

Blaming kids for griefing etc is just lazy, I've had abusive messages from 40 year old men as well as 14 year old kids.

 

Assholes come in all shapes and sizes.

[HopalongCasidy]

They should have their own lobbies, but no, there shouldn't be a check against a government database, yikes.

 

What age, imo, makes a big difference. I don't really have a problem with a high schooler playing the game, and, as countless others have pointed out, an asshole is an asshole.

 

When I hear a kid that can barely form sentences or, even worse, a parent playing with that young of a kid, it does take away from my game experience. I am playing the game to escape from reality, not to have to think about a seven year old whose parents would rather plug him into this truly twisted game instead of parent. /rant

[Special Agent 25]

this again? seriously...

 

it's the parent's choice since they are the one's who buy it for them, and there's hardly anything bad they wouldn't see elsewhere.

 

Players over 18 are worse than the Squeakers, kids etc.

[Craze]

I don't have a problem with kids playing games like these before they're legally allowed to, as I did it when I was younger too.

 

The problem isn't the kids, but their parents. It's their responsibility to know whether or not their child/children are ready to be exposed to certain themes. It's their responsibility to know whether or not they're mature and sensible enough. It's their responsibility to be able to identify if the game is having a negative impact on the child and deal with it accordingly.

 

Unfortunately, and rather worryingly, there are a fair amount of parents that are incapable of such or simply just don't give a sh*t.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Craze

[ALPHaRyuTaTSuMaKi]

 

Funny thing is that the majority of people saying "no" are in fact kiddies. There's a rating on these games for a reason. Kids should not be owning or playing this game, period. "Parents" who let their brats play this need serious help.

I'm 17, can legally purchase the game with my own money, and I couldn't care less if kids play.

 

Also, you're right, the rating is there for a reason. It's to help parents make an informed decision on whether or not their child can handle the game's themes.

 

I've been playing GTA since I was seven and I turned out just fine, and if you're going to call my single mother who raised me, fed me, clothed me, and put a roof over my head for 17 years now a bad parent, you haven't a clue what a good parent is.

 

A good parent is one who understands their kid, teaches them right from wrong and real from fake, talks to them about everything, and knows if their child will be able to grasp the fact that it is a GAME, not one that just blindly follows a rating guideline and a letter on a box.

 

 

I like how you admit you're 17, but your profile lists you as 19. Clever. LITTLE. Boy.

 

The rating system isn't JUST a guide. There are restrictions at certain levels. G, PG and M are all fair game, when it comes to mature content, as they are "recommendations". Ones that explicitly state that it is restricted to people under a certain age are RESTRICTED.

 

Growing up in the 90s, I was exposed to quite a bit. I think 3D Realms'/GT Interactive's "Blood" was certainly a tipping point. These days there is more and more explicit, rather than just implied, or watered down content, but these new laws (especially in Australia) make it possible to have this.

 

South Park suffered in Australia, not so much due to it's content, but because every kid got a copy of GTA V. The Classification Board based it's decision to have the game censored in parts because of this. I think that counts mostly for console versions, which really only hurt the console sales of the game and Steam lapped it up.

 

Point is. If this kind of attitude continues, the laws can and WILL be reversed and EVERYBODY gets a watered down kiddy game.

 

Now, I voted- Yes, children should not be playing 18+ games. No, nothing bad comes of it (not in the over-sensationalised media sense). People under the age of 18 (more in the under 15 bracket) have just learned a whole array of new swear words and tire it out, like a meme on 9gag.

 

It's also the more uneducated, unsupervised, parentless lad dipsh*ts that think they are OG.

 

There is also a law against showing "inappropriate material" to minors, where (in Australia) you can be fined over the $10,000 mark.

 

video related: Typical under 15 GTA "Player"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am4zWElpCIw

 

EDIT: These over 18's that swear worse than the under 18s are the ones from the previous generations of bottom-feeders. There's just more now, because you gotta remember- THEY BREED! (Just take a look at the movie "Idiocracy")

Edited May 21, 2014 by ALPHaRyuTaTSuMaKi

[Tao Cheng]

-

Edited August 27, 2020 by Tao Cheng

[Sugar Free Nos]

 

 

Funny thing is that the majority of people saying "no" are in fact kiddies. There's a rating on these games for a reason. Kids should not be owning or playing this game, period. "Parents" who let their brats play this need serious help.

 

I'm 17, can legally purchase the game with my own money, and I couldn't care less if kids play.

Also, you're right, the rating is there for a reason. It's to help parents make an informed decision on whether or not their child can handle the game's themes.

I've been playing GTA since I was seven and I turned out just fine, and if you're going to call my single mother who raised me, fed me, clothed me, and put a roof over my head for 17 years now a bad parent, you haven't a clue what a good parent is.

A good parent is one who understands their kid, teaches them right from wrong and real from fake, talks to them about everything, and knows if their child will be able to grasp the fact that it is a GAME, not one that just blindly follows a rating guideline and a letter on a box.

 

I like how you admit you're 17, but your profile lists you as 19. Clever. LITTLE. Boy.

 

The rating system isn't JUST a guide. There are restrictions at certain levels. G, PG and M are all fair game, when it comes to mature content, as they are "recommendations". Ones that explicitly state that it is restricted to people under a certain age are RESTRICTED.

 

Growing up in the 90s, I was exposed to quite a bit. I think 3D Realms'/GT Interactive's "Blood" was certainly a tipping point. These days there is more and more explicit, rather than just implied, or watered down content, but these new laws (especially in Australia) make it possible to have this.

 

South Park suffered in Australia, not so much due to it's content, but because every kid got a copy of GTA V. The Classification Board based it's decision to have the game censored in parts because of this. I think that counts mostly for console versions, which really only hurt the console sales of the game and Steam lapped it up.

 

Point is. If this kind of attitude continues, the laws can and WILL be reversed and EVERYBODY gets a watered down kiddy game.

 

Now, I voted- Yes, children should not be playing 18+ games. No, nothing bad comes of it (not in the over-sensationalised media sense). People under the age of 18 (more in the under 15 bracket) have just learned a whole array of new swear words and tire it out, like a meme on 9gag.

 

It's also the more uneducated, unsupervised, parentless lad dipsh*ts that think they are OG.

 

There is also a law against showing "inappropriate material" to minors, where (in Australia) you can be fined over the $10,000 mark.

 

video related: Typical under 15 GTA "Player"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am4zWElpCIw

Such rebuttal

 

So opinion

 

Wow

 

 

Maury is the best television show to ever air.

 

Also, the problems with your country's rating board are unfortunate. It's a shame that they do that to your games. Good thing I live in Amurica. I bet Dingos are scary, especially when they attempt to take your babies.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Sugar Free Nos

[XxX19Dude95XxX]

i don't really care and for half the people morning about the kids playing this game you have to wonder if they where of age when they first played gta or another game for that matter

[Iroquois]

From my own experience and time with video game playing, there seems to be an extremely strong correlation between children and the following: griefing, swearing, anger fits, rage-quitting, hacking, glitching, exploiting, deceitfulness, immatturity and/or unfair way of playing in general.

 

Personally, I did all of these when i was a kid except for hacking and acting immature. I got my first ps1 and game (GTA VC) in 2001-2002 at the age of 10-11. If I could take back bothering my mom enough for her to buy it for me, I would if I had knowledge how annoying i was in video games and would have anger problems still.

 

Thankfully, I dont do any of this anymore since the age of 14(I matured quickly ). I occassionally get mad when i encounter squeakers doing anything of the aforementioned. Its a vicious cycle. I find it amazing though how that in this generation how young modern kids learn the skill of hacking. Its as if they exit the womb with a mic and a keyboard.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Iroquois

[KrazyFace]

It's funny how the consensus is "Hey, it's ok to lets kids play GTA coz nothing bad comes of it" in the first two questions yet the the third comes back unanimously that it's kids that p*ss off the majority with foul language via mic. I *think* there's just a little something wrong with this picture, no?

 

My ten pence: Anyone playing any GTA that wasn't born around the 1980's mark will completely miss the sarcastic, twisted comedy that is the beating heart of all GTA games. They're simply just not old enough to "get" it. Sure, they can have fun running around shooting the sh*t outta each other and hey, if that's what you wanna do then don't let me stop you! But they won't be smirking at the Woodfella's yard down the road from Roman's taxi rank, or the blood-stained shower scene in Vice City taken right outta Scarface or Ken Rosenberg being a parody of David Kleinfeild or the Commando/Exploder references or the many Easy Rider references in so many GTA's...

 

There's just SO MUCH in this game that flies over the heads of the under-agers that are allowed to play it that it's a bit like telling all your best jokes to your dog; you know you're funny, but it's completely wasted on it.

[ALPHaRyuTaTSuMaKi]

I played the original R18+ GTA on PC when I was about 13 years old, yes (18+ UK ranking was MA15+ restricted here). It also didn't feel like an R18+ game, especially compared to Mortal Kombat. I guess because of the sexual and drug references, it got marked up. The swearing was censored, that's for sure. I also had responsible parents that put my ass in-line at the first sign of delinquency. Now we have more adults than ever that drop their child in front of a TV show, or console and think that's it's going to entertain and inform, while also make a strong point that, these are unsavoury, socially unacceptable and largely unlawful acts, that shouldn't be repeated. That's when the goverment ends up standing in for the parentless children.

Remember when Leisure Suit Larry asked questions to verify your age? Remember you would have needed an older relative that was cool with telling you the answers and NO GOOGLE, to help your ass? Remember trying over and over until you memorised all the questions right?

[Reconified]

The amount of messages I get with the word 'fag' in it nowadays is immense. I hate the kid community, but what can we do?

[Biff73]

Children are rotten little piece of sh*t that should be shot on sight

[Valdorien]

They are not at risk of becoming violent except if they are really young or really stupid.

 

BUT. They are at risk of becoming event worse dbags than the majority of the gaming community is. Right now peoples on this forum are complaining about a lot but there is nothing too bad. Imagine how it will be in the future. There will not be anymore complaining or appreciation. There will only be peoples arguing like stupid childrens like ''my crew is better cause we got tanks #yoloswag'' or ''yeah ima go spawnkill u dare come in mah server '' or ''lelelel pwnd you umad roflmaooo''

 

It would be horrible.

[Kampioen]

I think checking the age through databases goes too far and until something less intrusive is invented, it should remain the choice of the parents. However I do think this kind of stuff is bad for kids, the same goes for movies and some other forms of media. American popular culture is absolutely drenched in sex, violence and other adult themes. If you think this has zero effect on children then you don't know sh*t about psychology.

 

PS: I don't care at all about their effect on the game itself.

Edited May 21, 2014 by CenMan

[LuapYllier]

Parents for the most part have stopped parenting. Media of all types that is rated for adults has been made accessable to children by many means and it is responsible for the desensitizing of whole generations. The worst of them all is online environments, not because of the game itself but because of the community using it that the child is exposed to.

 

Kids will do whatever they can get away with. I don't blame them, I blame myself and other parents like me. Why myself? Not because my child is being allowed to play/watch/hear adult content, but because I and others like me just sit back and blame rather than doing something about it. Parents the world over are getting swamped by technology and information availability and throwing thier hands up in surrender. Knowledge is power, but knowing things before your ready to can be very detrimental. I personally don't believe young minds are best served by exposure to adult themes.

 

Unfortunately, my response to it all is to simply leave any session I know to have children in it because who am I to tell another parent how to be a parent...but at least I will not knowingly contribute to the problem.

[Kampioen]

Parents for the most part have stopped parenting. Media of all types that is rated for adults has been made accessable to children by many means and it is responsible for the desensitizing of whole generations. The worst of them all is online environments, not because of the game itself but because of the community using it that the child is exposed to.

 

Kids will do whatever they can get away with. I don't blame them, I blame myself and other parents like me. Why myself? Not because my child is being allowed to play/watch/hear adult content, but because I and others like me just sit back and blame rather than doing something about it. Parents the world over are getting swamped by technology and information availability and throwing thier hands up in surrender. Knowledge is power, but knowing things before your ready to can be very detrimental. I personally don't believe young minds are best served by exposure to adult themes.

 

Unfortunately, my response to it all is to simply leave any session I know to have children in it because who am I to tell another parent how to be a parent...but at least I will not knowingly contribute to the problem.

 

Well said. It's very surprising to see how many people think it has no effect on children at all. Some people will say "I played since I was 8 and it never affected me". Well guess what, you can't possibly know in what ways it affected you because you have never seen the alternate reality in which you didn't play games.

 

I think in a stable household with proper parental guidance, and not too much time spent playing, the effects can be negligable. But take away the proper parental guidance and/or let a kid play too much (several hours a day), I think the kid's world view and sense of morality is going to be effected substantially. Rarely to the point where they don't function properly as an adults, but I think it often leads to desensitization to violence to some degree. Usually this doesn't lead to anything drastic directly, but I think violent media might for instance be one of the reasons why Americans go to war so much and still have a large portion of the population supporting it. It's because you guys have been watching too much Rambo and not enough Schindler's list. No offence, all other countries have some equally bad cultural traits and the average citizens doesn't exist in any of them.

[Vooodu]

Meh... I don't care about the kids as long as they don't annoy me.

 

Personally i think adults need to stop looking at kids as stupid little people who need to be lied to for their own protection.

 

 

Kids get brain washed constantly by "KIDS" programming. Throw in Religion and what ever your current counties bullsh*t is and those kids already have so much bullsh*t to deal with.

 

 

 

Far as im concerned. The BIBLE is the worst thing a kid could read. Any national Anthem is the worst song a kid can sing. And listening to their Leaders is the worst lies they can hear. GTA is petty when compared to that other stuff, infact its even a bit more honest.

 

 

But, by not exposing kids to adult themes we are just stunting their growth...lol

Besides.. Showing my 11 old nephew how to get a BJ from a hooker is priceless. He asks me. "whats a BJ?" I told him. "Shes gonna gobble your knob"..

He busted out laughing. That means.. he gets the joke.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Vooodu

[Kampioen]

 

Meh... I don't care about the kids as long as they don't annoy me.

 

Personally i think adults need to stop looking at kids as stupid little people who need to be lied to for their own protection.

 

 

Kids get brain washed constantly by "KIDS" programming. Throw in Religion and what ever your current counties bullsh*t is and those kids already have so much bullsh*t to deal with.

 

 

 

Far as im concerned. The BIBLE is the worst thing a kid could read. Any national Anthem is the worst song a kid can sing. And listening to their Leaders is the worst lies they can hear. GTA is l petty when compared to that other stuff.

 

 

But, by not exposing kids to adult themes we are just stunting their growth...lol

Besides.. Showing my 11 old nephew how to get a BJ from a hooker is priceless. "he aske me. what a BJ?" I told him. "Shes gonna gobble your knob"..

He busted out laughing. That means.. he gets the joke.

 

 

Sex and violence are two entirely different things.

[V HoneyBadger V]

Some of the worst people I have seen on this game have been well below 18. The amount of sexist comments and slurs that I receive on a daily basis is ridiculous. Regularly receive in-game texts that roughly sound like this:

 

"Hey B*tch take ur top off"

"F*ck off skank"

"Get back in the kitchen ho"

"Baby you so fine be my gf"

"Ride me hard b*tch"

 

Anything like that comes my way, and the crew hunt them down and kill them until they leave .

 

I hate game chat now, it's just an excuse to be insulted.

If they dared say that to me face to face, I'd drag them into my garage and beat their skull in with a wrench to teach them some manners because the parents clearly cannot control their embarrassment of a child.

 

I think that people below a certain IQ should not be allowed children. People with sense would teach them how to be a human being.

[Vooodu]

 

 

Meh... I don't care about the kids as long as they don't annoy me.

 

Personally i think adults need to stop looking at kids as stupid little people who need to be lied to for their own protection.

 

 

Kids get brain washed constantly by "KIDS" programming. Throw in Religion and what ever your current counties bullsh*t is and those kids already have so much bullsh*t to deal with.

 

 

 

Far as im concerned. The BIBLE is the worst thing a kid could read. Any national Anthem is the worst song a kid can sing. And listening to their Leaders is the worst lies they can hear. GTA is l petty when compared to that other stuff.

 

 

But, by not exposing kids to adult themes we are just stunting their growth...lol

Besides.. Showing my 11 old nephew how to get a BJ from a hooker is priceless. "he aske me. what a BJ?" I told him. "Shes gonna gobble your knob"..

He busted out laughing. That means.. he gets the joke.

 

 

Sex and violence are two entirely different things.

 

 

Theres more sex and violence in most HOLY BOOKS then in GTA. Yet, the bible gets shoved down alot of kids throats before they even know what reality is.

 

Id rather my kid play GTA then read the bible...lol

[Kampioen]

I'm not a big fan of the bible (or any other organized religion for that matter) either, but at least the main focus of it is morality. You can't say that about GTA. The bible can teach you some valuable things, whereas GTA is just about immoral stuff. If I had to choose, I'd rather have my child first learn the concept of violence from the bible than from the media.

Edited May 21, 2014 by CenMan

[TaikaJamppa]

I am 17, and I do play and have played GTA games since age of 11, although the first game of the series I had, Vice City, I played it secretly, wonder if my parents even know today I did play it while they were away. It was good times, but enough of that.

 

Personally, I find kids and adults be 50/50, but the MOST ANNOYING THING, is people talking FOREIGN LANGUAGE in PUBLIC chat. I have had this problem especially on Call Of Duty: Black Ops (1) and GTA Online (GTA V). I usually try & do private call my friends and then speak my native, but in the other hand, I keep the public chat off, so I can only hear my friends, but even more than that, I keep it as "no-one."

 

So, that is quite shortly my opinion.

 

P.S. Without Grand Theft Auto and all other English games, I would still be stupid kid that would know A LOT less words in English, even though I have been quite good in it after all these years. So, it helped me out with it. I wonder if I could understand some Swedish games that way to...

Edited May 21, 2014 by TaikaJamppa

[IncredulousNoir]

I have a question for those who suppose that video games have serious real life consequences for minors. I have seen it said in this thread that violent actions were caused or influence by the game. If you suppose that this is true, then how do you reconcile the fact that violent media is becoming more pervasive, while violent crime is at an all time low*?

 

 

 

*I'm speaking US only here. I've no idea of the statistics for other countries.

[V HoneyBadger V]

 

 

Meh... I don't care about the kids as long as they don't annoy me.

 

Personally i think adults need to stop looking at kids as stupid little people who need to be lied to for their own protection.

 

 

Kids get brain washed constantly by "KIDS" programming. Throw in Religion and what ever your current counties bullsh*t is and those kids already have so much bullsh*t to deal with.

 

 

 

Far as im concerned. The BIBLE is the worst thing a kid could read. Any national Anthem is the worst song a kid can sing. And listening to their Leaders is the worst lies they can hear. GTA is l petty when compared to that other stuff.

 

 

But, by not exposing kids to adult themes we are just stunting their growth...lol

 

 

 

Besides.. Showing my 11 old nephew how to get a BJ from a hooker is priceless. "he aske me. what a BJ?" I told him. "Shes gonna gobble your knob"..

 

He busted out laughing. That means.. he gets the joke.

 

Sex and violence are two entirely different things.

 

Theres more sex and violence in most HOLY BOOKS then in GTA. Yet, the bible gets shoved down alot of kids throats before they even know what reality is.

 

Id rather my kid play GTA then read the bible...lol

Bibles aren't the only things that Catholics shove down kids throats.

[Thr33X]

I will always fall back to the immortal words of Laslow about underage GTA players:

 

"This is a mature game. We make GTA for adults. If you let your kids play this game, you're a terrible parent."

 

My own opinion of the subject? If they can't buy it themselves, they should be playing it. As in if they, the player, can't purchase the game out of their own pocket with money they earned from working a job, they already lack that level of responsibility to even touch a mature rated game, GTA or not. And also, nobody can object them playing if they bought it on their own.

[Vooodu]

I'm not a big fan of the bible (or any other organized religion for that matter) either, but at least the main focus of it is morality.

 

 

I thought the main point of it was control of the weak minded. Thats really what religion is.. Its all bullsh*t.

 

I mean what morals? Incest... God kills everyone... More incest.. Rape.. Some more rape.. Murder.. More sex....More murder...Thats the bible. And the funny thing is its told to kids as fact mostly.

 

 

f*ck it... Id rather learn about the morals of GTA.

 

 

You know it be true.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Vooodu

[AdmiralAmmunation]

 

 

I'm not a big fan of the bible (or any other organized religion for that matter) either, but at least the main focus of it is morality.

 

I thought the main point of it was control of the weak minded. Thats really what religion is.. Its all bullsh*t.

 

I mean what morals? Incest... God kills everyone... More incest.. Rape.. Some more rape.. Murder.. More sex....More murder...Thats the bible. And the funny thing is its told to kids as fact mostly.

 

 

f*ck it... Id rather learn about the morals of GTA.

 

 

You know it be true.

Or people just play the game for fun and don't take everything so seriously as a life lesson like everyone thinks?

[Glockinmypocket]

I played GTA since I was around 8 lol, I don't think it's a bad thing unless your kid is some crazy ass that is going to start playing for real lol

[Vooodu]

 

 

I'm not a big fan of the bible (or any other organized religion for that matter) either, but at least the main focus of it is morality.

 

I thought the main point of it was control of the weak minded. Thats really what religion is.. Its all bullsh*t.

 

I mean what morals? Incest... God kills everyone... More incest.. Rape.. Some more rape.. Murder.. More sex....More murder...Thats the bible. And the funny thing is its told to kids as fact mostly.

 

 

f*ck it... Id rather learn about the morals of GTA.

 

 

You know it be true.

Or people just play the game for fun and don't take everything so seriously as a life lesson like everyone thinks?

 

 

 

Well that was my original point. But if people wanna start pointing the finger at "OOOooo the Big Bad Boogie Man" Il point in the real direction that has caused the most problems.

 

Damn right when i play with my Lil Nephew its all fun.