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GTA V Proves a Lot of Parents Still Don't Know or Care About ESRB Ratings
Deathspawner writes "Grand Theft Auto V has shown itself to be potential GOTY material, and has even managed to break a sales record already. But aside from that, the game has also become one of the most adult-oriented games ever released, with torture, drug use and sex prevalent not long after beginning the game. You'd expect this gameplay to deter most parents from picking the game up for their young children — but not so. An anonymous editorial at Kotaku written by a video game store employee says that out of the ~1,000 copies sold in the first week, at least 10% of them went to parents accompanied by a child. Clearly, this could be interpreted as a problem. Techgage adds that this is one of the biggest problems facing gaming today. With one breath, many parents criticize video games for being so violent, and with the next, they're saying 'thanks' at the counter after picking up these very games for their kids. While ESRB ratings and other warnings about violent games for kids have good reason to exist, many parents still ignore them, aren't aware to them, or simply don't care about their warnings."
The best sex fan fiction is My Little Pony sex fan fiction.
It's all "doggie style"!
And that's not a good thing.
In what way is it not a good thing? For whom is it not a good thing? For you or for the kid or for the rest of society? On what basis do you make this value judgement?
A kid's innocence is a precious thing, and it's a shame to squander it too early.
How does "innocence" differ from "ignorance"?
I also don't want him introduced to the ugly world of violent crime, drugs, and prostitution while he's still in kindergarten either.
Better for him to be introduced to the ugly world of censorship and deference to arbitrary authority, right?
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On the basis that I'm a father
Exactly. Not that you have any actual reason to believe that this content is harmful. Just because you're a parent, and that makes you the all knowing always correct judge of what is good and bad.
If you want to expose your kids to hardcore porn and Saw movies at age 2--hey knock yourself out, pal
Hardcore porn, why not? If they're not pubescent, they're not going to be interested. If they enjoy it, good for them. Saw movies? They're likely to cause nightmares, that's actually a problem and a good reason to avoid them.
But I kind of like the idea of protecting my kid.
Then try protecting your kid from censorship and arbitrary value judgements.
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The only adults who like (or tolerate) MLP are really maladjusted.