Submitted by CGMagazine 292d ago | opinion piece

Should Parents Not Be Allowed To Buy Games For Underage Kids?

The problem of kids playing under-age video-games is growing. There should be different methods and regulations made by retailers. Especially with GTA V. (Grand Theft Auto V, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360)

Excalibur  +   292d ago
Yes but in the same token they shouldn't.
minimur12  +   292d ago
I was under the impression it was illegal for a minor to play Adult (or games over their age range)

spoiler for GTA V - halfway through campaign
I work at a leisure center, and we opened the bar for the Karate competition, and a dad spoke about it saying his kids want it - theyre 14 and 13.

I told him how your kids really shouldn't play it, and I said ' I don't want to be.... a douche , how you can go into your sons room and smoke weed, there's a torture scene where you pull out someones teeth with pliers and pour gasolene over there face - and he said, well I guess they arent going to play that then.

After he said - sounds more like a game for me :)

I was like - mission accomplished-
#1.1 (Edited 292d ago ) | Agree(6) | Disagree(1) | Report | Reply
jamespetergriff  +   292d ago
Hello, I am the writer of this story. It is NOT illegal to own, play, or purchase an "M" rated game if you are underage. Stores can sell M games to minors if they so choose.
raWfodog  +   292d ago

I don't know why you received disagrees from many people. There is actually no state or federal laws prohibiting the sale of M-rated games to minors. It is definitely left up to the stores to decide if they want to sell these games to minors...unless they were disagreeing for some other reason.
Joe913  +   291d ago
I think it should be illegal if they going to blame these games for every violent act that happens they need to make sure kids are not playing the games if they wont do that then if yo kid plays GTAV and go do something stupid then parent is blamed not the game
kayoss  +   292d ago
In the United States Minors can not buy M rated games without an adult. Its not illegal to buy M rated games but stores are advised not to sell M rated games to minors. However with that say, we should allow parents to buy M rated games for minors or else we are violating the Constitution. But the parents should be given a consent form that they need to read and sign stating that they are aware of the content of the game is not meant for minors and they are purchasing this game with that knowlege. The form should be kept by the store just in case some idiot parents decided to complain or sue.
#1.2 (Edited 292d ago ) | Agree(10) | Disagree(2) | Report | Reply
avengers1978  +   292d ago
Bubbles, well said
Excalibur  +   292d ago


hence my "Yes but in the same token they shouldn't."
ErcsYou  +   292d ago
I would laugh in a retailers face if they wanted me to sign a consent form for a video game. I think i can raise my kids better than our government can. The US government promotes war and racism while our medias biggest storys are about murder and rape. I would rather ban TV before video games. The M rating is a joke anyways. I will NOT let my kids play GTA5 but by the rating system only a senior in high school is allowed to play Diablo 3, please. I see worse on TV every day.
kayoss  +   291d ago
No one is questioning your parenting skill. I have no doubt that you can raise your kids a lot better then the government. But there are parents out there who will buy their kids anything to shut them up and then turn around and blame the establishment that they bought said game from. No parents will blame themselves for their mistakes because admitting that they are wrong is admitting their failure as a parent. So the scapegoat becomes the vendors and the developers. I know not all parents are irresponsible but you will be surprise at how many are.
Delive  +   292d ago
Sadly, this would be impossible to enforce. Parents will buy with or withoyt their kids present. They would buy online or dl from psn or xbl. If a block is placed on underage profiles, parents would create a profile to allow it. I know several parents like this. Hell, even I have created an of age profile for my underage son to access ps home and allowed him to play re5 and rdr. He is 15 and I feel those are ok as long as we talk about what he is playing. He has not played any gta game though (under my supervision).
diepdiep  +   292d ago
It's amazing how common sense is absent with these parents.
kayoss  +   292d ago
Its funny how they're the first to complain when their kids go wacko.
majiebeast  +   292d ago
Yes plus Adult rating needs to be used more by ESRB/PEGI, for games like TLOU,Bioshock Infinite and GTA V. Makes it harder for these "parents" to give far too graphical games to their kids.

Annoyed gamer did an entire segment on GTA V not suited for kids.
#3 (Edited 292d ago ) | Agree(2) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply
Blues Cowboy  +   292d ago
IMO parents should pay closer attention to their children's hobby or enjoy it with them, and buy games accordingly. Or, you know, sometimes sit down with them while they're playing and put what they're doing into context.

It will never be possible to completely stop parents buying games for minors (it's technically illegal here in the UK, but practically impossible to prevent), but as diepdiep says above, a little common sense would go a long way.
#4 (Edited 292d ago ) | Agree(3) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply
hulk_bash1987  +   292d ago
This should not be an issue if parents would actually, I don't know, BE RESPONSIBLE PARENTS.
dannylilley  +   292d ago
What more regulations should they be forced to abide by? I know in a game you become that character and choose to do these things but in theory shouldn't these rules apply to films too?

I'm sorry but at least 90% of the blame is with whoever buys it. If you are ignorant enough to not comprehend what game you are letting your child have then it's your fault. Makes you wonder if they are ignorant with other aspects of their child's life and what else they do or give them just to shut them up.
Roper316  +   292d ago
an adult can buy whatever they like, hopefully as a adult they will know better than to let a young child play a M rated game.
Idba  +   292d ago
Yes. But only if they know how mature their kid is. Im 13 years old but i've proved to my parents that im mature enough to play higher rated games (not all of them though).
monkey602  +   292d ago
Trying not to sound like a hypocrite because of what I played as a kid it has to be taken within reason and regulated. Short answer is the tv is not a child minder
Gozer  +   292d ago
There is no way to prevent parents from buying M rated games for their kids. Its a moot point.
Cuthbo  +   292d ago
I don't see any issue with GTA V and kids playing it, the real world is an even worse place then that. Shielding them and only teaching them happy things with dreams and fluffy clouds can make unrealistic to how they approach their own life. It can make people gullible and give them a false perception that everything is good. Though horror games that are to do nothing but terror on the other hand are probably not so good.

As a parent you're not meant to shield them from the world you're meant to teach them about it, the good and the bad. All in all games are just games and unless a person is not mentally stable to begin with anything they see from news to movies to games will push them to do dumb things. Many people I grew up with were shielded from the world and had book smarts but no street smarts so to speak. They had knowledge from their studies but in real life situations didn't use common sense. Society itself has gone soft making rules everywhere for pointless things, don't spank your baby/don't breast feed in public.

There seems to be some strange moral high ground that people seem to take with issues that involve sex's, races and children. They're not forbidden subjects they're all part of life.
jamespetergriff  +   292d ago
The real world is a scary place. As a parent you are there to teach them properly. GTA5 is a satire and doesn't teach kids how to act properly. The first 10 minutes is a racist discussion, one of the missions involves torturing people. You think an 11-year-old will understand the entire satire?
Cuthbo  +   292d ago
As a child I did, so why wouldn't other kids? And the game itself isn't teaching them anything it's showing them possibilities its up to the parents to teach. Even children know that a game is just a game, racism exists and the torture scene would be the only part in the entire game that probably isn't good for kids. And we know its just satire, that's why its idiotic to blame games for things or to restrict its content.
SegaGamer  +   292d ago
If you buy a game with an age rating of 18 on it and you say to the person that is selling it to you that you are buying it for your kid, then that person won't / shouldn't sell it to you.

So to answer the question, no, you are not allowed to buy a game for underage kids.
BLKxSEPTEMBER  +   292d ago
wtf?! i wish somebody would try and tell me how to raise my kid! ill decide what and what isnt good for my child.
Dead_Cell  +   292d ago
And then proceed to sit him in front of GTA V for two days.
goldwyncq  +   292d ago
Not all children are the same.Some mature faster than others. It's up to the parents to see whether or not their kids are mature enough to play the game before buying it.
pabadamus1  +   292d ago
Simple fix. GameStop, Best Buy, Walmart et al should make it policy to train point of sale employees to inform all ADULT customers, kids present or not, of the mature rating and everything that it entails. It is as simple as " THIS GAME IS INTENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY! PLEASE READ THE PACKAGING FOR FURTHER DETAILS". Maybe, even a prerecorded PSA that automatically plays every time an M rated game is sold. This eliminates the inconsistent human element. For online purchases have the ESRB warning pop up during the purchasing process multiple times. This now places responsibility firmly in the hands of parents and eliminates ignorance. If parents ignore the warnings and continue to purchase the product then no one can fault the industry as we can all agree that due diligence has been pursued.
#15 (Edited 292d ago ) | Agree(0) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply
Dead_Cell  +   292d ago
I'd rather future parents having to pass child-raising courses and IQ Tests before being allowed to breed personally. Far too many stupid people have kids.
jamespetergriff  +   292d ago
Haha if only that were a realistic goal.
prodg52  +   292d ago
You obviously don't know about Eugenics. Google it please! Not too many subjects upset me, but this is one. By the way, I know a lot of intelligent people with dumb parents. Should they have not been born? Any government willing to do that to its people should be destroyed.
CaptainYesterday  +   292d ago
It all depends on the kid, if your kid is whining and screaming for the game saying that all their friends have the game maybe you shouldn't buy it for them. When I was a kid my parent's knew I was mature enough to handle a mature game. I remember one time my dad brought me to EB Games to buy me the Grand Theft Auto triple pack when we got home I went to play it he watched me for a while and he said "Don't let it go to your head okay"? I then said "Why would I? it's just a game".
gano  +   292d ago
You cant tell how crazy a person is from looking at them.
I mean, look at todd. That mutha***** look like he work in the mall sellin cinnabonz.
Did gta drive him to where he is? Who knows?
nooneknows  +   292d ago
No, simple. I think if you're at least 15 then you should be able to get a game on the lines of GTA, God Of War or Far Cry. If your 14, maybe something less mature like COD or Elders Scrolls.

Seriously, if you don't want your child to get it, don't buy them it.
persona4chie  +   292d ago
this is something my brother and i have discussed often.
i cant tell you how many times i've gone to a gaming store and saw starry-eyed kids staring at grand theft auto, call of duty, ect and their parents actually buying it for them.

the age rating is there for a reason different content affects people in different ways but that kind of content is not meant for younger audiences and thus should not be played by them

you dont know how it will affect them but should you really try and find out?
johny5  +   292d ago
I would not let my stepson play or watch me play this game as it's just too graphic and a far cry from GTA 3 which I myself played at 13 or 14 and looks cartoony in comparison!

plus this game actually shows guys getting there D@cks sucked off and I would feel very uncomfortable if he saw that.

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