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[fabricated backlash]

I understand the kid. At that age, this kind of stuff is the coolest shit in the world.
Conversely kids at that age need parental guidance.
guidance, even if it's annoying to the kids.
I remember playing war with plastic guns or swords at that age.

 

[Dragon1893]

The fact that this is even a debate is truly saddening.
There's so much stuff tailored for kids of that age out there, why guns? Why introduce children to the concept of people killing other people with guns at that age?

And to people saying that they were doing the same at that age, so what? Does that make it alright for some reason?
I saw shit on TV as a kid that traumatized me for years and I've always resented my parents for allowing me to watch it, so because I didn't turn into a violent person it's alright if I let my son do the same?

And GI Joe cartoons or playing with toy guns is the same as the interactive graphic violence of a videogame with highly realistic visuals?
Give me a fucking break.

And lol at the idea of parents being above criticism for some people here.

 

[PhantomThief]

Wayy too young.

 

[Messofanego]

And GI Joe cartoons or playing with toy guns is the same as the interactive graphic violence of a videogame with highly realistic visuals?
Give me a fucking break.

It's not the same but let's not assume toy guns or pro-military franchises were introduced as just innocent things for kids.

 

[Messofanego]

You should offer him a real gun with real ammo for his next birthday. Just to see the parents reaction...

Actually, they already have those.

Yup, America as fuck, and I'm not a fan of it. Ive been told he owns several expensive firearms actually (his dad bought them for him and taught him to hunt and shoot). They are kept in the parents closet. I don't even think they're locked up but I'm not sure. I'd rather not divert the thread but yeah, I don't agree with the way they parent, and I don't believe they "engage" him on this content like many of you recommend. I think they just don't care if he plays violent things.

 

[Storm360]

America

Where the human body is considered more harmful for children than lethal weapons

I say this as someone who hates Dead or Alive

To be fair, kids having an obsession with CoD isn't limited to America. Yesterday for example I saw a kid who looked about 6 or 7 running around holding a copy of CoD Ghosts while hitting other kids, climbing over shit clearly labeled "do not touch" and cursing his head off, all while the mother stood there and talked to her friend, in hindsight I should have said something to his mother but I was looking after kids myself and didn't want to cause too big of a scene. Not normally one for doing so but man I was pretty disgusted at the way that kid was acting

 

[scamander]

The fact that this is even a discussion on GAF tells a lot about how Americans are brought up and about their values ad double-standards. It's apparently okay for a seven year old to kill virtual humans in realistic war games or shoot things in real life with his own weapons, but God forbid they watch TV and see some boobies/ hear some curse words.
Of course a 7 year old has no business playing Call of Duty. It's crazy to tell the OP he's being 'judgemental' for pointing that out. Parents who let their kids play these games at that age are terrible at parenting. End of story.

 

[Darksol]

I had a mortal kombat party around the same age and loved movies like Pet Semetary. Children don't have to be wilting flowers.

 

[Ban Puncher]

Y'all will never be the Fun Uncle/Aunty the kids love, ya squares.

 

[bosseye]

Ha, GAF.

You realise that the 'I turned out fine' defence/argument is not a proper defence right? No other subject on Gaf would that thinking be accepted, it's amusing.

The other thing I see a lot here is 'its fine if you're with them to explain the context and tell them it's not real' or some variant of that. Now this is properly daft; apparently it doesn't compute that if the content you're showing them needs adult curation to ensure the kid knows what's going on and their motivations for doing so and has to be reminded not to do this in real life.....it's probably not appropriate content for them to be engaging in, they're clearly not mentally equipped to parse what they're doing. And at age 7 it's entirely normal for them to not grasp the wider context.

 

[Darkstorne]

I find this kind of attitude really weird. I want to do the best for my kids and if other people think I'm doing it wrong, or could do something different, I'd at least listen and quite possibly change what I'm doing.

The "I'm the parent and I know best" attitude is really dangerous IMHO.

It is, ironically, a strong sign of terrible parenting. Wanting to educate and raise their kid in isolation from everyone else's views and input, refusing to accept that they might be making one or two mistakes in one of the most difficult things a human can ever do in life (raising another human). Sadly it's incredibly common, and while you often need licenses and/or approval to raise a dog, we're stuck in this weird place where absolutely anyone is allowed to breed regardless of their emotional, financial, and relationship stability, and despite the fact that overpopulation is the root cause of pretty much all of our modern day problems.

Very odd thread to read through, and some very depressing responses. Society as a whole is still a long way from acknowledging this taboo topic.

 

[eizarus]

 

[audio_delay]

If you ever get invited to his 8th birthday, get him a gun cleaning kit and tell him to ask his parents for a gun for christmas. See what they will do.

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

Let the boys have some fun, i really don't see the issue here.

 

[LuckyDingo]

It is a little weird... Mostly because this is what you see just before playing the first mission in Black Ops II and it will forever haunt my nightmares:

https://youtu.be/P792j976KGo?t=45s

Honestly, I'm a little jealous. My parents didn't let me purchase a mature rated game until I was 13 or 14. I still have that same copy of Metal Gear Solid 2. Fun times!

All that aside, I'm sure he'll be fine as long as his parents raise him to understand the difference between fantasy and reality. I feel like this is nothing to worry about.

 

[Dantrist]

Lol. Meanwhile when I was a little kid I had to convince my mom that playing Tony Hawk on PSX was okay despite the box saying PEGI 16 :')
"Mom, the blood doesn't even look real!!!"

 

[MCN]

Terminator was my favorite movie when I was 7.

Robocop was mine.

 

[Randam]

No pics OP?

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Robocop was mine.

Aliens here.

 

[Pixel Fist]

It would be interesting to see the numbers on those who have replied one way or another in this topic and if they actually have kids themselves.

My son is turning 6 next week and the thought that I could throw him a Call of Duty themed birthday party in a years time is fucking mental... and that's coming from an unashamedly big CoD fan boy.

 

[Drek]

I had a mortal kombat party around the same age and loved movies like Pet Semetary. Children don't have to be wilting flowers.

Mortal Kombat fatality:

Call of Duty:

Doom:

Call of Duty:

GTA2:

Call of Duty:

Yep, totally the same thing. Same visual impact now as then, I'm sure. Never mind CoD being a primarily online experience populated by the dregs of society.

I grew up with guns, bows, light explosives, hunting, fishing on my own, and generally not a whole lot of parental limitations on the video games I played. My kids will most likely be strictly abiding by the ESRB ratings categories as they get older.

And if any of their friends parents don't we'll have a conversation. They might tell me to "fuck off" and I might tell them to stop filling their child's worldview with murder porn.

 

[kcxiv]

The fact that this is even a discussion on GAF tells a lot about how Americans are brought up and about their values ad double-standards. It's apparently okay for a seven year old to kill virtual humans in realistic war games or shoot things in real life with his own weapons, but God forbid they watch TV and see some boobies/ hear some curse words.
Of course a 7 year old has no business playing Call of Duty. It's crazy to tell the OP he's being 'judgemental' for pointing that out. Parents who let their kids play these games at that age are terrible at parenting. End of story.

my dad didnt give a shit if i seen boobs or not as a kid. My mom on the other hand, it was a different story. My pop's is one of them, i dont give a fuck old time gangster mexican guys from L.A ( i was raised in nor cal though). So, i seen the smoking weed and thats about all he did around the house. Fucker still smokes weed everyday everyday and he's 62. I quit that shit ages ago.

Old USA and NEW sensitive USA are 2 totally different things. Its kinda sad now how soft everything has gotten, but thats the times, i miss the days where teachers would teach us about sticks and stones, but now it seems like the complete opposite! Its ok to get hurt by everything!> i dunno. I dont get it.

 

[Marker007]

It would be interesting to see the numbers on those who have replied one way or another in this topic and if they actually have kids themselves.

My son is turning 6 next week and the thought that I could throw him a Call of Duty themed birthday party in a years time is fucking mental... and that's coming from an unashamedly big CoD fan boy.

My wife and I don't have kids of our own at the moment. But I've been heavily involved in raising three children that are very near and dear to my heart. The oldest played CoD when he was that age and liked it for a while. He grew out of it and now he prefers stuff like Mario at an older age. He does well in school and he is one of the most caring kids I've ever known. My wife, myself and his parents taught him the difference between games, movies, cartoons and real life. He likes violent games to an extent but he's a well adjusted child that know the difference between right and wrong and that gun violence is not to be glorified. I say if the kid wanted a CoD party it's not gonna hurt him at all in the long run. Kids are way smarter and much more emotionally developed than adults give them credit for.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Am I wrong for thinking this is a little...inappropriate? The cake had a grenade and gun and bullets on it with a little 7 on it.

That's so fucking over the llne.

Wow.

 

[FairFriend]

Am I wrong for thinking this is a little...inappropriate?

No, you're not being inappropriate. To make basically a "military theme" birthday is such a stupid idea.

 

[jorma]

It is, ironically, a strong sign of terrible parenting. Wanting to educate and raise their kid in isolation from everyone else's views and input, refusing to accept that they might be making one or two mistakes in one of the most difficult things a human can ever do in life (raising another human). Sadly it's incredibly common, and while you often need licenses and/or approval to raise a dog, we're stuck in this weird place where absolutely anyone is allowed to breed regardless of their emotional, financial, and relationship stability, and despite the fact that overpopulation is the root cause of pretty much all of our modern day problems.

Very odd thread to read through, and some very depressing responses. Society as a whole is still a long way from acknowledging this taboo topic.

i'd rather raise my kid on COD than on the idea that it's ok to have your government decide who can and cannot "breed".

 

[thomasmahler]

Sounds all kinds of wrong to me. I'd never let a 7 year old play Call of Duty. I'm making better games than that myself, so that kid will get to experience quality instead!

Jokes aside, parents not caring about what their kids are playing are nuts.

 

[Marker007]

i'd rather raise my kid on COD than on the idea that it's ok to have your government decide who can and cannot "breed".

I agree 100%. Talk about communism. It's that kind of thinking and policy that breeds a nation like North Korea. For christsake it's just polygons and pixels.

 

[xealo]

A kid at the age of barely being out of kindergarten has no business playing M rated games as graphic as they come these days. Id say it's a different matter if the parents think he can handle it in 5 years or so, but at 7 it's a bit early still.

 

[Ceadeus]

Just video game at this age is inapropriate by itself.

 

[Zemm]

The military themed birthday party for a 7 year old is definitely weird and pretty horrible. Especially in a country that fetishes gun culture.

 

[Dueck]

It isn't a big deal to me. Nowadays everyone is so sensitive and that just fosters more thin skin. Let kids be innocent and enjoy a video game themed party before the weight of the world spoils it. It's not going to make him any different unless a bunch of overbearing adults decide to turn it into a huge deal and put those ideas there. As long as his parents are raising him to respect others, who cares?

 

[Herb Alpert]

You - like a majority of GAF people - are overthinking this

nothing wrong with the glorification of war at such a mature age indeed.

I just find it sad.

edit : yeah, I know, my avatar.

 

[Rndom Grenadez]

Kids like that stuff naturally

False

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

it's not a big deal as long as he understand what it means, it's a case by case situation for me!

For some kid it will be inappropriate, for some it will be okay!

But i guess it's different in america... I always played with toy guns and so on with my friends here, but that never gave us the need to play with a real gun, since they're not available and it's not in our culture

 

[Camp Freddie]

7?

People were upset about the impact of stuff like "no russian" on adults.

Of course it's fucking inappropriate.
I mwan, I saw RoboCop, Predator and Terminator but they're comparatively tame by modern adult gaming standards, and I was at least 10.

7 is really young. Like "nightmares over the death of Bambi's mum" young. Not sure they should be playing games with people screaming in agony as they are tortured or burnt alive.

 

[cyba89]

That sounds very weird to me and also sounds like the most 'Murica thing ever.

I'm glad I grew up with Super Mario World, Pokémon and Disney cartoons instead of DOOM, CoD and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

 

[test_account]

I agree, 6-7 year old and playing CoD is too young. The age rating are set for a reason. A few days ago, i saw a mother buying her 10-12 year old son Sniper Elite 4 (i assume, he was right behind her), a PEGI 18+ game. Always feel a bit "wierd" (not sure what the right word is) to me seeing parents buying games like that for their kids.

That's very weird to me and also sounds like the most 'Murica thing ever.

I'm glad I grew up with Super Mario World, Pokémon and Disney cartoons instead of DOOM, CoD and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I grew up with all of those things (i never saw Texas Chain Massacre though), have good memories of all of them.

 

[RulkezX]

UK - oldest son is 9 and yeah 2-3 of his mates play HRS or CoD, but it utterly pales in comparison to how many play stuff like Ark and Roblox. The kids thay do play them never touch the single player side, it's always GTAO or no CoD.

CoD is of limits to him for now though. I'll be honest , I let him play gamers that have cartoon violence or non human enemies like say Halo.

 

[Chopper]

A birthday cake for a 7 year old consisting of guns, bullets and grenades is all kinds of fucked up.

 

[fabricated backlash]

I agree, 6-7 year old and playing CoD is too young. The age rating are set for a reason. A few days ago, i saw a mother buying her 10-12 year old son Sniper Elite 4 (i assume, he was right behind her), a PEGI 18+ game. Always feel a bit "wierd" (not sure what the right word is) to me seeing parents buying games like that for their kids.

Cod and it's ilk of action blockbusters are deliberately designed to appeal to kids tastes. Especially to kids that want to feel cool and mature.
Some kids reach that phase sooner, some later.
It should be the parents responsibility to guide their kids along those experiences. Thing is, that many use games like digital pacifiers so they don't have to deal with their kids.

Then again, most of the time the worry about this is just another version of the age old "next generation is morally corrupt" meme that has endured for humanities entire written history

 

[finley83]

The separation here is that CoD is not the most violent game imaginable, but the real life weaponry and military aspect is something I'd be troubled by a child obsessing over. Take the game out of it for a moment and consider how a cake with grenades, guns and bullets for a 7 year old looks.

DOOM is a far more violent and brutal game, but it's clearly fantastical. I would feel much less troubled if a child had a DOOM themed party with Cacodemons and a BFG 9000 if we're looking at unsuitably violent games for children.

 

[DarkKyo]

A birthday cake for a 7 year old consisting of guns, bullets and grenades is all kinds of fucked up.

Internet and other child-accessible media bringing adult reality to young kids faster than ever.

I liked Sonic a lot at that age.

 

[Stasis]

You - like a majority of GAF people - are overthinking this

Hell no. When my dad called me to ask what games to get for my 8 year old brother's (different marriage, much later) XB1 I said to stay away from CoD and such. He doesn't need to be a part of those toxic ass environments. It's not even the games, it's the fucking people. No, he/we won't shelter him. I had the very opposite of a sheltered life and my dad isn't one to do that even if he's older now. But fuck, if I can keep my lil bro away from that for as long as possible I will. He's now 10 and turning into, so far, a very aware and intelligent, caring, kid. A bunch of kids at his school are exactly what you hear on games like CoD.

Thank fuck he's not like that. I just hope my kid won't be. Fuck those parents.

 

[Violet_0]

I always assumed that the average CoD player online is about 7 years old

 

[Pantz]

Ages 6 and up. Kids can handle a grenade cake.

 

[test_account]

Cod and it's ilk of action blockbusters are deliberately designed to appeal to kids tastes. Especially to kids that want to feel cool and mature.
Some kids reach that phase sooner, some later.
It should be the parents responsibility to guide their kids along those experiences. Thing is, that many use games like digital pacifiers so they don't have to deal with their kids.

Then again, most of the time the worry about this is just another version of the age old "next generation is morally corrupt" meme that has endured for humanities entire written history

I'm not sure that the games are designed for kids, but rather it being a product of its design. Kids have always liked things that are primarily made for adults.

I'm not worried about it, but i still find it "strange/wierd" to see parents buy those type of games for their kids. I guess its because like what you say about not having to deal with their kids, as in not being interested in what they consume of digital media.

 

[V1LÆM]

i don't see any problem with it. little boys love guns and soldiers so it's not crazy that they like CoD. i played loads of military games as a kid. you're overthinking it.

 

[Cepheus]

I was a child of the 80's and 90's so I had Robocop cakes, Freddy Krueger cakes and even a Terminator one.

There's a lot of precious little snowflakes these days It seems.

Sure thing, closet 4channer.

A CoD-themed children's party is very inappropriate. Kids shouldn't be playing 18-rated games.

 

[Occam]

Step 1: Groom next generation of US gun nuts
Step 2: Hand out guns like candy
Step 3: Act surprised when 35,000 people a year are killed by guns in the US (Germany: 160)