Along with this blog, I also write a weekly feature on http://www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/ about families that spend time playing video games as a way to bond. I'm getting a lot of interesting comments on the feature on the subject of children playing mature games. Games like Halo and Call of Duty and whatnot, and I thought I would give my opinion HERE, instead of starting a flame war on one of the lovely family's features. Personally, as a very new parent, I am pretty sure how I am going to handle mature games with my daughter. The same way my mom did with me. I'm going to play the game first. There was no such thing as ESRB ratings when I was a kid... But those will come in handy as well. I get a lot of comments on letting kids play the more violent games. I understand not letting a kid play something violent, but there is the aspect of your child's understanding of what's real and what's pretend.
I would never let a 5 year old play call of duty. It's much too realistic. There are even some parts in the single player that made *me* queezy. But I would let a 10 year old play a game like halo. I honestly think Halo is a bit more cartoony. It has very little blood, the enimies are pretty funny, and it's about saving the world from aliens. Granted, as I mentioned above, it would really boil down to whether or not my daughter understood that the game she was playing was pretend. That, in the real world, someone cannot jump off a 25 foot ledge, and land like it was nothing. That when your character dies in the game, and you get to start from a spawn point, is not something that happens to regular little girls. When someone hurts themselves or dies, there's no restart.
It works the same way with TV. Will I let my dughter watch Star Wars? Of course! But I'm going to have to take the time to make sure she understands that the movie is not real. Otherwise, it's too early to intorduce that kind of entertainment.
I'm one of those parents that think kids should be kids as long as possible. My husband was thrown into adulthood at a very young age, and it's almost like he makes up for it now by acting like a child. I will make sure my daughter spends more time using her imagination rather than letting a game do it for her. I am a strong believer that fresh air and an imagination is enough to keep a child entertained for hours. It was for me.
Games are great, I love them myself, so I will not ban them from my child. They do offer a lot... Hand/Eye Coordination, problem solving, and it will be a way for all of us to spend time together. But it's not what life, especially as a child, is about. She should want to run, jump, play, and laugh. Not sit on her butt in front of a TV all day like a bump on a log.
My mom did it right with me. I could only play games and watch TV after dinner when it was too dark to go outside and play. If I wanted to get up early on Saturday morning and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while eating cereal, that was fine. Though, as soon as the cereal was done and the sleep was wiped from my eyes, it was TV off and time to play.
As far as games go, my mom always played the games either before us or with us. I have a distinct memory of being VERY upset with my mom because she would not let me play Mortal Kombat when all my friends were playing it. She knew what was going on in that game and that it was not the type of content she wanted a youngin' like me to see. The same thing happened with Phantasmagoria. She made me walk through the first few levels with her, and once she saw the game made me turn the gore off in the menu. As a 12 year old, I was mad that she wouldnt let me see the gore, but now as a 25 year old, I totallly see why she wanted to shelter me from it.
My whole point in this blog is that more parents need to be parents and judge whether or not the content of the entertianment thier children are viewing is approporate for THIER child. A movie may be PG-13, but that doesnt mean your child isnt ready to watch it at 10. The same goes for a 14 year old. It's about making the decision as a parent about whether or not YOUR child is ready for something like breif nudity or strong language. Take the time to play the games, watch the shows, and finish the movie before plopping a child infront of it. Ask them what they thought about it and make sure they understand what's going on. The difference between Hollywood and reality.
It's a parents RESPONSIBILTY to make sure they are monitoring these type of things. I understand not all parents have the time to sit and play through an 80 hour game to make sure thier kids will be able to handle what's on the game, but that's what the ESRB is for. They put a lot of hours into a game. Take into account multiple reactions of lots of people and that rating is there for a reason. Check the labels before you buy the game and read reviews. It only takes a few minutes to ask a clerk at Game-Stop whether or not a game has blood or sexual situations. They should be listed on the game's ESRB rating anyway. 
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Valentines day is also right around the corner. The husband will have to work late, and my mom has to work the next morning so she wont be able to watch the baby if we were to go on a late date, so I think we're going to celebrate our first Valentines Day as a married couple another day... We're just getting a bottle of wine and maybe some lobster for a nice quiet dinner at home. I think it sounds great.
