Quote:
Quote by: Sbh052  Grand Theft Auto is a popular Play Station 2 game. The game involves shooting people, stealing cars, house breaks, drug deals, and prostitution. The game is rated T for Teen, but you see seven year olds playing it.
My seven year old nephew loves it. He absolulty loves it. His mother lets him play it, while my sister and I protest, saying it's not suitable for a child.
What are your opinions?
Do you think that if a child grows up playing violent games such as GTA, they will grow up as a killer, or to pick up prostitutes? |
My Answer to that?
I remember growing up and my brother getting NARC for the Nintendo.... for the time it was quite violent....
And this was a police role playing game and the police were blowing the snot out of everybody.
Anybody remember the Mortal Kombats? Yeah, I played those at a young age. I loved setting people on fire, throwing a spear into someone's chest and screaming "GET OVER HERE!"
Have I killed anybody yet?
Not that I can Remember.
Therefore, no.... I don't believe this will affect him..... what will affect him is how you guide him and educate him about these kinds of games......
I grew up watching Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, The Iron Triangle, and many other war movies with my father..... I'm not out there killing people.....
The game is fun, because it potrays real life..... I have played the game over and over from begining to end, and although the missions sometimes involve violence or sexual references, you have the final decision in the game on how you proceed through a mission.
Will you be a heartless freak, breaking every law in the game?
Will you do what is nessicary?
Don't forget that the GTA games have always had law enforcement in them and they will go after you and increase their forces to get you depending on your crime(s)...... the game shows what is not tollerated by society, but at the same time, show how many people in the world work around those laws......
Sure, I'll be the first to admit the law enforcement in the games are certainly not up to par with real enforcement.... but if the police were as realistic and as hard as real ones, even if you did try and follow the game as safely as you can, you'll still end up in front of the police, and you'll never get far in the game.....
and that's all it is.... a game... that potrays real life in the hood when the farthest thing you can think about is your own safety outside of your street.
Also, if you play the game much further then you seem to have, you'd realize that there is much more to the game then just the ghetto. I'm not much on hip hop and blinging it all out.... I'm a old fasion rocker... but even I could appreciate GTA:SA for the work they put into it, the storyline, and the important social messages they try to get across.
However I would like to point out that you're newphew's mother has overall responsibility over properly educating him over the game itself.
If properly explained, it could be a very good learning tool.... as kids these days learn more by visual entertainment, teach them the realities of the game as being a game. Teach them that things they do in the game that get them arrested, will do so in real life..... but since it's the game, play it in the game as you want..... just teach them to keep it in the game.
Violent games have been around forever. The fact that the graphics are much better when we were a kid, I can vividly remember my father saying the same thing when the Super Nintendo came out, and he was used to Atari's Snoopy and the Red Barron. When I was a kid, I remember that game kinda freaking me out..... the Atari made some wierd noises....... but a classic none the less.