Four Year Old Plays Grand Theft Auto

bitmob.com:

At the very impressionable age of four, my son loved Grand Theft Auto. More specifically, the version he played was the Hot Coffee moddable, San Andreas. Before Child Protective Services bestows upon me the prestigious honor of father of the year, allow me to explain.

Read the whole story: bitmob.com

Comments

[RobinSeattle]

08:09 PM on 06/23/2010

Who cares? Is this topic supposed to be somehow daring? Come on editors, choose better, will ya?

[evesapple]

02:21 PM on 06/23/2010

My Son was born in 1997 and my Daughter in 2002. In the four and half years between the two, there was an explosion of chips put into many toys that hadn't had them previously. It was utterly shocking! With my daughter, I simply took the batteries out before giving her the toy. I thought it was a shame that she wouldn't make the same made-up play noises of animals and cars herself. I consider that part of childhood. She did play non-violent video games and tried to keep up with her Brother's abilities. They both have DS's which they play together, mostly on car trips.
As long as there is a healthy variety of activities for the kids, like outside on the playground and chalk on the driveway, along with construction paper, glue and scissors with limited TV and gaming, I think that is OK. You can't make your kid some kind of recluse or weirdo, otherwise they won't fit in when they get to school. And worse, the backlash when get to the rebellious stage and figure out what they have been missing.
Certainly, being the gatekeeper is what parenting is all about. You want to instill your values early and often in those formative years, and hope for the best when they start to fly on their own.
Now if only I hadn't been a Boston driver in those tender car seat years!

[Warren Peace]

02:07 PM on 06/23/2010

I'm impressed and completely surprised. I thought child services was needed before I even read this article and now I 180'd myself. Very well written.

[Barrett Archer]

05:49 AM on 06/23/2010

Uh oh. A child was enabled a realistic experience. You haven't been feeding him too, have you?

[kwikshot]

02:20 AM on 06/23/2010

Seriously this is awesome, I have been playing violent video games since i was about 2 and it hasnt affected me in the slightest, accept making me stronger

[Formeralaskangal]

11:49 PM on 06/22/2010

Yeah, but does he play while chain smoking cigarettes (like the 2-year old Indonesian kid), or while chugging down a beer (like that 4-year old boy at the Phillies game)? I think there are other games that a child his age could play to learn hand eye coordination--PBS Kids, Noggin, etc. have great free online learning games, but those might not be as fun for the Dad to sit through.

[stupidllama]

04:46 PM on 06/23/2010

RTFA please before posting

[Formeralaskangal]

06:55 PM on 06/23/2010

I did, and I don't agree with a kid that age playing that game. Just because he didn't choose to hit any hookers, doesn't mean he should be shown that kind of stuff at his impressionable age. There are better ways for a child his age to learn hand eye coordination, and while preschool games might not be fun to the adult who is sitting with the child, they are in my opinion the better option. DJTFC!!

[enemyofignorance]

10:35 PM on 06/22/2010

I love the way the GTA series slams the media, really hard. Small wonder why GTA gets bad press. When I first played GTA the main cause of my crashing a vehicle was from laughing so hard at the commercials you hear on the radio. Some things were disgusting though, they did tone some things down for GTA IV.

I like the billbord in GTA IV "Weazel News, reporting THE RIGHT news".

[sharonh]

08:47 PM on 06/22/2010

My two-year-old is scheduled to sail the globe solo next fall.

[MarcEdward]

08:19 PM on 06/22/2010

So what?

[amaboss52]

06:59 PM on 06/22/2010

At about 8 months old my grandson sat on my lap and held the control/shoot key down in the Tomb Raider games while I did all the running and aiming. He is the sweetest kid, hates violence in the real world but loves it in the video world. He's 13 now.

[hypnotoad72]

04:53 PM on 06/22/2010

It'd be more beneficial for the "impressionable" kid to learn art, language, math, science, or anything uplifting to society or at least the positives of the human condition at the same time. Being "impressionable" means the kid can learn a lot, from a wide gamut of perspectives. But all of that is constantly being diminished since labor is worthless in the eyes of our Corporotocracy(tm), so what the heck - make 'em video game addicts as young as possible. Especially to the likes of GTA, and ensure the kid cannot differentiate between what's a fictional game using real-life elements and real-life itself.

Where the stinging truth ends and the sarcasm begins is for anybody to freely decide.

[MarcEdward]

08:21 PM on 06/22/2010

You seriously have no idea what your hyperventilating about.
My eldest was playing violent video games before he could talk.
He's a sweetheart who like gaming.
Stop assuming kids are stupid.

[sharonh]

08:49 PM on 06/22/2010

Yeah, remember the Three Stooges--nobody watched that and thought it was a good idea to hammer somebody on the head. It was just funny. Sheesh.

[Tywon Rogers]

12:12 PM on 06/23/2010

You obviously didn't read the article.

[Rynox]

03:25 PM on 06/22/2010

My 4 year old plays the tightrope game on my iphone and she laughs hysterically when he falls off and crashes into the pavement.

[wilray]

03:07 PM on 06/22/2010

What was his score? Was he a prodigy, or was he just like every other four year old?

[Tywon Rogers]

12:15 PM on 06/23/2010

The only real score in GTA is the amount of money you accumulate.

[davistn8]

12:45 PM on 06/22/2010

Great story.