Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Versus Lack of Duty: Bad Mom 1

Don't know about the rest of you with teenage boys but the entire purpose of Veterans' Day Eve was procuring Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Even here in Boulder getting this game was no easy feat. I had pre-paid for the game and figured that by 5:00 pm the lines would be over. I was wrong -- lines were out the door at our local gaming store.

The line was full of boys in jeans wearing Ed Hardy t-shirts and Quiksilver hoodies. The parking lot was full of mothers in cars wearing business clothes and tapping on blackberries. Moms patiently waiting for their boys to get to the front of the line and then jumping out of the car and pushing to the front of the line to prove that an adult was buying this M-rated game. I'm sure most of them were like me -- no idea why this game was rated M and why we were allowing our kids to play games that are rated M. Maybe the lone dad I saw (pacing the parking lot) had the same concerns.

Does letting my kid play war videos make me a bad mom? Living sixty miles from Columbine makes me wonder and I wish I knew the right answer.

 

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Comments

[WasteNJ]

This game and those like are rated M for a reason! Don't let a young kid play this, and stop thinking that video games are kid stuff because you are the one responsible for what you minor is playing in your house over your internet connection.

These games are designed for adults, with a lot of realism, extreme violence, blood and confusion like in real combat, very harsh language, seemingly indifferent attitudes toward loss of life (UAV drone strikes and AC-1130 gunship attacks on enemy, complete with radio voiceover of kill confirmation, "Good hit, multiple confirmed kills", etc.)

If a kid does end up with warped views about violence, it's not the game's fault, it's the parent's. Same thing as letting a kid watch "House of 1000 Corpses" or "Hostel" or something like that, except those are real people on the screen. Parents need to get it through their head that they need to supervise, not just whip out the credit card and pay for a game to occupy little Johnny's time while you watch TMZ.

[Nicon]

What you kids are playing is infinitely less important than if they eat dinner with you. Violent video games are an easy scape goat, nothing more. science has proven this. Science has also proven that the one thing that universally improves a kids chances of graduating high school, getting through college, staying of drugs, and not getting pregnant is family dinner.

sitting down a few times a week, eating together and talking. Much harder than saying no to a video game.