Should people under 18 be able to play rated m games

This whole ratings business is just bullshit -.- I've played m rated games when I was 7 years old and I'm not a psychopath, neither are any of my friends who did the same thing. Ratings don't mean jack shit, what matters is if the person can distinguish between reality and fiction, and there's no magical age barrier there, if you were brought up bad you might think that just because it's okay to run over people in a video game then it's okay to do it in real life. If you however were brought up in a good way you'd see the difference.

Although when I was 6-7 years old I saw the Exorcist and I'm still scared by that face. But you don't have to be 18 to go see a movie or play a violent video game.

Should people under 18 be able to play M rated games? The answer is plain and simple: yes. Video games and movies get a lot of crap for being the reason that little Johnny goes and shoots up his school, or Ted decides it's time to kill his boss. A valid point that I have seen brought up many a time is this: what's the excuse before video games? Yes in today's world there are sickos who do sick stuff but it's not like the concept of "murder" or even "school shootings" are entirely new.

Look back at the history of our country for a second. We went over to Africa, we got slaves. We came over here. We killed the native americans and the spanish/mexicans. Any time there's a major world issue that leads to some kind of a war we get involved and then we teach this to kids from the time there young. Many kids are smart enough to say "ok, this isn't right" but there's a nice handful of them that just can't discern right from wrong.

If you need a final piece of evidence just look at the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler was one of the sickest human beings to ever live and do you know why? Bad parents and too much free time. It's not like Hitler decided to kill the jews after a level in GTA or God of War or anything like that.

Instead of taking the easy way out and blaming the games and movies that our children are exposed to, why not take an extra minute, be a good parent, teach them about right and wrong, and make sure they lead a good life so they don't decide to go do something stupid.

It depends on the kid....

I've been playing 18+ games ever since I was 12. It doesn't necessarily change you. The ratings, in my country at least, serve to protect children of seeing the wrong things, and act upon it. (e.g: Kid plays GTA, kid gets his hands on a bazooka, kid blows up the school.) I find this absolutely stupid. If a child really thinks it's ok to run over someone just because they can do it in a game, it isn't due to playing a game that isn't fit for their age, it's because bad parenting. Or well, that is my opinion.

If you're legally a minor, all your rights are delegated to your guardians; so it's really up to them.

I think it'z okay coz sometimes they play more than that.

Play / watch something with a rating above their age? Yes, if their parent or guardian allow it. Purchase / acquire something with a rating above their age? No.

The ratings are determined by the impressionability of a certain subject on people below that age. Studies have shown how exposure to death, gore, sex, violence, language, etc affects people differently dependent on the age of first exposure. Therefore the decision is left with the parent or guardian, who can better judge if they are ok to watch it.

i think more like 16 would probably be better. its just a game though so maybe even early. the only reason its 18 is because parents blame their bad parenting on a video game and people believe them.

if you are a paren that cares about your children's exposure to inappropriate materials then the answer is NO.

I played the original Silent Hill when I was 8 years old and it hasn't affected me in the slightest. It's not down to the games, it's down to a small amount of individuals who have an underlying mental health issue. My brother (who is now 13) has been playing a wide selection of games with violence, blood and bad language since he was a very young age and it hasn't made a difference to his life.

These games are given a bad name for the simple fact that some people in this world to have mental issues that go undetected and they think the behaviour in games is suitable and should be copied out on the streets.