Is Xbox 360 safe for my kids?
The Xbox 360 console has become a feature in many children and teenagers bedrooms or game rooms the past few years and a lot of parents have been wondering if these consoles are safe for their kids.
There are a few ways in which your child can become unsafe in an Xbox 360 game. The first way is if the child plays on Xbox Live then you will want to keep an eye on how they are playing and interacting. There are a lot of foul mouths on the Xbox Live headsets and this can become rather unsafe language for children under the age of 13. You can prevent this by allowing them to play without the headset which isn’t quite as fun but at least it is better then being cussed at all game. A lot of users know how to speak to people though and 80% of the time you won’t need to worry about the headset becoming a problem.
Quite a few parents also don’t want their children being able to play games rated A for adult. There are many gruesome gun and fighting games out there for the Xbox 360 which quite be unsafe for your child to play. The graphics can stay in your child’s mind and they could perform things they normally wouldn’t because the influence of some games. A lot of people think this is farfetched and that most children no the difference between games and real life but it’s a fact that games can influence children who may not otherwise know any better.
One of the best features on the Xbox 360 is the parental controls which you can access and set-up so that your children can only play certain rated games. This way they won’t be able to play games rated adult unless you give them permission and are watching as they play. Joining in when your child first starts to play video games is ideal as well because then you can lay out the rules you have and concerns you have.
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March 6th, 2008 11:49
Video games do NOT influence anything. If you deny your children a headset, your ruining it for them. You shoudnt be a parent.
March 6th, 2008 20:21
Is Xbox 360 safe for my kids? | Eplayr.com
\r\nThe Xbox 360 console has become a feature in many children and t
March 7th, 2008 12:09
if ur worried about ur kids being affected buy them a wii so they can play wii sports and have fun!!(lol) the 360 has like 90% FPS’s gory shoot ‘em ups (i know thats not perfectly accurate but u get the idear) be a responable perent!
March 7th, 2008 12:47
There is no way I would let my kids be subjected to the vile racist comments and swearing i regularly hear on Xbox live. Not sure if everyone is aware that you can set up your 360 so that you only hear people on your friends list. I have done this for both my boys 360’s and they only have family members and real life friends on their friends lists so i know they are not going to be sweared at by these people.
March 7th, 2008 13:01
M$ only cares about banning modded faulty products (like the xbox 360) not enforcing their age limit on Live. Isn’t 16 the minimum age for using Live? What parent leaves or ignores their child for hours on hours everyday so the child has the time to play these games? Sounds like a bigger problem here than blaming a console for not raising your kid with morals, eesh
March 7th, 2008 13:50
A few ways in which your child can become unsafe? I don’t believe this. In what way are they unsafe? Does the 360 suddenly sprout limbs and start pummeling your child? When playing vidogames, your child is perfectly safe in their own home. Turning on a machine does not automatically make them unsafe, except maybe in the case of a wheat thresher.
Secondly, how can language be unsafe? It is just WORDS. Anyone with half a brain knows to ignore anything inappropriate and not repeat it. If your child is stupid enough to take everything they hear to heart, you shouldn’t let them watch TV or even let them out of the house, let alone play online.
Finally, “The graphics can stay in your child’s mind and they could perform things they normally wouldn’t because the influence of some games.” That is just an outright lie and there is no conclusive evidence to support it. The graphics stay in your child’s mind? What? So you mean they’re walking down the street and suddenly they see Master Chief in front of them? That’s known as being schizophrenic, not being a gamer.
As someone who has played games for over 20 years, ranging from cutesy platformers to violent shooters, I can tell you, as can the millions and millions of other gamers like me who have never felt the need to recreate anything they’ve seen in a game, that playing videogames has no impact on your behaviour in the real world. The only case in which it might is if you are already violent, maladjusted or just plain braindead to begin with.
Parents, form your own opinions. Do not believe this fearmongering hyperbole. Gaming is perfectly safe as long as your child is a well-adjusted individual who can distinguish between fantasy and reality. If they aren’t or can’t, well then that’s your fault, not the fault of a piece of software.
March 8th, 2008 05:28
well this is another piece of anti games propaganda!
“games graphics stay in the childs mind”?
well if the child in question see’s images all the time, then the child has some sort of mental illness and needs therapy
these statements and one like it in the uk and in other countries around the world are promoting the hatred of games and of those who play them, we gamers are being demonised, and we in the uk especially have been called “worse than junkies” from mr Kieth Vaz MP and his fellow nutter Julien Brazzer
last week Mr Vaz said ” that children play games that let you rape women on the psp” and that games of this sort are common
i find this amazing, and so did a member of the BBFC who said in over 25 years of certifacation of games he has never let a game of that nature be published in the uk, or ever will
so i suggest sony contact a lawyer about his claims
i have been playing games for over 25 years and i had a great up bringing from my parents, they explained to me right from wrong, what is make belief and what is reality, and they took the time to explain that actions have outcomes, and that what you see on tv isnt real, or what you see done in cartoons or games are not REAL!
these 15-18 rated games in the uk or the M for mature in the us or the ultra rare AO ones DO NOT GET SOLD TO KIDS!
they get sold to adults!……………….THE PARENTS OF THE KIDS! the parents are to blame! not society,not video games, these so called parents by the games for their kids in order to have them out of their way for a few hours, so they dont need to be around their kids,same as movies which are not for kids, its a cheap way to keep the kids out of your hair!
these so called parents , are so weak willed they cave in to the kids moaning and then go to game,or gamestop or where ever they buy games and get the game little johnny wants, usually the most violent one, so they get and are somehow shocked at its content, when little johnny starts cussing and acting like a little hitler, and whats to blame? ……..the game of course!
not the lack of back bone and moral fibre from the parents to say the magic word NO!
if you as a parent buy your kids a mature rated game , just to shut your kid up, you should be fined or imprisoned, and your children taken a way from you, as you are not responsible to be PARENTS
these parents are the reason their kids go on to commit crime, murder, school shootings, and become mad suicide bombers, all because they raise the child in a home enviroment where no morals are present, no back bone is shown, and the words “you are to young”
most unbalanced and mental folk have been born that way, some get depressed with home life, or the lack of it in some places, some need to be told what to do, but parents are scared to act like parents and step up to the bar and say “NO!”
did hitler have gta when he was growing up austria?
did stalin have manhunt in russia?
NO but between them a good couple of tens of millions died, in ww2 and afterwards
but hey its ok
the press and sad case politicians might find a lost journal of hitlers where he describes his battle against the masterchief and his adventures in liberty city!
so stop blaming games from everything from terrorism, and gangs to drugs and the antichrist
people are born and raised and the parents are not doing their jobs
stop being fooled by spin and propaganda, take a look at yourselfs and they way you raise your kids ok?
March 16th, 2008 06:23
After reading both the story and comments I can say this. One, the Xbox 360 has no AO games (sorry you’re wrong beyond wrong Microsoft has stated that it will not allow games of that rating on their product as has Sony and Nintendo). Two the idea that a game will make your child violent or anything is completely void of any reasoning 98% of games even featuring violence have you play the role of the hero who is out to stop evil for one, not going around shooting children and punting dogs; if anything games have more pluses to them than anything. They increase reaction time, help people develop abstract concept solving skills and many others things i.e. (RPG games have a lot of math that the player must calculate to beat). But alas this comment is posted on a site run by a right-wing conservative God loving believer that this country is not secular and that violence is horrible but wars are OK. It’s not about “keeping them safe” it’s about helping the child differentiate what is the game and what is life.
June 3rd, 2008 17:35
dude i dont think your realising that if you buy your child one of these games you can just read the back of the case and check for things you might want your kid to see or not to but if you buy the game its your fault
July 16th, 2008 21:51
I totally agre with all you! And I laughed when it said that your child could play AO games when you watch them. That’s ridiculous!