Teaching Our Kids to Kill Prostitutes

He’s only 12-years old, but Grandma doesn’t know what M-rated means. She just knows this is the video game he’s been talking about for weeks, so she buys it for him.

In the solitude of his bedroom, he begins play. Twenty minutes later his character beeps his horn and the prostitute gets in the car. He has three choices: oral, vaginal or anal sex. He chooses the $70 option, pays her, and then sits back and watches his character receive her services while she screams, “Oh, give me your big f*ckin c*ck!” When she’s done, she steps out of his car and his character can either shoot her, beat her to death, or run her over so he can get his $70 back. He’s learning good accounting principles, right?

“I think that this game has many violent and awful things, but if your child knows the difference between the game and the real world, they should be fine. My 13 year old son was allowed to get this game because he demonstrated his knowledge that this game is not to be repeated in any way.”
– KarenRobinson127, Parent of 13-year-old who owns the new video game
Grand Theft Auto 5, in an online comment she titled, “Ok if kid will
not be scarred.”

Sure, it’s hard to keep up with every form of entertainment our kids encounter. But would it bother you if you discovered your kid was playing a game where he steals cars, shoots cops, picks up hookers, and gets lap dances from topless girls in strip clubs?

I wish I were exaggerating. Grand Theft Auto 5 has been out less than a month, making literally a billion dollars in the first three days with sales shattering 7 Guinness World Records, and landing in the homes of 11, 12 and 14-year-olds across the planet. Young people can’t get enough of this game… and parents are literally turning their heads the other way.

We actually borrowed the game (from a 12-year-old) and played it to provide parents with an accurate review of the game. But I think the best way to truly give you an understanding of this game is for you to simply do what teenagers do if they want a little online help with this game; they Google something like, “Finding hookers in GTA 5” and are offered an endless supply of YouTube video tutorials giving them all they need. Here’s an example:

WARNING: EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT AND VIOLENCE

Here’s where the situation really gets weird… the parental feedback about the game. If you’re wondering how so many 12 and 14-year-olds play the game, this glimpse of some of these kids’ parents might clear it up for you.

Common Sense Media posted a review of the game declaring it “an M-rated action game brimming with gang violence, nudity, extremely coarse language, and drug and alcohol abuse. It isn’t a game for kids.” The site offers a place where parents can comment. Here are just the first four comments:

I just bought this game for my 12 year old son after a lot of convincing, and I don’t find it as bad as CS said it was. There is not a lot of blood and you can stay away from sexual content. My only problem with the game is the swearing…A masterpiece though.
-Mary Manchester

As per usual, only half of the true story is told by these review websites, much like common sense media. To be honest, as long as your child is over thirteen and knows their right from wrong then there’s no real reason to stop them from getting this game. My son had been asking me for the game’s in the GTA series for quite a while, allot of his friends have had this game since they were as young as 10 and he didn’t understand why I wouldn’t let him have it. But after looking at the game and seeing him play it at one of his friends house, I decided to let him have it. Firstly the mini game in the strip club isn’t always on, and there’s no mission which makes them go there, so you should be able to trust them enough not to go there. The majority of the swearing is in the cut scenes, which you should be able to trust your child to skip if you want them to, and the same goes for the nudity
-Kevin Johnson 123

Well this game has a bad reputation but it really doesn’t deserve it! You can learn a lot of things from this game such as about stocks and bonds, managing money and also sports as the is a big golf and tennis minigame! Bad places can easily be avoided and the violence is no worse that what is seen on the news and the language isn’t as bad as what can be heard in school! It is a really fun game and a mature child should be just fine playing it as long as they are not a psycho and will know that it is a game and shops never be repeated!
-Bigdaddy101

I think this is a violent and language-filled that is too violent for young kids. However, if your kid can handle the violence and language, he should be ok. The sex and drugs in this game are not as prominent as I thought they would be, and can be easily handled by a 13 or 14 year old. If you are thinking about buying this game for anyone under 13 though, it will be too violent.
-JohnSlantor

So what about you? Watch the video above and tell me your thoughts? Do you think this game appropriate for… anyone?