gbollard wrote:
It's all about age and maturity and the individual.
I don't have a problem with violent films and video games with my children (7 & 10) because they're very clear on what is real vs what is pretend. We frequently watch "the making of..." shows so that they understand. If I see that they're uncomfortable at any point, it's turned off. I'm always available for discussions and will talk to them about whatever they ask..................
As parents we want to be as approachable as possible because otherwise the kids will become secretive.
Same. I allowed my son to play Torchlight from age 6 and many other parents were horrified by this. The biggest issue I found with gaming and my son is that he tends to act out the characters and things he sees in his video games. He also draws variations on the characters (quite well actually). The biggest issue I have found with this is that he struggles more in social situations (or did until we went over it) because he would act out these characters without telling other kids what he was pretending. He just expected them to know. He is quite a good actor and although never physically violent with others, it scared a lot of kids and also confused them. That's part of the whole ASD thing for us, though, we have to work hard to remember that not everyone thinks the way we do and not everyone is in our mind.
His anxieties and fears make all of this more complicated because it is hard to say what will bother him and what won't. He was disturbed by an older child playing Blockland (I think it is called?) and yet isn't disturbed by Torchlight. He wasn't disturbed by the Transformers movie, but flipped out over Jurassic Park. As I said before a teenage deodorant ad had him uneasy about going into any room with mirrors for close to a year.
15 Apr 2011, 12:47 am
