Breakfast Topic: Do you let your own children play WoW?
by Heather McMillion 
Dec 26th 2010 at 8:00AM
I suppose that I was destined to play computer games. My dad played strategy board games with his friends into the wee hours of the morning until my mom demanded use of her kitchen table back. Eventually, he, my brother and I discovered Age of Empires II. We played online on dial-up internet, cursing the people who called our house while we were gaming. Some friends clued me into WoW in high school, and I've been hooked ever since.
My parents were always cautious with my internet exposure. When I played AoE, I understood that I was not to repeat the foul language I saw in chat, and if people were being particularly vulgar, I would voluntarily remove myself from that particular game. Even as an adult in WoW, I often /leave trade, especially late at night, because I have no interest in seeing keyboard sewage on my screen. Moreover, when I'm visiting my parents and let my younger sisters play on their gnomes, the first thing that I do is /leave trade, and I or someone else keep an eye on the screen while they're playing.
I fully expect that one day, my own children will play video games if they so desire. However, I am aware that the internet is an adult world. Some parents blame other players when their child sees something adult while playing WoW. I tend to take the other approach and blame the parent, either for not closely monitoring their child's play or for not teaching their child how to avoid the adult content.
What has been your experience? How do you monitor the game play of your own children, and do you have any tips for keeping the potentially harmful aspects of the WoW atmosphere away from your child?
| Yes. | |
|---|---|
| No. | |
| Yes, with age-appropriate monitoring and restrictions. |
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Billlop Dec 26th 2010 8:03AM
Well not yet, but if i ever did let my children play WoW, i would make sure Trade and General channels were disconnected. I'm scared to set foot in there and im an adult!
Twill Dec 26th 2010 3:43PM
And if we don't have kids.. I didn't want to spoil the vote but I would have loved to say something, its a poll after all! :)
Malozing Dec 26th 2010 8:07AM
I would if I had any and if I thinks they are ready maturity-wise.
paragorillabear Dec 26th 2010 11:24AM
Hear, hear, Caligula! My thoughts exactly (well, actually plus a little , so thanks for the extra, especially the hooker bit - ha ha)
Choline Dec 26th 2010 11:27AM
Caligulla: You're offended? Really?
The survey is obviously intended people who have/will have kids; nowhere in the article does it state that those without should be in any way responsible for those with. Nor is the survey discussing quality of life with children vs quality of life without.
Nobody's making a value judgment on you because you choose not to have kids. That you cannot answer this survey is not meant to insult you. This isn't the place to extol your child-free choice, either.
If the survey doesn't apply to you, it's simple -- don't answer it.
That said, I'm perfectly fine with kids playing WoW as long as they do so supervised oe monitored until they're old enough to understand that people tend to be complete jackholes on the internet and are not to be taken with any degree of seriousness.
Noyou Dec 26th 2010 11:31AM
And you just ooze class and sophistication. We should all thank you for not reproducing :) /thank. /clap. /cheer.
paragorillabear Dec 26th 2010 12:03PM
Okay, I see we were downranked as Caligula anticipated.
But, srsly, how hard would it be to put an option on the survey : 'sorry, I don't have kids' ?
And, uh, I think he was mostly just being humorous, exaggerating for effect. Those who are offended by his comments are.... bah! nevermind. You people really are too self-righteous sometimes.
paragorillabear Dec 26th 2010 1:17PM
Ha ha! Caligula, I think I love you!
/irony
Will you have my babies?
We can live forever together in the greyed-out areas of the website formerly known as wow.com!
Jenks Dec 26th 2010 2:00PM
@Caligulla
It's a poll for people with kids, and you're offended because you don't get to vote? I'm sorry there's no way you've got "a love life" or however you retardedly worded it, because you can't be over 12. Go do your chores.
Noyou Dec 26th 2010 2:39PM
@Caligulla
All you are ensuring is that most readers remember how stupid you are and to make sure we downrank ALL your future posts. Bill Murray? Seriously? Here's some dry humor, blow dry your hair while taking a bubble bath (of course I am kidding) I model my humor after the late and great Sam Kinison (OW -Owwwww!). Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
P.s. It's good to feed the trolls a little for the holidays :)
neosable Dec 27th 2010 10:46AM
@Caligulla
You deserve an archivement for trolling a simple xmas survey
Trelteth Dec 26th 2010 6:28PM
Caligulla sounds like one of the trolls in trade chat that I'm trying to BLOCK my son from reading.
He may claim to be an adult, but he has the maturity level of a delinquent teenager.
Priestess Dec 26th 2010 6:45PM
Caligulla's hate got me thinking: No one gets offended when they make posts just for Hunters or Warriors or Shaman. People even managed to not be offended when WowInsider did a 15 Minutes of Fame with a preacher. But somehow it's not ok that there be a post addressing parents, or females, or other subsets of players who aren't teenagers or males?
artifex Dec 26th 2010 6:49PM
Personally, I sometimes think of my toons AS my kids. (No worse than thinking of the pets as mine, is it?)
So of course they live, breathe, and play WoW.
Zaros Dec 26th 2010 7:53PM
I downrated you just because you wrote "Sight" instead of Site
Malozing Dec 27th 2010 12:19AM
You control what you read. I don't read everything on this amazing site because the very reason you gave: "It does not relate to me or anything I do." Also sorry for bad morning grammar...
Ryan Dec 28th 2010 2:42AM
@Caligulla
Waaaaa waaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Grow a pair
Tomonius Dec 26th 2010 8:16AM
It's funny, but in our family it came around the other way. I started gaming as a small kid when i got a gameboy for christmas. ever since ive been hooked up with gaming. later my younger brother joined in and we initiated our dad in the world of gaming.
I actually have to look over my dad'd shoulder and see if he's not doing anything bad like reacting to goldsellers or getting tricked by keyloggers :P
Lucidique Dec 26th 2010 9:19AM
Hahaha, that's great :D
Aysi Dec 26th 2010 8:18AM
As a 17 year old, who has been playing since 14, with no restrictions on my internet usage I can tell you it's mostly our age group who are filling trade with 'keyboard sewage' or vulgarity in groups, /s and maybe even guild. So you're protecting your children from things they are probably saying / hearing worse at school or with their friends.
Just generalising - but kids curse from when they leave primary school when not around their parents. WoW (for my group of friends) is not around our parents, and so the sewage floods the game.