Should Eleven Year-Olds Play on Xbox Live?

Wired asks the important question every parent has when their children start gaming: Should they play online?

Wired's Chris Anderson has a tough role as a gaming parent. In a recent GeekDad blog, he recounts the story of his eleven year-old child's first interaction with online games, specifically Halo 3 on Xbox Live.

"Not five minutes into my 11-year-old's first Xbox Live Halo 3 match with a headset he got called 'bitch'. Then 'punk' and then worse," recalled Anderson.

Before the accusations about letting his son play an M-rated title were shot, Anderson addressed the issue, stating, "I've not only played the game (start to finish) with him, but I'm IN the game (I've got a voice acting cameo). Also, a rating is a guideline to help parents use their own judgment based on what's appropriate for their own kid, not a law."

Anderson believes that by exposing his son to online gaming, he has built his own leadership skills. After all, the internet is the "school of hard knocks" in the modern world, and an adventure Anderson says could be a "good lesson in real-world survival skills, or a scarring one."

He then opened his entry for comments, resulting in various responses ranging from supportive gamer parents to the more conservative.

Andy P wrote, "As long as you're actually BEING a parent, and explaining that: Shooting other people is bad, talking to other people like a Live idiot is bad, and to always respect people when he's playing, then you're fine."

ikaruga3064 refuted, "Jeez - stop being such a lazy Dad and spend some quality time w/ your kid. The Xbox is NOT a babysitter."

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Personally, I don't think the kids should be sheltered. I might give my own complete freedom - the Internet can serve as a simulation of the world, and could certainly aid in one's development as a person.

That said, I do understand the more conservative viewpoint. If I had child, and had a close, emotional attachment to them, and a perception of them being 'fragile,' then I'd probably want to protect them too.

To an extent, as long as they aren't too annoying fine, they are just as equal as some wigga frat boy or drunken chav but some of them need to learn that 15 or so people telling them to shut up means they should do just that.

Kids should not ever be permitted online, ever. They clog up the fun the Internet is supposed to provide with their infinite spam and whiny voices over VoIP chats AND horrible spelling.

I'd rather not have eleven year olds playing in my games. This is more for personal reasons rather than any misplaced belief of 'Think of the Children.'

not, NOT with a mic if they're going to purposly annoy the hell out of everyone.

Dunno maybe take away the headset until your comfortable enough to let him play, and be sworn at my complete strangers, on his own.

rougeknife:
I'd rather not have eleven year olds playing in my games. This is more for personal reasons rather than any misplaced belief of 'Think of the Children.'

Unfortunately there are people of ages 15 to 25 that are just as bad.

Honestly, I would have had an issue with his kid playing a game like GTA, Manhunt, or Condemned, but I have no issue with a sci-fi shooter like Halo 3. As long as he is a parent to the kid, believes his child is mature enough, and explains the game it's fine.

I let my kid on live at 14, but it could have easily been 13 or 15. I play the games so I know what the talk is like so I could decide when I though it was ok. Honestly he can take the smack talk better than me. I tire of it VERY fast.

I also don't tolerate it when he starts acting like the worst offenders. The 360 goes off after a 2 language warnings. (1 warning for the use of "gay" as a generic insult)

Jhereg42:

rougeknife:
I'd rather not have eleven year olds playing in my games. This is more for personal reasons rather than any misplaced belief of 'Think of the Children.'

Unfortunately there are people of ages 15 to 25 that are just as bad.

Not in my country
(At least by 18. As the old Australian saying goes; Man the fuck up or get the fuck out.)

American game servers? Shitholes IMO.

Personally I never understood how companies like MS can effectively police its channels.

Sure we know that MS has provided the 'underground' channel on Live for more liberal vocabularies and behaviors. I knew that upfront and opted to join the 'casual' channel based on my own tastes and beliefs, and my very fist day on Live was an eye-opener for me as well.

Now I don't think I'm a prude. I've been known to shout an expletive when I've been ganked or fragged, but the visciouness and language directed at people playing (not the game itself) can sometimes make even a sailor cringe.

And more and more surprisingly it just more jaw dropping when you figure the offending grommit is only a tweener. Did I swear when I was a kid? Yes, on occassion, but the language seems to be more and more peppered with racial slurs, and swearing than there are actual substantive words.

Yes, I know you can report people and 'avoid' them, but if I spent time reporting blatant offenders or avoiding them in my lists, I'd spend quiet a bit fo time doing that well.

Okay, maybe I'm sounding like an old man here and out of touch with reality, but I'm just not sure what to do. If you wanna play on Live, it seems like this is just part of the accepted territory.

Does anyoen know if MS or Sony actually bans people for repetitive offending language/racial comments. They seem to have no problem cracking down on those that mod/cheat/file swapping...so you know someone is out there.

It was just last week (or was it the week before) where the hosts of X-Play even brought this subject up in there own experiences...basically commenting on how ruthless the language can be that they tend to avoid certain rooms if they can.

It's not really a matter of age. It's all about maturity. I was a mature 11 year old but I knew a lot of people my age that couldn't handle it then or even now, 3 years later.

Xbox live can get really ridiculous. Usually I don't even plug my headset in, since there isn't a reason for me to talk. When I do I encounter younger players, some of which are perfectly acceptable (I have several friends that are around 11 on xbl) but some of which that go out of control with swears. Just the other day, while playing Call of Duty 4, there was an annoying squeaker that was swearing, insulting others, etc. Thank God for the mute button.

Unfortunately you can't really say if 11 year olds should play on Xbox Live, because it all depends on the person. It reminds me of driving; while a 13 year old can be more mature and respectful of rules as an immature 16 year old, age limits allow the 16 year old to drive while the 13 year old has to wait. Age isn't a completely accurate way to rank maturity.

BioBeast:
It's not really a matter of age. It's all about maturity. I was a mature 11 year old but I knew a lot of people my age that couldn't handle it then or even now, 3 years later.

I was a mature eleven year old...

Then my balls dropped.

Trust me mate, soon as the hormones kick in, for the first year or two you'll be thinking penis first and head last. There are mature eleven year olds, there are mature thirteen year olds, but soon as the puberty monster hits... well, lets just say there is a reason I venomously state; 'people under the age of eighteen should not be handed a Mic.'

Personally, I think half the problem here is the cesspool that is xbox live.

In the end, half the problem is that its not a lack of maturity, its a lack of being able to between when immaturity is acceptable, and when its not. A prime example is the game I'm killing time on right now; Zombie Master Source. One map, everyone is acting like an arse, the next, everyone is dead serious.

I can be immature as all hell at times, but when I need to man up, I man up. Kids just keep going on like tards, and the adults (who where no better five minuets ago) just can't stand them. Its all about gauging the mood, when it is and isn't acceptable to be foolish. Context is key.

Call me ignorant or stereo-typical, but I prefer to enjoy what little time for gaming I have left with mature, sensible adults. NOT sexually insecure homophobic children that all want to be the newest "Tupac" or who ever the fuck Soul boy is.

P.S:Tupac owns you.

I personally think that if xbox live is going to allow children to play then they should only allow them to play on a designated server. When signing up for your account you should enter your age and it would designate you to play with others in your age group (9-13,14-17, 18+) I think this would be a good compromise as it lets kids enjoy games while letting adults enjoy games without having to listen to children shrieking over the microphone.

PArental blocks exist, and so does the mute button, WHY DO YOU PARENTS NOT SEE THIS! Read the god damn manual when buying a console.

Mistah Kurtz:
I personally think that if xbox live is going to allow children to play then they should only allow them to play on a designated server. When signing up for your account you should enter your age and it would designate you to play with others in your age group (9-13,14-17, 18+) I think this would be a good compromise as it lets kids enjoy games while letting adults enjoy games without having to listen to children shrieking over the microphone.

The problem with that though is that people lie about their age online all the time so they can be "legally" be allowed on the service. I do it, my dad never lets me put in my real birthday.

different people mature at different rates, we all know that. Some mature right away because of a death in the family or something disasturous like that, something similar happend to me like that and I consider myself mature without having to be sad/homophobic/annoying at anyone and still enjoy life.

I also find the parents that shield their children from violent video games quite annoying. I have a friend who's older than me by a few months, ad his parents will absolutely not let him play any violent video games. He's a Nintedno-freak with all things Nintendo, and he's a very mature man, infact he just went into highschool, but it's annoying that his parents won't let him play No More Heros or possibly MadWorld (though even I'm reconsidering buying that) just because it's slightly bloodly because i know for a fact that he could handle it and can be mature about it (we have plenty of debates like this)

Some children can be mature enough for violent games, but the vast majority of the idiots just reinforces the stereotype of the sqeaky 12 year old.

I promise you when I get children, I'll let them play games when I feel that they are mature enough and won't go on dick waving constests.

kids should not play if they cannot grasp the fact that i dont care about them and the kids with the high voices it makes me go crazy

Hey, if some guy wants to let his 11-year-old play on Xbox Live, who am I to argue? I just have to worry about my kids; I'll decide if they're ready or not to handle what Xbox Live has to offer. I'm not in the mood to try and tell someone else how to raise theirs.

Amen to that, I have to deal with that kind of immaturity on Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 all the time. Even my roomate has dealt with an 11 or 12 year old on GTA IV multiplayer! Isn't that just stupid/wrong? The sad part is the kid admitted his parents didn't care what he played over the mic.

the monopoly guy:
not, NOT with a mic if they're going to purposly annoy the hell out of everyone.

In my opinion, age has no influence on that. Doesn't matter if they are eight or twenty-two, they can still just have that trait where they think "annoying people makes me cool".

Then ESRB says "Online interactions not rated by the ESRB"

lol, online = UNRATED.

Talking about kids playing halo like that is one thing, but his kid sounds far from some that i'm sure everyone has heard, spouting the same "FUCK YOU NOOB,NOOB,NOOB,NOOB,NOOB, SHUT UP, YOU SUCK" in their 11 year old voice. Its because most 11 year olds don't have the maturity to handle some of those situations.. like losing, or getting stuck :P. They also don't have the maturity to respond the way someone of an older age probably would, so they spam words like "Fuck,Noob" and generally annoy everyone with the decency not to unplug and throw away their mic the second they start talking.

I'm 11 (yeah yeah call me whatever) i played rated M game since CS came out and i don't spam cuss words. hell the only time i cussed online is when someone called me a (insert word here) and there was a 18 year old who was no better than a spaming kid. he was like "hey you little noob y don't you go back to your (insert word here) sucking mom" or something like that. so age no matter

The apparent maturity of the kid above notwithstanding, 11-year olds don't even belong on the internet, much less XBox Live. He plays M-rated games? Where are his parents and do they know what he's doing?

As Yahtzee eloquently put it, "Hooting dickholes" on XBox Live have ensured that I will never, ever be found there.

[quote=Jimmyjames post=7.69562.665182]The apparent maturity of the kid above notwithstanding, 11-year olds don't even belong on the internet, much less XBox Live. He plays M-rated games? Where are his parents and do they know what he's doing?

My parents know and my bros the one who taught me to play games. i could play resident evil and he would just play his WOW without caring

i dunno if im that annoyed by 11 year old kids and under because any threats or insults they can muster i can talk right down,i get pissed when i get trashtalked by some racist kids who feel if they have to say racist slurs about every minority they have in there little town in beverly hills

Should eleven years olds play on Xbox Live?

Yes, to not would be ageist.

The ERSB is a guideline only.

Besides not only "T" or "M" games are online (A game of UNO anyone?)

i heard a person say " UNO BITCHES" all i did was laugh

If they already have the game then maybe, just dont give them a headset

I say they should, so they can all be quarantined there and not bother me on the PsN.

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

I laugh as I read this.

KIDS are not the victims of profanity and harassment in xbox live. THEY ARE THE PROBLEM. 50% of kids I run into run their mouths. Older mature people have manners.

I don't believe kids shouldnt play xbox live, but i do think they should'nt be allowed mics.

Doesn't Xbox Live have different zones, like a family zone where people can play with their kids and only play against other family zone players etc...? In that case, shouldn't Microsoft be policing these zones more stringently to ensure they don't have people swearing and so on in there?

Xbox Live is only really for people who can take the verbal abuse, or mute the offenders. Then shoot them in the face with a shotgun and laugh to yourself.

It isn't even about the swearing or the ability to "take insults" for me. It's about people behaving in a horrible manner to other people, purely because of their safety net- their anonymity. I'd love to see one of those kids say crap like that to me in real life. And the attitude bubbles over.

I believe it's seriously becoming a problem today. It's so easy for people to exercise their ID online and spew hateful and racist garbage. You DIDN'T see that in the 80's, or even early 90's for that matter.

The internet encourages people to act like troglodytes.