They start young these days...

Barlim

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Mar 9, 2008
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So I'm on our 2fort server and a player on my team is a 7 year old girl. She's pretty talkative on voice chat, and isnt too bad at running the intel as a scout.

Is this a) awesome, because she's a gamer chick in the making, or b) scary, because she shouldn't be playing violent games like this? I'm gonna go with a little of both...
 
Yeah, both a) and b). But how can you be so sure she's 7 years old?
 
Playing violent video games are not what worry me about a 7 year olds these days. I worry about the effects of adults telling them nothing and mtv telling them everything. They think it is cool to be considered a pimp, and to call women ho's. I know a 9 year old, his family is friends with my family. His sisters and parents watch mtv and that Degrassi crap. The kids these days don't get shows like Ninja Turtles, Family Matters, Daffy Duck. We have a show that glorifies being superficial and rude to elders.

Parents barely teach their kids anymore, heck American kids can barely read. Schools push kids through without education because of money. Did you know if a kid flunks that a school gets cut money? To a small school like the one I went to, they did not flunk kids because they were already so far in debt. Kids who read on a 5th grade reading level graduated. The teachers told me that they had to do it or money would be cut and parents would get angry. In a small community school when a parent gets angry, said parent knows everybody while teacher does not, teacher gets fired.

Worry about how kids are turning out these days. They treat other people like trash, don't take responsibility for anything, and their want to learn is lower than ever.
 
Heh, a bit early in the morning for a rant, don't you think?

I have to agree with you, though. While it is always in the nature for teenagers to be rebellious, it can't be denied that kids have gotten worse and worse over the decades. I know enough to respect those older than me... I refer to my elders as "sir" and "ma'am", and I'm just generally polite to people, especially strangers. I can't say that I hang around lots of teenagers anymore, but those that I meet online tend to be very rude and arrogant. Not all, mind you... I have one friend who I met back in the days of WoW, for example, who was very mature for a 14 year old, and was even a respected officer in our large guild. For the most part, though, I feel like this is a dying trend.

I wont get into an argument over school systems. I really think the biggest problem lies in parenting, or lack thereof. Kids can get shut away in a world of media, now, and we all know that's a pretty bad mentor for a kid.

This girl in the 2fort game seemed very nice, thankfully; didn't swear, and was encouraging to people, so I'm hoping she'll turn out alright.
 
Sorry if it looked like a rant, I was just discussing. Yea, few are good, not all are bad, was telling people that in the gravelpit server the other day when two people tried picking on a kid for his voice.

Can I has bucket?
 
Personally, as an American high school student, I'm not too fond of your general assumptions regarding American kids. I pride myself in my intelligence and drive to learn; I've made first honors two consecutive semesters (and I go to a tough school), my GPA is 3.8, and I've learned at least partially four computer programming languages on my own. Personally I don't see this "MTV ruining people" thing, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was happening elsewhere. The community I live in is...idealistic?

I never think video games mess people up. Even if Team Fortress has a healthy dose of bloodshed, you're running around as a bunch of cartoon characters blowing each other up. Personally I don't feel inspired to go build a Pipe Bomb Launcher and attack my neighbors.
 
I must apologize, I should have made it clear that, since I don't hang around with many high school students anymore, I've based my statements off of those I've met online. As we all know, of course, the internet is a terrible, terrible place where anonymity can turn the gentlest soul into a $^#*#*(*. So honestly, that's probably why I've gotten that impression. I also didn't sleep at all last night, turning me into a zombie--and as we all know, zombies have a nasty habit of over analyzing things. Maybe we just get bitter about those younger than us as we age...

I do think it depends on the area you live, as well. Around here in Maine, kids are mostly decent enough, with some bad apples here and there.

[quote1203259478=Wartime]
Sorry if it looked like a rant, I was just discussing.
...
Can I has bucket?
[/quote1203259478]

Nah I was just joshin' ya. And no, they stoled my bucket.
 
My child started reading 3 letter words at the age of 3. It's not about America, and it's not about regions, it's about parents. Believe what you see, not what the media feeds you. Just about everyone in middle class America is going to tell you, "Around here in [insert location], kids are mostly decent enough, with some bad apples here and there."

I think a well-adjusted, healthy adult has no problem sorting out reality from fantasy. I'm more concerned about children, who haven't yet finalized their conceptions about reality. There's a reason I play when my 4 year old is asleep. Even as cartoony as TF2 is, she shouldn't watch.

Some parents will feel differently, and that's their option. All the more reason to make sure our servers are squeaky clean.
 
i'd rather have my girls grow up playing violent video games than whores like the kids in this town (pardon my language it's the only word I could describe it as lol)
 
I worry about how it may possibly effect my child. Quite frankly, I don't want him or her to be any reason why Jack Thompson has to talk more about how dangerous video and computer games are becoming.

Oh, I made it sound as if I already have a kid, lol. I meant if I did have a kid.
 
I also totally agree with Monkeybits on the parent's thing... If you don't sit down with your kid and help them learn/understand their school work than you're to blame, not the school. Though the failing thing is ridiculous... That still does not mean it is the schools fault that your kid failed. You have a teacher in a class of 30 or so kids (that was my class numbers) maybe a little less it doesn't matter, but do you honestly expect the teacher to take each kid on, one by one, and walk them through each proceedure throughout school? Sure, if you want your kid to be in gradeschool until they are 30 years old to give the teacher enough time to pamper each one, thats a great idea!

It seems to me that the obesity thing and the not so bright children thing tie in to each other..... lazy people. The parents need to get up, and help their children! My dad helps my sisters all the time with their work and one of them was offered to skip a grade, and the other is at the top of her class....
 
This children have somehow managed to get access to these games and online play so their parents have to be involved in some fashion. I remember from the retail world that most parents don't care what the games are like, just that their children want it and they have to get it. I do remember a few walking up to me and asking whats a good game for a 13 year old to which I was more than happy to suggest something appropriate. The only thing we can do here is try and run clean servers so that they can see that you can play games in a civilized manor and perhaps don't grow up to be punks haha.
 
That might have been the same kid that was on Convoy the other day. A couple people started asking how old the kid was and made mention that they should not be on the server. I just piped in on Voicechat asking the two guys to chillout. As far as I was concerned the kid was playing fine (bit chatty, but that is the nature of kids). They didn't say anything else after that and as far as I know everyone had a good game.
 
I agree with just about all points said.

But, if you go against the norm, and be a good parent and teach your kids the right things, then they will just be leaps and bounds ahead of all the other "adult-hating, ignorant whores" that they grow up with.
 
There's always the possibility that she's lying. Only some people think I sound like a girl, and those who are unsure always ask me how old I am. I tell them I'm 10 years old as a joke and they really believe me. :D
 
I love discussions like these. They make me proud to be in this clan. This thread and the one about defining profanity demonstrate why we don't need to list out every specific rule. We have a bunch of incredibly smart, talented people working to make this community its best, and the result is an exceptional gaming experience.

Though our personal standards may vary a bit, it is clear that we can tell what is acceptable and what isn't. That's why it's almost comical when people argue with us. They know just as well as we do that what they've done is wrong, they'd just prefer to try to convince us to validate the behavior rather than acting responsibly in the fashion they already know is right.

Bravo, eGO, for standing up and reminding people that even in something so admittedly minor as gaming, personal responsibility and thinking for oneself are always more desirable than an extensive list of rules. Detailed rules make finding loopholes and exploiting them seem just fine. "But you didn't *say* I can't do this!" Accepting personal responsibility and living up to it is the highest standard any group can have. Applying that expectation to our visitors will only make them better people.
 
Okay, now you have me on my soap box as a teacher. Having taught 4th grade in an inner-city "socio-economically disadvantaged" school, located where the turfs of four gangs met, I can attest to the importance of parental involvement in a child's education. 33 of my 34 students qualified for free school lunches. 33 of my 34 students were failing writing and math. The only student passing all subjects had parents involved in his life--all parts of it. The rest were left to roam the streets after school. One had lost a family member because his gang affiliation got him killed. This child had absolutely no self control, was incredibly violent, had no ambition, and could barely read. His parents blamed all of their son's misdeeds on me and the school. They insisted he had done nothing wrong, and that we were "all out to get him".

I guess I have a point here. Somewhere... I'm sure you've all heard the expression, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." If you set a rotten example for your children, they are going to do what you do. Teach them and SHOW them the kind of person you want them to learn to be or society will do it for you and you will not like the result.
 
That is both a bit scary, and a bit cool.

Personally though, I have no problem with her playing the game. Her parents choose to allow it, I don't think it really effects people, so I am not about to start complaining.
 
I hate MTV, I hate the paparazzi shows on TV, I hate the use of bad language even more although I go to a school where stuff happens everyday. One time I nearly spat on a girl who was cursing at me for saying that I hate MTV. Mind you, this is coming from a 12 year old boy. =P
 

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