First Person Shooters

ARG doesn't understand why we won't let him play First Person Shooters (FPS).

Joe has tried, and I have tried to articulate our reasons. But no explanation will ever be able to break through our almost-teenager's armor of self-righteous certainty that none of our reasons apply to HIM.

I've tried explaining that incessantly aiming and shooting at people and killing them desensitizes the mind to violence. We've shared that the armed forces actually use these things to help train soldiers, ie. people who are trained to kill really well. Joe has reasoned that (we believe) ARG's brain is still to young to maturely process this kind of information. We've
tried to force the truth (that we are protecting him because we love him) through his layers of denial.

But no. Oh no.

We are just not fair. We are over protective. We don't understand how fun it is.

Doesn't it sound like a cliché? Child wants more freedom. Parents worry about child's safety and set limits. Child gets grumpy.

I can't believe we are already at this stage! I remember when he would look up at me, hold up his arms and say,

"Holdyew?"

or when he didn't understand something he would say,

"Whatsay?"

Now he weighs more than both his parents. And wants to kill people more directly on the computer. We do let him play Supreme Commander and games like that. You would think that nuking an enemy encampment would be enough for him! Jeesh.

We're not saying we'll never let him play FPS. Just not when he is 11. Or 12. And probably not at 13. But who knows? As a homeschool mom I learned long ago to make decisions one year at a time.

So for now, we are the Mean Parents. Sigh.