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Subject: XBL and profanity/kids
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Hello all, I joined up here to ask this question, all serious replies appreciated. My 5 year old and I have really enjoyed playing HALO together. I previewed the game before I let him play it, there are only a couple of curse words that are in it that he is likely to hear on TV anyway so I was not worried about it. Now that we are getting HALO 2 I am considering hooking up the XBL.

My concern is that my 5 year old will hear who knows what over the voice link. For those who have used XBL, I know that excessive cursing is against the rules, but we know how that goes. What is your take on this? Is there alot of profanity? I have seen mention of players humping dead guys & the like, does this go on alot? Will there be any clans or games geared toward younger players? I know the voice can be turned off, but I am sure that would be a disadvantage to gameplay as well. I hope my boy gets to play on XBL, he is really good and I can't wait for somebody to get PWNED by my kindergartner. :) Thanks, Odin MC

[Edited on 10/29/2004 11:35:23 AM]

  • 10.29.2004 11:33 AM PDT
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Well, unfortunately there IS a lot of profanity on XBL. I can certainly say that I wouldn't let a 5 year old on there, poor kid. As much as I hate to say it, the XBL community is full of cocky 15 year old kids, who think every 3rd word has to start with F and end with K. There are a lot of good people though, it's just a few ruining it for many. I don't know of any groups for young players, and I don't think there are any. If you do get XBL, I would suggest that you play with him at all times, and you have the headset and the speaker settings so the voices come through the headset. With these settings, I'm pretty sure your child will be completely free to play Halo 2 online without the worry of profanity.

  • 10.29.2004 11:41 AM PDT
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1) Profanity - It can be pretty vulgar in there. Depends on the room you get in. My suggestion would be not to let you little 5 year old have a headset. Sure he will miss out on some of the team chat but he is probably better off.

2) Humping - well umm... just tell him the guys are dancing.

3) Clans - you could always start your own and enforce you own rules.

Another suggestion is to simply let people know you have a 5 year old playing and would appreciate them toning down the colorful language. If they refuse go find another game.

If you ever want to hook up for a fun, clean game let me know. I'll be glad to join in on the fun.

[Edited on 10/29/2004 11:47:54 AM]

  • 10.29.2004 11:44 AM PDT
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I'm afraid that Xbox Live isn't the best place for your son to go to. As you said, voices can be turned off, but that doesn't edit the other things. You can ban any player that plays inappropriately, but the fact is that you have to see the other players before you know to ban them.

  • 10.29.2004 11:59 AM PDT
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I think not letting him use the headset and hear the other players chat would pretty much fix the problem... Whatever you do don't ask people to not swear, trust me it just makes it worse.

  • 10.29.2004 12:02 PM PDT
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I wouldn't advise it. It's already bad enough when you hear 10 year olds on the other end telling you to "F" this and "F" that.

Although you might be able to find a few good people who have clean mouths, I think it would be better not to put your son on XBL.

  • 10.29.2004 12:31 PM PDT
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Do you really think that it is a good idea to let a 5 year old kid play a violent game like Halo?

I believe it was Bandura that conducted a study showing that violent media DOES have an effect on younger children. The older they get, the more negligible the results of this study, but at the age of 5, it is possible (and even probable) that he can pick up some violent behavior from the game.

While Halo does not have much blood or gore, it does have violence.

I say all this because I was allowed to view and play violent media at a young age, and I am a violent person. I have gotten into my fair share of trouble due to these violent tendancies.

Even at 17, I've yet to completely grow out of these violent tendancies.


I'm not saying ban him from Halo, just closely monitor his behavior, and remember to give him some negative reinforcement whenever he displays any violent behavior. Sure, all boys will be a little violent, but I would watch it closely if I were you.


And sorry for telling you how to raise your kids, that would piss me off to no end. Just think of it as a psychological rant more than anything else.

  • 10.29.2004 12:43 PM PDT
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Just don't let him use the headset.

  • 10.29.2004 1:10 PM PDT
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No prob, Excommunicado. I certainly expected replies such as this when I posted the topic. I think the kid should be taught to know the difference between real life and media. I wouldn't expect to have an anvil dropped on my head for letting him watch looney tunes, so I don't expect him to be sticking plasma nades to my head when I am not looking. Well, you know what I mean anyway. Monitoring and discussion as you suggested does go a very long way. Your point is well taken and thank you for making an intelligent discussion about it. I wouldn't let him play GTA or something like that, I usually check out things before letting him try them. I won't alienate myself further by saying he has actually been playing since he was 3, but how else am I supposed to raise the future ultimate HALO champ of the world? ;) The fact that his name is THOR is merely a coincidence.

Thanks to everyone for your valuable contributions to this thread, I look forward to any other thoughts on the subject. Let me know if there is any interest in a 'clean' clan or game and maybe I will be the one to start things up. Thanks, Odin MC

  • 10.29.2004 1:10 PM PDT
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www.dpadjunkies.com------------They have a very frinedly community I would recommend them.

  • 10.29.2004 1:24 PM PDT
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That is a great link Liu, thank you very much!

  • 10.29.2004 1:29 PM PDT
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Um, I know a lot of people in my school who just swear without knowing it. Like one of them said son of a -blam!- right to a teachers face (accidentally) and she yelled at him, he didn't even know he said it. It is kinda pathetic. I only swear when it is funny, if I am quoting, or if someone makes me really mad (which isn't easy), but some people out there can't control it. Here's a link to the above page Linky
BTW, what other forums are you currently using? I have heard of someone with a similar name to yours on a different forum. Just wanted to know.

[Edited on 10/29/2004 1:31:56 PM]

  • 10.29.2004 1:30 PM PDT
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Odin MC- I think you are actually making a good decision, exposing him to violence. I'm sure you'll emphasize the importance of the difference between reality and fantasy. Maybe this will actually help him to be an informed and wise kid rather than a media drone.

As another poster said in the latter half of the thread, many people do use profanity without concious knowledge of doing it. For this, I have to blame popular media. Popular media is infested with poor quality content, and this rubs off on the younger populace. If kids didn't see their idols on TV swear and do various other things, they wouldn't be as apt to reproduce such behavior.

I definitely do not think this is the media's fault. I think the parents are responsible for correcty teaching their children how to maintain a pure and untainted mindset, devoid of any influence from people they have never met before.

  • 10.29.2004 1:38 PM PDT
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PhAnToM XE, I know what you mean, I used to cuss like a sailor and still do at times. Having kids really changes your perspective on things. As for the username, I am not on any other gamer forums. I am really not much of a gamer, but for some reason I can't get enough Halo. I am known as Odin on bodybuilding.com, that is the only other forum I usually frequent these days. (BTW, If any skinny/fat guys need help getting in shape let me know.) Figured it was a good name since my boy is named Thor. :)

  • 10.29.2004 1:40 PM PDT
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Excommunicado, I couldn't agree with you more. I feel sorry for the kids who are left to their own devices and can take in everything and interpret it however they like. Popular culture does seem to scrape the bottom of the barrel these days for the most part. You are very intelligent and well spoken for 17 years old, I find that quite refreshing.

  • 10.29.2004 1:49 PM PDT
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Alright, it wasn't you then. But I think the guy i am thinking about said on another forum that he just got an Xbox and has been playing Halo 2 a lot.

  • 10.29.2004 2:08 PM PDT
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Imitation XBL

j00 got pwned, n00b!
-blam!--blam!--blam!--blam!--blam!--blam!--blam!--blam!--blam !--blam!--blam!- I'm gonna -blamming!- kill you, -blam!-

Don't worry, I put the blams in myself. I didn't sware. Promise.

  • 10.29.2004 2:18 PM PDT
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The fact of the matter is, nobody cares anymore. If they cared about your thoughts, would they sware so much, or be such meanies? The answer is obviously no. I'm thirteen and I already know the entire slang dictionary. That's not right.

  • 10.29.2004 2:20 PM PDT
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Posted by: Rabid Gnome
Well, unfortunately there IS a lot of profanity on XBL. I can certainly say that I wouldn't let a 5 year old on there, poor kid. As much as I hate to say it, the XBL community is full of cocky 15 year old kids, who think every 3rd word has to start with F and end with K. There are a lot of good people though, it's just a few ruining it for many. I don't know of any groups for young players, and I don't think there are any. If you do get XBL, I would suggest that you play with him at all times, and you have the headset and the speaker settings so the voices come through the headset. With these settings, I'm pretty sure your child will be completely free to play Halo 2 online without the worry of profanity.

  • 10.29.2004 2:49 PM PDT
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I myself have played video games since I was 5, whether it be violent or not, but it never got to me as my most violent tendencies would be yelling. And I'll be honest I swear alot, but if anyone ever asks me to stop I make sure to stop. I play FFXI and used to swear alot until someone in my LinkShell said they had their 5 year old son watching, so ever since then I've been swearing alot less. I always try to respect people's views on things. It's just too bad that so many people feel they have to be disrespectful little dicks. :/

  • 10.29.2004 3:39 PM PDT
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Posted by: focused7
1) Profanity - It can be pretty vulgar in there. Depends on the room you get in. My suggestion would be not to let you little 5 year old have a headset. Sure he will miss out on some of the team chat but he is probably better off.

2) Humping - well umm... just tell him the guys are dancing.

3) Clans - you could always start your own and enforce you own rules.

Another suggestion is to simply let people know you have a 5 year old playing and would appreciate them toning down the colorful language. If they refuse go find another game.

If you ever want to hook up for a fun, clean game let me know. I'll be glad to join in on the fun.

  • 10.29.2004 3:55 PM PDT
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I rolled my eyes when I saw this.

You let your 5 year old son play a video game where he kills other people, but you don't want him to hear curse words? Or see 'Halo Humping'?

What's wrong with you?

I'm sorry, but you have a screwed up sense of morality. Last time I checked, killing was worse than swearing. And the sex issue... Don't even get me started on that. I really don't know why you think it's so bad for a your son to hear swear words or see 'Halo Humping' when he is killing his opponents.

Anyway... Yeah, there is a lot of swearing on LIVE. That's just how it goes. I, personally, don't start every sentence with and 'f' and a 'k', but I do swear even once and a while. I also do the 'Halo Hump' when I'm celebrating a kill.... But through it all, I tell my self 1) swear words are just, well, words. They don't kill, they don't -blam!-, they don't shoot. They are just words. They mean nothing unless you give them meaning. 2) The thing that passes for 'humping' in Halo is just a mass of polygons moving over another mass of polygons. I'll be sickened when MC actually pulls out a p-e-n-i-s an inserts it into someone's back side, but since that's not goning to happen I don't worry about it. You shouldn't either.

[Edited on 10/29/2004 5:04:58 PM]

  • 10.29.2004 5:03 PM PDT
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THere is a lot of cursing on XBL, I'm not saying I'm not responsible for some of it, but there is. Besides little kids shouldn't play games with that much blood.

  • 10.29.2004 5:22 PM PDT
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yeah i agree with o.mc. I dont enjoy all the cursing.

  • 10.29.2004 5:27 PM PDT
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You know what, I have never quite understood how curse words even got to be so bad. Each of them started off as a regular word that stood for an everday item or and achronim (sp?) for something that was too long to keep on writing over and over again. I mean think about it. The word "damn" refers to well a dam that was used by pot menders back in medieval times. The phrase "I don't give a damn" basically means that you do not care, as a damn was just a bunch of worthless trash that was bundled together and used to keep the hot metal from going all over the place while the "tinker" (as they were called) mended the pot. The word "ass" refers to a donkey. I just still don't understand how people took perfectly innocent words and turned them into something horrible.

[Edited on 10/29/2004 6:11:29 PM]

  • 10.29.2004 6:11 PM PDT

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