X-BOX live - should I be worried?

[spider1]

Your child is 13!! get him a tv for his bedroom and let him play on his xbox in there without you looking over his shoulder 24/7. All of his friends from school will be on xbox live and its a great way for him to make better friends with them all. There is a lot of swearing etc but at the age of 13 you child will hear all of that at school anyway.

 

Your not helping your childs social life one bit, im sure almost ALL of his friends from school have tv's in their bedroom and they dont have to run everything past their mums before they can do it. Let him have some freedom and he will enjoy life alot more. Im sure you dont want your child to be the one at school who everyone knows isnt aloud to have a tv in his room so his mum knows what hes watching and isnt alout xbox live because he'll be talking to strangers.

 

I know all this might sound harsh but its just a reality check, he's your son and hes not that old yet but hes a teenager and needs you to allow him to grow up insted of holding him back.

I AGREE WITH ABOVE ITS A MODERN WORLD GET USED TO IT ALL HIS SCHOOL MATES ARE DOING IT

[some guy]

Well I'd keep an ear out for what he's saying and what other people are saying to him. There is a setting which allows the voices of the people on the other end to be played out loud.

 

I find with a lot of young teenage boys on Xbox Live, some of the language they use is absolutely revolting. Especially in games like Call of Duty, they're always swearing at each other and delivering other vile forms of verbal abuse to one-another.

[Karis]

Again, all of the worrying comments here can be remedied with some decent hard facts and a liberal dose of education.

 

All my friends express ad infinitum the importance of being careful around strangers, and, as soon as they are able, they explain the dangers of strangers, so they know what to look for and how to react to it.

 

I think, with some careful education, kids even as young as 8 or 9 are fully aware of the dangers and are in a position to make up their own minds

[MC Spyda]

As for those that say, let him take it upstairs into the privacy of his own bedroom, clearly they don't have children and/or aren't mature enough to understand your concerns.

 

Definitely disagree with this. Every child is different and as a parent, you should know if your child is mature, sensible and trustworthy enough to be allowed to have the Xbox in the privacy of their room, regardless of age.

[Dozy]

Thanks for all the advice. i'll look at the settings business tonight, and I'll rush down to Comet and get him a 50"TV for his room......no, maybe not.

 

 

Well done you for seeking advice on something you're not clear about. And for not allowing your child a TV in his bedroom, ignore the rubbish about how he should have one because all the other kids do, or the sarky and unhelpful comments.

 

You're a caring parent, you are entitled to make the rules regarding where your child plays with his Xbox and for how long and what games he plays. It's a pity there aren't more like you about!

[Suffragette1]

We don't have XBox Live but we do have a PS3 and my son does sometimes game online with his friends, but only with people he knows. I hate all these games consoles, it's all that some of his friends do. And when they're not on a console, they're glued to some PC game or other.

 

We don't have headphones though and I don't think that I would allow him to wear them whilst playing nor do either of my kids have TV in their rooms, espcially not a games console nor laptop. All these items are in communal living areas.