Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

What if one day, your child came home from school and told you:

‘Mom, my friend’s friend ever tried raping a girl on GTA!’

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I had that encounter recently, and I tried to keep cool about it.

(read: restrain my shock and keep my tone of voice cool).

Then I asked, ‘Oh … your friend or your friend’s friend tried to do what?’

*calm tone and continued driving*

When I heard the same thing twice, I was like, ”Whattt?’ (in my head)

And I felt this sudden warm rush to my brain.

Sigh.

‘What’s happening to these children?’, I thought.

(My kids and I continued to chat about this during our car ride, and frankly in my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about that child, and how much of his/her mind and heart have been ‘affected’ by what he/she played)

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Players who make use of this mod, CAN in fact do things that the original creator of the game didn’t allow. One of them is rapeI don’t know how much you know about Grand Theft Auto, usually known as ‘GTA V’, but here are two things about GTA V that I’d like to share with you today.

1. Can players of the game ‘rape’ others?

Some gamers would say: NO, YOU CANNOT. You are not able to rape another on GTA.

But then I discovered (do correct me if I’m wrong), hackers do what they love best, and they’ve created ‘mods’ (modifications) where players who make use of this mod, CAN in fact do things that the original creator of the game didn’t allow.

One of them is rape.

Here are two sample sources I found.

http://theconversation.com/virtual-rape-in-grand-theft-auto-5-learning-the-limits-of-the-game-30520

http://www.dailydot.com/geek/grand-theft-auto-rape-mod

2. Another interesting write-up I found was an advice given by an under-aged gamer to another under-aged boy who wanted GTA for Christmas (he needed his mother’s ID to buy the game of the shelf)

This was his advice:

You can go to a strip club and get the dancers to like you so you can have s*x with themLet’s get one thing straight, THERE IS NO RAPE IN GTA 5. There are 2 s*x scenes in the game and you can’t even see the privates. You can pick up prostitutes and pay for s*x but you can’t rape them.

You can go to a strip club and get the dancers to like you so you can have s*x with them but YOU CAN’T RAPE THEM. However you can look at their boobs, but that’s about it.

I recommend you buy the game from Target or Walmart, all they ask your parents for is their ID to buy the game depending where you are from, no questions asked.

Of course it all depends who the cashier is and if they will try to persuade your parents not to buy it or not ( I have never had a walmart or target employee persuade my parents not to buy an M game for me)

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Are then games where there are strip clubs and enactment of s*x scenes okay for our young children? Some people may say, ‘See, there’s no rape in GTA V.’

Well, let’s say that rape is in fact ‘not allowed by the original creator of GTA’. Let’s say there are no mods created by hackers.

Then my question is this:
Are then games where there are strip clubs and enactment of s*x scenes okay for our young children? (since no privates can be seen, right? Only visuals and audio of the s*x scenes, and they’re harmless because they’re all virtual?)

I thought there are good reasons why GTA V is rated 17+?

Anyway.

As I’ve always shared with the kids, what we play, what we watch and hear, all this is like ‘food to our soul, to our mind and our heart’.

If we wouldn’t want to shove rubbish down our throat, why should we do the same to our mind and heart?

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I know some parents who read this post may feel the complete opposite to what I’ve shared.

My child knows what’s right and what’s wrong.

My kids know what’s real and what’s not real.

Gee, it’s just a game! Why are you so serious?

I used to play games like that and I turn out fine!

My son plays with his friends, and I trust him. It’s harmless, he won’t do THOSE things on GTA!

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Well, ultimately, it’s your child. It’s your family. It’s your call.

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But, since this is my blog, I’d like to urge fellow parents to see this as a wake up call.

This is the kind of offers that our children and their friends may get any day, everyday.

(And mind you, GTA V is one of the most popular games played around the world!)

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Let’s be involved in our children’s lives, NOT as a police, but as loving parents who care very much about the childrenParents,

Let’s slow down from our daily busyness and get into our children’s world.

What are their true struggles? What pressures do our children get from their peers? What games do their friends play? What games do they see as ‘fun’?

Do we truly know our children, the magazines they read, the games they play and the kinds of clips they watch on Youtube? (That is, IF they’ve been allowed to surf the internet on their own, on their smartphones, iPad, PC or laptops)

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Food for thought:

Let’s be involved in our children’s lives, NOT as a police, but as loving parents who care very much about the children.

Let’s be in the know of what’s happening in our children’s world.

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We can teach them to choose their friends carefully, but we cannot stop anyone from shoving lewd images and clips in front of their eyesFrankly, this is a strong self-reminder.

I need to pray for my children more fervently.

Because really, we can teach them values and principles, but we cannot watch over them for 24 hours.

We can teach them to be aware of negative influences, but we cannot totally shield them from negativity.

We can teach them to choose their friends carefully, but we cannot stop anyone from shoving lewd images and clips in front of their eyes.

We can’t be there for them all the time, but God can.

And we sure can ask Him to protect our children from harm – physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological harm.

Anything.

May God have mercy on us and on our little ones whom He has entrusted into our hands.

May God help us.