Guest Blog: Language in Video Games, from Lindsay Blogs

As you MIGHT have noticed, I've been writing a lot lately about video games.  If you aren't into video games feel free to skip over all those posts but they are relevant to my family and lots of other families so I enjoy sharing.   Thus far we've only had family friendly games in our house so I haven't really seen what the 'Rated M' games are like these days, but friend Lindsay has and she is here to share some thoughts on that with my readers.  Please be sure to leave her some comment love here and stop by her blog too!

I'm a closet gamer mom. I'm not into the hardcore gaming anymore like I used to be, but I still enjoy the occasion zombie-blasting and black ops mission. 

I'm also a pretty lax mom when it comes to certain things. For example, I don't mind my kids watching me blast zombies because I can explain to them that they aren't real and, honestly, they don't even look real in the game, so they're not freaked out by it. They are more likely to cheer me on than they are to cry in horror or fear. So, I will allow them to watch video games and sometimes even try them out. The stuff on the screen doesn't bug me all that much. 

What does bug me is what's coming out of the speakers. The constant foul and all-around nasty language coming out of a game is completely unnecessary and is not something I will allow my children to hear. Why is every other word in Left 4 Dead 2 a curse word? Why does Battlefield 3 need the f-bomb to narrate the game? 

My children copy way too much for me to allow that in their brainwaves! I pride myself on sheltering my children from the language of the world. I know I can't shelter them from the news and the inherent violence that runs rampant in our society today. However, I'm pretty confident that "butthole" is the worst thing they've ever heard me say. They watch Sprout and Nick Jr when the TV is on and maybe the occasion cooking show on Food Network. They don't watch dramas or comedies or anything that I might watch after their bedtime because the language is simply not something I want them exposed to. 

Why then - on a game that is clearly meant for entertainment and not solely for adults - is cursing running rampant on my Xbox? Why is there not an option on many of these games to disable this language? It seems like it should be common practice to allow this "feature" to be turned on and off, like a parental control, but apparently I am alone in this belief. 

I guess that I will just have to save my zombie killing for late nights and make sure the games I choose to play at any other time are kid-friendly or have a language setting. 

Oh, the plight of a gamer mom!

Lindsay is the blogger being Lindsay Blogs where she writes about life, reviews and giveaways. A self-professed Social Media Junkie, she refuses to grow up completely and will probably stay 23 forever (believe me, that's long gone). She is the wife to one amazing man and the mom to two beautiful little girls and two furry little pups. Her world is crazy and she loves every last bit of it.