Why parents (specially desi parents) are so ignorant about what their kids are playing and watching?
I can start with my own parents. When I was a kid (around 7-8 yo), my mom took me to a movie in Pakistan in which hero (nadeem) was stabbed with the knife. I literally can not take that scene out of my mind even today. Its stuck in my mind and it used to give me nightmares. I never told that to my parents even when I was kid but whenever I saw someone wearing brown leather jacket (Nadeem was wearing that), I used to get scared. I can perhaps assume that parents in that era were not enlightened that much and did not have resources.
Fast forward to 2014. With all the resources available (rating and reviews on internet, articles about how it effects kids), parents still do this. Today I met a guy who has bought his son (10yo) a game that is 16+ with blood, language, violence and nudity. My son asked me to buy it for him but when read the reviews those were horrible.
I have also seen little kids watching those movies, dramas, and news that they should not be watching.
Is is appropriate to actually talk to those parents directly about this? how well will u receive this if someone talk to you about it?
In pak still parents dont care about violance. Duri my recent trip to pak my 11 years cousin went with her class to watch movie ‘waar’. Few weeks later when I went to watch the movie, several mothers with their young kids some even 5 or 6 were watching too. I was in shock. Maybe because too much violance in Pakistan has caused people not to avoid such things in pak.
Indian movies are m15 plus or even R rated in Australia (saw ratings on aus tv) bt its normal for kids to watch in pak.
I’m very strict/vigilant about the games and TV shows my kids are exposed to. I have a cousin whose son is the same age as my boys, and he routinely comes over/sleeps over. A few times he’s brought over questionable/adult content xbox games (he’s 9 yrs old) and I’ve confiscated them. When I asked my cousin to not send those games to our house, he and his wife were like “haaan sahi bolrahi ho, hummay dhehaan nahin diyaa ke kya khelraha hai” errrr okay…you shelled out $45-$50 each on multiple games without paying attention to the game rating or bothering to find out what the content was?
My boys also spend a lot of time at their taiya’s house where their cousins are highschool/college age and I have specifically asked them to make sure my boys do not play the games they are or watch R rated movies unless I have approved it based on content.
When it comes to stuff like that, and what my kids may be potentially exposed to, I have no problem speaking up to the other parents/friends/family members.
I wish I could be more strict in this matter. Some of my nephews and younger cousins play some of these weird games and I know that when my 6 year old is with them - there’s a big chance he’s getting exposed to them as well. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to be that interested for now but I’ve no idea how to handle it once he shows interest
Its wrong, but its similar in nature to how western parents have a relatively lax attitude towards kissing and hugging. Goras go gaga when their 4 year old boy kisses his 3 year old girlfriend on the lips. Stuff like that also leads to future behavioral problems. We all have our vices. You are right about desis and their lax approach towards keeping their kids away from violent movies and games.
