He's a Minor!

[Broomjockey]

Anyway this thread reminds me about another thread a couple hacks ago and it wasn's in a store but at movie theatre. I can't remember who wrote it but it was similar situation but instead kid was dropped off at movies and when his mother picked him up she couldn't find him then asked the writer if he did. Anyway she got pissed that they weren't looking for him and well, she did find up. The writer saw them together and realize the boy was only 6 or 7 which shocked pretty much everyone.

Yeah, that was me. The real kicker was the lady telling her kid I didn't care that her little precious was lost.

[Binky]

Classifications in Aus

G: general
PG: Parental guidance
M: Mature audiences (persons over 15 unless supervised by an adult)
MA 15+: Restricted to persons over the ages of 15
R 18+: Restricted to those over the age of 18

[CrazedClerk]

Where I work, The only rating we are supposed to ID for is "M". If a 6 year old wants to buy a Teen rated game, we can do nothing to stop them.

Some parents are hardcore though I once had a parent tell me a game based on "The Incredibles" was too violent for her kid because "you beat people up in it".

Then again I've also seen parents give the OK for their 8 year old to get a Grand Theft Auto game.

Isn't there a happy medium in here somewhere?

[AFpheonix]

Where I work, The only rating we are supposed to ID for is "M". If a 6 year old wants to buy a Teen rated game, we can do nothing to stop them.

Some parents are hardcore though I once had a parent tell me a game based on "The Incredibles" was too violent for her kid because "you beat people up in it".

Heck, I had a Bible stories video game for my original Nintendo where the main character, David, would put some smack down on Philistines with his sling. I'm having a tough time thinking of any game besides tetris where there's no hurting involved.

[jb17kx]

To expand on the Australian classifications listed above:
Rather than following the ESRB ratings given to games in the US (and printed on the packaging thereof), films and games are classified by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. There are 7 classifications for films and 5 for video games.

G: General, not much in the way of anything.
PG: Parental Guidance is recommended for people under the age of 8.
M: Recommended for mature (15+) audiences

The above apply to both films and games, and are advisory classifications. A 6 year old can buy an M-rated game if he is so inclined, or see an M-rated film in the cinema. Games like Battlefield 1942 / 2 get M.

Then we have the RESTRICTED categories, where proof of age is required:
MA: Must be over 15 years.
R: Must be over 18, graphic depictions of violence, drugs, all that.
X: Must be over 18, pornography. Cannot be legally obtained unless in the Australian Capital Territory or Northern Terriotry. That's why Canberra is the porn capital of Australia.
RC: Refused Classification. Cannot be legally screened or obtained. Effectively banned.

One issue, however, is that the R and X categories only apply to films. If a game doesn't meet MA standards, it's automatically RC'ed. GTA went there...

[rdp78]

Yeah, that was me. The real kicker was the lady telling her kid I didn't care that her little precious was lost.

I don't remember that part but yeah sounds familiar and we all had the same reactions as this thread wondering why would she leave a young child alone in a public place. Anyway I guess it doesn't matter where you live there are going to be parents who think it's okay to drop their young children off somewhere and think nothing of it. Then when they come back trying to find them or buy something they don't want them to have they go all balistic and take out on the nearest employee because they were suppose to look after their kid.

I don't know but I think there needs be some test that needs to be taken in order be parent and one of them should be " how old do think it's okay to leave a child alone at a store?".