One of the daily 'Apex clips' feeds yesterday showed a five-year-old playing (and streaming) Apex.How do people feel about this? I'm genuinely interestered to know.I would never have allowed my son to have played Apex at five (let alone stream). I didn't allow him to play ANY FPS games until he was twelve (not that he minded as he always prefered Minecraft).

Even 30-40 year old adults often fail to deal with the emotions triggered by this game, it's not hard to imagine how bad it can be for a kid, especially at 5-6 years, when most can barely control their basic feelings.I'm not amazed that some kids can show impressive mechanical skills. It's kind of normal, as children's brains are like sponges for the first few years, absorbing large amounts of information which later becomes the foundation for more complex stuff. This is the same reason why a game like Apex can easily inflict psychological damage on the little ones, with long lasting and serious effects. This game is not good for the little ones at all, there are tons of much better suited things for them to do at that age.Remember, those who grow up with Lego become creative devs, while those who get smartphones as gifts at 2 grow up as spoiled brats, forever crybabies, the Karens 🙂.

@EdwardDLuffy I know. I was just making the point that people and kids can have different experiences. The key in all of them is parental guidance. The issue kids have now that I see is parents dont do it. They depend on schools and online entertainment to do it.

@EdwardDLuffy simply "no". The child should be playing with their lego and being told stories at that age.About 6-7 for Nintendo games, then pokemon/minecraft 8-12, then fortnite/Overwatch 11 up, 13 for apex. But the game time must be specific the child's capabilities, as in how they manage the intensity of concentration and subsequent reactions over an hour or so.Further just playing loads can distract them from their school work during school time, in that schoolwork becomes boring and not as exciting as gaming, and they get excited by thinking about the games and talking to their friends about it too at every opportunity.I think ground rules are necessary and unfettered use is poor parenting, like any addictive thing, these type of games should be moderated by parents.Do homework, do chores, do exercise, eat, then game a bit as a reward along with TV and stories and make and do. Combined with a star chart allows the child the feeling of earning the reward of game time and not taking it for granted.

I'm not impressed by a 5 year old playing, and frankly a 5 year old being streamed to do anything makes me wonder about responsible parenting. There's the video game aspect but then...there's also the question of should you really be putting your kid on YouTube/streaming at age 5?I guess it's less a policing and more a question of what's good parenting? Can't say it should go without at least wondering. Clearly he's way below the maturity rating for the game, can't imagine he has the mechanical skills and he certainly doesn't have the decision making ability of deciding if he wants to be put up for public view. We have kid actors though, the difference being the parents sign to like a million waivers and agreements. Clearly, the internet is not operating with anything even close to the same oversight.Personally, I would never do it. I don't care, it's not impressive, it doesn't do anything in my mind to help the kid. This is a parent using their child for their own benefit to me, and yeah, the kid is going to have a good time doing it. He'd have a good time playing nearly anything at Age 5 though. More than anything, I think it's stupid.

@Koochi-Q Ehh this game offers nothing more then today's cartoons show. All these new kid shows promote violence in some form. Then there are movies they watch which is 100% worse. Cartoon pixels are least of these kids worries when comes to things seen on tv.

Five year old playing Apex? | EA Forums

26 Replies

Zeelmaekers
Hero+
5 years ago
I think you nail it, he shouldn't be playing apex/streaming.
Around 12/16 is a perfect age to start to play fps games like apex and overwatch.
Koochi-Q
5 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy Parenting at it’s best. Just the same with that 5 or 6 year old who wants to join FaZe playing CoD game and lied as a publicity stunt on his parent’s request...

Thats parenting nowadays.
E9ine_AC
Hero+
5 years ago
@Zeelmaekers Ehh go watch Hal or Toosh video with Choopi. He is 9 he is very very good at the game as Hal even invites him to play. He is young but with in minutes of him streaming with Hal he had thousands upon thousands of followers and subs.

Kids playing there is nothing wrong with it imo. Everyone deserves to have fun. Only thing id say is bad for them is fellow players who have no respect whats so ever and just say anything to anyone. It is not the little ones fault that adults cant act their ages.

I am all for it but also warn there are childish adults on this game.
hayhor
Hero
5 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy Too young to me but it depends on the game. My son is 12 now and has been playing sw battlefront 2 since he was 10 or so. That game is a bit different tho. You cant hear teammates by default and it is star wars.

There is a kid that RagTagg plays with sometimes. Lucaplays or something. He is 7 now but was 6 the first time I saw him. Pretty darn good. His dad coaches him as he plays which is good.
Koochi-Q
5 years ago
@E9ine_AC We finally disagree on something! ;D

I’m a firm believer of let kids be kids, but there are guidelines for a reason. We know games aren’t the main denominator for violence and such but they contribute to it. Letting a 9 year old play a 16/18+ games just because they’re good makes no sense for me as it exposes them to violence and realism they’d not see in their age-appropriate content.

Heck, intercourse consent and pw0rn watching is 18 in most parts of the world. Nowadays 9 year olds watching and doing it without any mind for what they’re doing or even understanding it fully... what does that lead to? A discrepancy between love making and sex... along with the rap young’uns listen to and it’s basically a common thing nowadays for teenage pregnancies to occur... Well at least where I live xD.

Like Eric Cartman sings “In the ghetto, in the ghetto” xD
E9ine_AC
Hero+
5 years ago
@Koochi-Q Ehh this game offers nothing more then today's cartoons show. All these new kid shows promote violence in some form. Then there are movies they watch which is 100% worse. Cartoon pixels are least of these kids worries when comes to things seen on tv.
EdwardDLuffy
5 years ago
TBH I am thankful I was a child when I was a child.
One of the people I play with on a semi-regular basis is eleven. Last night he was in tears ... literally crying ... because in two games in a row he was pounced on by a full squad on drop and eradicated. Children this young do not have the emotional capacity to cope with the emotions Apex can produce.
EdwardDLuffy
5 years ago
I also do not like playing with children as when I do 'parent mode' kicks in and I spend more time making sure they are okay than I do concentrating on my own game. If they go down and I hear 'help!' in a squeaky voice I can't help but running over.
DarthValtrex
Hero (Retired)
5 years ago
@EdwardDLuffy I don't know, if I had kids I probably would not let them play games of violence until about 12 or so. I think the first semi violent game I played was probably the original diablo in the early 90's. I was probably in 5th-6th grade.

The first FPS I played was Golden Eye back in what was that 95-96ish. Most kids in my generation played those games. We turned out alright! haha

I definitely won't let my kids have free access to the internet or streaming until they are adults. I have bumped into some really weird people on the internet to say the least, people with anger issues or who are just abusive. Adults can handle that and write it off as someone who has problems, but that kind of thing can huge impacts on kids self esteem development and so on. That would be my major concern. I game with my nephew from time to time but it's in private lobbies with locked parties.
E9ine_AC
Hero+
5 years ago
@EdwardDLuffyPshh choopi would carry you. =P He carried hal for few games lmfao till hal was like eff this try hard time