Prince of Persia Scares Bus-riding Child

[iLikeMyiMac]

Video game ad angers mother

An advertisement for a video game displayed in Transit Windsor buses is being removed after a Windsor woman complained her four-year-old son was too afraid to ride.
"It's about time," Collette Clairmont said Tuesday when she heard the signs were coming down. "I am shocked something like that is even on the bus."
Since October, Clairmont's son, Tristan, has refused to ride buses displaying the ad for a Nintendo GameCube game Prince of Persia because he was too scared....."It is sending the wrong message to kids," said Clairmont. "I don't even let my kids have a butter knife." Rest of Story

I wonder how those kids will turn out later in life with a mother like that.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

But there's always the other side of the coin - remember that 3 year old child who died choking on popcorn story? They were at the movies watching Alien vs. Predator....

Its a tough call, boiling down to the fact that you're never going to be able to please everyone. That and regardless of what you do there's always an exception to every rule/thing/event.

D

 

[iLikeMyiMac]

Yes I remember the story about the 3 yr old who choked on popcorn.
I still think that she is oversheltering her kid.
I'm also still wondering why they gave the prince a gun. I don't remember a gun in that game when I played it.

 

[jsw]

"And they wonder why our jails are full and where these kids get these ideas from."

Yup. Were it not for the intervention of friends, I might have gone to prison myself. My habit of running around half-naked with a sword in my hand nearly got the best of me. I would never have done it had I not seen it in a poster. Then there was the self-mutilation caused by the Inspector Gadget movie posters. Now, I'm better. Only problem is the messiness prompted by the "Got Milk?" ads.

 

[emw]

Yes I remember the story about the 3 yr old who choked on popcorn. But I don't think watching the Alien vs Predator movie caused it. The kid could have been watching YU-GI-OH!: The Movie thats out right now and still choked.
I still think that she is oversheltering her kid.
I'm also still wondering why they gave the prince a gun. I don't remember a gun in that game when I played it.

I think Mr. Anderson's point was that in the choking story you had a parent bringing a 3 year old to Alien vs. Predator, and in the link above you've got a mother of a 4 year old who thinks Prince of Persia posters are too violent. Too different views of what's appropriate for young children.

 

[emw]

My habit of running around half-naked with a sword in my hand nearly got the best of me.

Thanks for that mental image, jsw.

 

[rainman::|:|]

i'm sorry, she was overreacting. Some children find 10 things a day to be terrified by. What she *should* be teaching the child to fear is the type of person that would make an entire bus line bow to the whims of her 4-year old.

If I had pulled this kind of tantrum when i was 4, my mom would have simply told me, as soon as I can start paying for a cab, we don't have to take the bus.

paul

 

[Apple Hobo]

I don't even let my kids have a butter knife.

That's just sad.

This kid will grow up to be a soft, pu**y-whipped momma's boy who will get beat up on a daily basis. Then if he ever gets married to a woman like his mommy, he'll breed little kids who are softy wimps, thus the cycle continues.

And Prince of Persia kicks ass. I used play the 1989-1993 version on the old LC IIIs or Performas. Actually, PoP was kinda violent. Your guy could fall off the platforms and get impaled by large spikes that pop up from the ground. Then you have to hack people to death with large swords.

 

[homerjward]

i hate my overprotective parents...but at least they dont b!tch to the bus company until they change the ad for the candy-@ss video game that actually is not very violent compared to many other t-rated games.

 

[BrianKonarsMac]

my dad would have beat me for being such a pansy, then lock me in a room with freddy kruger on the tv after telling me to grow a pair.

her children are going to have serious issues in life.

and to the guy who asked about a gun in the ad...wtf are u smoking? there is no gun anywhere.

okay apparently they do mention a gun...PoP has no guns, i'm assuming it was an add for another game (ratchet & clank or something) and they just lumped the characters together because they didn't know the difference.

it could be an add for PoP 2...but that doesn't have gun's either....those crazy news people, always adding their own info.

 

[jsw]

and to the guy who asked about a gun in the ad...wtf are u smoking? there is no gun anywhere.

"If it's on there, he's off," said Clairmont, adding it has been difficult to deal with because the bus is their primary mode of transit.

She called Transit Windsor seven times to complain about the ad.

The ad features a bloodied, sinister-looking man holding a machete-like sword in an attack position. A similar ad features him holding a gun.

 

[wdlove]

It is important for a parent to monitor a child. Many times a child reacts to something after seeing how the mother reacts. If she had ignored the situation, chances are the child would have. She should have discussed the situation with the child at his level.

 

[applemacdude]

OMG, this is why the world is ****ed up...

 

[virividox]

well i think ads that may be scary or offensive should be screened first before being displayed on public places; unlike movies where someone has to take the kid to the place on purpose

 

[stcanard]

As a father myself, I would say that that severe a reaction to a relatively innocent poster is a symptom of the kid being shielded from "real life" (as evidenced by her comment that she won't even let him have a butter knife).

Kids need to be educated, not hidden away from things. He will in his life see things that will scare and disgust him, and a parent's responsibility is to talk to him about it, educate him, rather than hide him away.

Obviously there are limits, it has to be filtered by what the kid is ready for (I won't show my 8 year old Resevoir Dogs, and we will rent AVP so it can be paused or turned off if it gets too intense), but this really seems extreme...

 

[emw]

For those of you paying attention, you'll notice that one of the kids is wearing a Batman t-shirt. Last I checked, Batman was not one of the more "kid-friendly" superheros (especially in newer animated versions).

But I guess a masked crusader using violence to fight evil is okay...

 

[BrianKonarsMac]

Kids need to be educated, not hidden away from things. He will in his life see things that will scare and disgust him, and a parent's responsibility is to talk to him about it, educate him, rather than hide him away.

what is this!? sound parenting!? i could have sworn this was no longer socially acceptable.

kudos to you for being an actual parent, and not just a father.

 

[IndyGopher]

As a father myself, I would say that that severe a reaction to a relatively innocent poster is a symptom of the kid being shielded from "real life" (as evidenced by her comment that she won't even let him have a butter knife).

Kids need to be educated, not hidden away from things. He will in his life see things that will scare and disgust him, and a parent's responsibility is to talk to him about it, educate him, rather than hide him away.

Obviously there are limits, it has to be filtered by what the kid is ready for (I won't show my 8 year old Resevoir Dogs, and we will rent AVP so it can be paused or turned off if it gets too intense), but this really seems extreme...

Amen. I am the stepfather of a 10-year old boy who was raised by an over-protective mother, and a neurotically over-protective, paranoid grandmother. It is a LOT of work trying to acclimate this child to the real world. On the one hand I have to avoid totally invalidating everything the boy has been told, and at the same time get him to understand that fear of pretty much everything is not an acceptable mindset.

It helps a lot that the child is smart as a whip, so I can explain the reasoning of why some of what he was taught was taught to him, and he's good hearted enough not to blame his mother too much for being over-protective... Even without my presence and influence he was starting to see that other children didn't have the hangups and fears he did, and it was terribly frustrating for him. While some of the other comments in the thread might be overstated (and definitely oversimplified) they are not entirely without merit. He has issues, and working through them has taken a couple years so far, and will doubtless take several more. Luckily both he and his mother WANT to overcome the issues (she has several of her own, owing again to the grandmother, her mother) So more than many, if not most, I take this story seriously. That woman in the article is harming her child in a very real, very quantifiable way.

 

[crachoar]

I don't see what a 3yr. old choking on popcorn has to do with this (other than poor parenting)...but you know, they make puffed 'popcorn' without husks. It melts in your mouth and is generally, preferred for children so they don't choke! Wee! It actually tastes better than normal popcorn I think.

As for this story? I think we should get all of the idiots like this woman and send them into the sun so that humanity can be purged of stupidity...

Maybe after that, we can all enjoy our 'violent video games/music/movies' without psychotic parents and 'quick to blame' analysts blaming our entertainment instead of their poor parenting skills.

Seriously, who honestly thinks that our jails are filled with kids that 'get ideas' from video games?

That sounds like a Dave Chappelle sketch in the making...

You know that when that kid grows up, hangs out with some normal kids and looks back on this...he's going to say, "Man...I was such a douche.", as he plays Duke Nukem Forever...

And PoP games do not have guns. I imagine that the journalist is just lazy/dumb.

As for the "Batman" thing, Rossie O'Donnell is the same way. Her son adores Batman so she loved it too, despite her big 'anti-violent entertainment because it turns our children into criminals!' stance. So it's ok for her little boy to dress up as Batman and pretend to fight bad guys/watch the show/play the games, but it's bad for him (and apparently, any other kid) to dress up as anything else/watch anything else/play anything else? Oh, that makes sense.

Maybe one of these days, people with common sense will just declare war on idiots like this and just shoot them in the face instead of trying to debate with them anymore (I hope)...

"I think the entire world should be censored so my little boy doesn't grow up to be a criminal. If he's not allowed to see or play 'violent' video games, your children shouldn't be allowed to either! I'm the all-knowing 20-something mom! I should be president! Government regulations and (good) television should raise our children!"-Idiot Mom

"Why don't you just teach your child the difference between reality and make-believe and maybe.....wait, you know what? This is pointless..."-Normal Citizen

*BANG*

"You're under arrest!"-Cop

"Wait officer, I can explain! It was one of those 20-something 'know-it-all' moms that wants to censor everything so her child can grow up to be a depressed ninny-boy..."-Normal Citizen

"Oh...in that case you deserve a medal! Want to go get a sub?"-Cop

"Sure!"-Normal Citizen

 

[Ugg]

It is important for a parent to monitor a child. Many times a child reacts to something after seeing how the mother reacts. If she had ignored the situation, chances are the child would have. She should have discussed the situation with the child at his level.

I couldn't agree with you more. Children learn the majority of their neuroses through their parents.

I absolutely despise the movement to sterilize what's available to children. Sherlock Holmes, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island were my favorites growing up and although terror wasn't primary to the story it was always there in the background. Admittedly, reading a book is different that seeing blood dripping from a sword on a life-sized advertisement but being scared and being able to conquer our fears is an integral aspect of growing up.

 

[emw]

Admittedly, reading a book is different that seeing blood dripping from a sword on a life-sized advertisement but being scared and being able to conquer our fears is an integral aspect of growing up.

Agreed. We need to spend less time protecting our children from entertainment and more time developing them into people who know the difference between fantasy and reality, and how to deal with that reality.

I suppose these kids can't watch Road Runner cartoons either...

 

[stcanard]

I suppose these kids can't watch Road Runner cartoons either...

I know this was intended as a joke, but did you know that the networks have been editing sex and violence out of Road Runner / Bugs Bunny cartoons for years now?

I kid you not...

 

[pyrotoaster]

That woman was completely overreacting!
Did she ever maybe (just maybe) think of turning to her frightened son and saying "it's okay, honey. It's just a silly picture, it can't do anything to you. It's just there to be a silly picture." ?

What's this woman's idea of parenting if she decides that complaining to the city is a better course of action than helping her child overcome his fears?

 

[jsw]

I know this was intended as a joke, but did you know that the networks have been editing sex and violence out of Road Runner / Bugs Bunny cartoons for years now?

I kid you not...

So that's why I never see Road Runner cartoons anymore? They must have been edited down to nothing....

 

[iLikeMyiMac]

So that's why I never see Road Runner cartoons anymore? They must have been edited down to nothing....

I know they stopped showing the Speede Gonzalize (sp?) cartoons because they thaught it was offending to mexicans.