“You stupid ni$$a! You suck fa$$ot balls noob! Go back to picking cotton you dumb ni$$a!”
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people while playing Halo on X-box Live screaming these kinds of words and racial slurs. Some times I ignore it, some times I press the recently added mute button, and some times I can’t help but tell them how much of an idiot they are. The last resort is one that I know leads to nowhere as the people who are using this language have no intent to stop, but only to disrupt and destroy our gaming experience. Some people may tell me to just stop playing. Well, if that was the attitude we took towards racism then we would not have a black president today, and I would not be allowed to date my wonderful girlfriend. So you can cancel that idea…
Most of the time it sounds like white children that are being the most vulgar and that is kind of expected. The American white man does not feel the pain of racial slurs nearly as much as minorities. I would never spit the words “cracker” or “honky” back through the mic as I hate it when people of my race stoop to that level, but if I did these kids would not feel the same hurt. That is why they do it. They know this and whatever you say back to them just rolls off. I really feel bad for these kids because I know they have not been raised the right way. Really makes me appreciate my parents for being very open about race relations and even encouraging me to have more white friends at one point because that is the REAL world.
Last Christmas I bought my 11 year old nephew an Xbox and a subscription to Xbox Live in hopes that we would be able to better stay in touch by playing Halo together on the weekends. I set up his Xbox so that he could not purchase any premium content, and also that he could not hear any voice communications over Xbox Live. After setting this all up I gave the password for the account to his mother. After returning to Oregon and spending some time on Xbox with him it was seeming like a good idea. Then one morning I get an email saying that $62.50 had been charged to my card for Xbox Live. I immediately emailed my nephew’s mother to let her know. Before getting a response that week I received another email stating that another $62.50 had been charged to my account. A little pissed I then went in and changed all the passwords on the account so that my nephew would not be able to do this again. When I talked to him about it he admitted that he had gotten the password off his mother’s computer and used it. When he did this he set up all voice communication again so that he could hear everything that was being said over xbox live. The one thing I really did not want him to do even more than spending my money.
My brother is now regretting the purchase of the box because he thinks he is too young. That slightly upset me because I initially set up the Xbox so that is had all of the parental locks in place to keep him from being exposed to adult content. The lack of proper password security is what allowed my nephew to override these controls. Just like your online banking. It is never safe if your password is not.
I know how kids are and at his age I might have done the same thing. We as parents have to know that with these new technologies comes dangers, but we also have to know how to use them to control these dangers. I really wish parents would pay more attention to the games they buy their kids. It’s not only about what they hear, but also about how they act with such anonymous power. If I ever heard my nephew was acting like some of the other 11 year old children that get online he would never have a video game again until he is 18.
I have been playing video games since I was 6 years old on the Commodore 64 and make it a point to buy each new generation system as they come out. It will always be a part of my life as early on I once thought I would actually be making video games. Life twists and turns in ways unimaginable so I am yet to bring that dream into reality, but I still have a very deep love for video games and technology in general. In 2003 I started playing Halo and have been hooked on the game ever since. For people that don’t follow video games and gaming technology it is hard for them to understand how much time and effort goes into making these games. Microsoft has given parents the ability to control the experience, but it is up to you to spend some time learning how to set up these controls. Video games are now being made for adults. It’s not just child’s play anymore so pay attention to what your kids are playing and SAYING online.