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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 2450886" data-attributes="member: 2205">No, not at all.  It's a valid concern, and I could easily see a case being built for either direction on it.  I grew up with a bunch of brothers, and we used to watch all kinds of old swashbuckler and western movies, so we naturally played all kinds of games as very young kids where we "killed" each other and whatnot.  I saw Star Wars when I was five; my sister went with us and was only three, and my next youngest brother was an infant.  We also saw Raiders three years later when it came out; I was 8, my sister 6 and I had brothers who were 3 and 1--watching peoples faces melt off; watching Indie wearily shoot the swordsman guy, etc.I suppose others could argue, but I don't think it had any adverse effect on us; it was always clear that there was a difference between movies and games and real life.But, I wouldn't simply blow off your concern even though my solution would be not to worry about it.  It's a valid question, and only you can decide how you would handle it.  My wife--for a long time--took a much more protective stance.  She didn't like even my older kids to watch "dark" cartoons like Batman Beyond, and was happily keeping him on a diet of Winnie the Pooh and whatnot even when he was starting school.  She's somewhat changed her tune lately; she even recommended that I watch Raiders with the two oldest as a father/kids moment, for example, and she gleefully commiserated with them as they grossed out (in a fun way) about the Nazis faces melting off.I guess how protective and sheltering to be about stuff like that is ultimately up to you; you have to decide when your kids are ready to learn certain things.  As long as you don't go too far and try to keep them from ever being exposed to the world, and thus being woefully unprepared for it, I don't think there's a wrong answer there.  My own preference is to be somewhat less protective; let them learn things, help them learn things, even, while they're still young.Something I learned a long time ago; children need to learn how the world works, and about consequences, and the difference between reality and fiction, etc. sometime, and in many ways, the earlier they learn these things, while the consequences blowing them are small, the better off they are. This is a bit far afield from your original question, but as an example of my attitude, my daughter called home (in kindergarten) in the winter; she had left her shoes at home ('coz she wore snow boots to school.)  My response?  "I'm very sorry.  Tomorrow you better make sure and put them in your backpack."  Many parents would rush shoes to her, but what does she learn from that?  That you've always got her back?  While that sounds admirable, I'd rather her learn to be responsible.  The consequences of a day in kindergarten in snow boots are pretty minor compared to later in life when her job, her marriage, her college education, etc. are the consequences of not having learned responsibility.So, the short answer is; I wouldn't worry about it; I've found that kids are brighter and yes, more responsible and mature in many ways, than most adults give them credit for, if you give them a chance to be.  But ultimately you'll have to decide where to draw the line in terms of sheltering until an appropriate time vs. letting them see "adult life."Anyway, a more formalized description of my attitude can be found here: <a href="http://www.loveandlogic.com/" target="_blank">http://www.loveandlogic.com/</a>  My wife took me to one of their seminars just based on someone's recomendation, and although at first I was skeptical, I quickly found out that they had formalized and codified the way I already though intuitively, and by having it formalized and codified, it was easier to not slip and do things "wrong."  I've been very impressed with the methodology.  Like I said, I was already doing it, mostly, on my own, but the methodology as a formalized style was pretty impressive.</blockquote>

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