Featured Image Credit: Activision and Rockstar Games
Topics: Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Call Of Duty
Toxicity isn’t anything new to online gaming, as I’m sure most of us are aware of the infamous era of screaming obscenities down the microphone during Call Of Duty matches, whether you were part of it or just observed. This has moved from the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3, to the Xbox One/PS4 and is still prevalent on Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.
Alarmingly though, the majority of toxicity thrown around online lobbies is coming from children, who tend to be the most vocal when it comes to expressing rage and throwing around slurs. It’s no secret that kids can be pretty irresponsible on games nowadays, whether it’s paying for Roblox currency with their mother’s debit card, or screaming at a loss on Fortnite or Overwatch.
Now though, it seems gamers have had enough, and are urging parents to be more mindful of what their child is saying and doing online. Reddit user OofDabOofing shared a post titled: “Unpopular opinion, I personally believe that some parents should monitor their kids online behaviour during video games.”
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The post talked about children in online games like Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Grand Theft Auto “constantly swearing and raging” as well as frequently using racial slurs. The user went on to say: “I just wish that some parents did a better job. You're not a good parent if you hand your kid a controller and a headset and let them have free reign on whatever game you're allowing them to play.
“I don't want to hear your CHILD constantly screaming over a game I'm trying to play to relax lol.”
Other gamers agreed that parents need to take more responsibility for their children’s online activity, monitoring their behaviour instead of letting them do whatever they want.
“It probably doesn't need to be a constant thing, but a good parent should definitely keep tabs on how their kids act online from time to time.”
“Parent here, my kid doesn't get to do anything on the internet that isn't locked down or supervised. Parents have to do a better job with their kids. As a huge gamer, if I heard my son talking like that. He'd never play online till he was like 17.”
“I let my kids play online games but disable voice chat. They aren’t allowed to have a microphone. I especially like that switch doesn’t have any voice chat without the use of a phone”
Luckily, there is more being done to limit the amount of toxicity in online games, aside from simply turning off the voice chat. Many online games and studios are looking at ways to punish players who are overly toxic during online play, whether it be screaming down the mic or intentionally griefing other players.
There’s no guarantee that things are going to get better, but one thing is certain, it can’t get much worse than nine-year olds saying some of the worst slurs imaginable because they lost their Fortnite match.