@Douglasac said:
Later that shift, a kid of no more than five or six years old comes up with what I assume is his father and pays for, from his own wallet, MW2 and a Nerf gun. I cannot decline the sale because, technically, nothing illegal is taking place: the M15+ restriction only states that if someone under the age of 15 attempts to purchase a video game and has a parent\guardian present it is allowed. I rang it up, a bit dumbfounded that a Father would let his son play such a video game. I didn't want to cause any issues so I didn't say anything (later when I told my manager about this and asked if there was anything we could do, he said that it was fine if we pointed out that it was an M15+ game and were they aware of that). If there were an R18+ classification for video games (which I believe is a Very Good Idea and support completely), and MW2 were in this classification, then this sale would not have allowed because R18+ items can only be sold to someone who is 18 or older, even if they have a parent with them.
I honestly don't see any problem with that story. The game was M15+ restricted, so the kid couldn't have bought it without knowledge of their parents. You were also perfectly allowed to ask the father if he really knew what he was doing there. The whole rest is, pardon, not your fucking problem. If that father apparently had reasons to think that MW2 is ok for his six year old son, then it's his own responsibillity.
Also, do you think if games like that were banned for minors, no ifs, no buts, the minors would magically forget about them? Kids have plenty of opportunities to come in contact with "dangerous" media, via the older borther of a friend, via talk on the schoolyard, via the wonders of the internet, and so on. But apparently at least that kid told his dad about that strange game it has heard so much about - who knows, the dad might plan to play together with him, so he can discuss the game and provide a bit of context and knowledge on how to use the media, instead of just letting the school yard do that job.
Of course there are lots of irresponsible parents, and, yeah, more realistically that dad was probably one of them. And I'm not even objecting that the state restricts how parents educate their children in certain aspects. But ratings systems and censorship laws aren't the place for that.