You’re too young

I recently bought something I shouldn’t have.  Target had a sale on the game, Dance Central.  You mimic the dance moves on the screen and gain points for accuracy.  Needless to say, the dance game I got wasn’t designed for families with young kids.

The game’s music selection has inappropriate language, the girls are immodestly dressed, and many of the dance moves are suggestive.  It’s nothing you wouldn’t expect to see after 8 p.m. on TV.  But I don’t let my kids see things on TV after 8 p.m.  15 minutes of play and the game went back in the case and the kiddos sent to bed.

In all fairness, the game is rated “T” and was produced by MTV.  I should have dug a bit deeper to learn more about the game before I purchased it.  So it’s on me for not having done my homework.

Am I a prude?  Am I sheltering our kids from the world?  Yep…but that’s my job.  I’m not supposed to subject them to things they don’t have the capacity to filter and evaluate.  If they don’t have the building blocks to make a wise choice, then they shouldn’t be making the choice.

As a parent I have to do 2 things: 1) hold back the tide of stuff that they have no business being exposed to, 2) prepare them to navigate the tide of stuff that they will be exposed to some day.  I failed at this with Dance Central.  Fortunately it was easily corrected and we moved on.  The next time I fail, it might not be as easy to move on.