What I saw last night - how young is too young...?

[Denzark]

Last night, I went to my Wargames club I joined recently. Started to set out for a game. Now, this chubby little fella, could have been anywhere between 9 and 13, came over, had a look at the table, and started to ask a few questions about what was what, which I answered politely.

He then gave me the benefit of his wisdom: "You're going to have trouble against those blood angels." Running through a list of options in my head (a bit like the terminator, "f*ck you arsehole" was at the top of the list) I managed to tolerantly say: "Really?"

I then did my best to ignore him and carried on setting out. When he saw my converted defiler, which has a crusher ball (from a ping pong ball) with spikes over it, with out asking he reached out and touched it. So I stare him out and he mumbles some comment about just wanting to see if it is fixed.

He then gets the message and goes off to a table of younger chaps, who I presume he recognises from school, and bugs them, which involves grabbing a land raider off the table and asking how much it costs, spilling a can of pop over some terrain, and proceeding to poke people in the neck with a tape measure extended.


Now, I know be tolerant and bring on the younger players, and all that jazz, but no one was bringing him into line. Personally, I rue the day that citadel miniatures lost their heavy lead content and the warning on the back 'not suitable for persons younger than 14 years'. I admit I was 10 when I discovered White Dwarf many years ago (in the last century) but I certainly never touched any miniatures without asking, and had a helathy respect for my elders beaten into me at school. I also always differentiate between toys, and model kits, hence I always use the term miniatures or models - never 'toy soldiers'.

How young is too young, is youth a good thing or does GW bring in seemingly ever younger generations and dumbing down rules to match affecting us all? Morally should people that young have an interest in a universe where the common denominator between the races is the urge to commit genocide on the others?

[eldargal]

Well its hard to know what is too young. I think it comes back to parenting. If the child has been taught manners and to respect other peoples property then they should be fine. But how often does that happen?

[addamsfamily36]

hmm

even a well brought up child is going to be curious. totally preventing a child from touching your models is going to be tough. Where one adult may be more than happy to let a child pick up any of his models, and then another who is totally against it is going to leave that kid in the middle going



Yes, older kids should know the difference between politeness and stepping boundaries etc, and it sounds like this particular kid is one of the many annoying ones, but not all kids are the same and a well behaved kid might also be curious and pick a model up without permission, are you going to glare at him too? I think its important to realise a disrespectful kid compared to a curious one. the one you described sounds like the first.

Unfortunately the only way to get away from it is not game at private clubs or at a friends house. gone are the days of 16+ gaming nights at local Gw's (well the ones iv'e attended).

[DarkLink]

We have a guy who sometimes brings his kids in, but he makes sure they're polite and don't mess with models without asking and stuff. And when they play, either he's on their team to coach them, or they're playing against each other.

[Lane]

I play at a GW store, I have seen kids as young as 8.

[HsojVvad]

Hmmm... you have a problem with youngins? I have a problem with adults who don't know notihng about how it is to be a kid.

My son was 4 or 5 at the time. He started when he was 3. Of course he won every game we played.

thing is when we went to a GW store, this was the HQ bunker in Canada at the time, he was telling these 20-30 year olds how he never loses and he can beat them. He was being cute. The look on their face was with disugst.

Really I thought. I was about to throttle them in the face but I took my son away and told him he has to be a gracefull winner and looser. How can they be disgusted in a 5 year old having fun?

He sees the older guys talk smack, so he wanted to do it as well. How can anyone over the age of 16 take offence? Kids are kids. Children just want to have fun. The 13 year old should have know better, but a 4 or 5 year old? I thought it was cute what my son did but the adults thought he was crazy.

I think too many adults here take it too serious. Yes I agree you do not touch nothing without asking first.

For the OP to just stare at him, and not say anything and then complain nobody was keeping the 13 year old in line, is partialy his fault. The OP should have said, "Please do not touch my miniatures without asking first please" So for one you were in the wrong for just staring at him instead of putting him in his place by saying that normally people do not touch without asking first. So the OP did 2 things wrong.

You see something that is in the wrong, you can correct it. How will this 13 year old learn anyting if nobody tells him?

[MarneusCalgar]

Well, I have been last time in a GW store about 4 years ago... Just the one beside Real Madrid´s Stadium... And there were only the staff (was on Tuesday, on school time, so I was alone with the red shirts).

But now the independent stores and retailers start having the same problems that GW stores have, even here in Spain the hobby is getting so much younger and you can see childs (like hobbits for my height) running across the store and having no problem in touching your minis even if you don´t let them...

They´ve tried with mines but I never let them touch anything, fortunately.

The problem comes when those little *******s get the bad habit of pick pocketing your minis from your case... Or even from the desk if you are not with an eye on them... It has happened to some of my friends and we are now very more badass when a child comes near our desk, getting to the fact to even stop gaming until the dwarf gets far

[Lerra]

There is a 6-year old girl who comes by the gaming store weekly (accompanied by her father and 9-year old brother). She doesn't play, but she paints (and pretty well, too!). We've never had any problem with them because they are very well behaved and the father is always present to watch over them.

There are a handful of teenagers who could probably use some supervision, though . . . they travel in a pack, and it seems like their collective IQ gets lower as the pack gets larger. They like to talk smack, to the point where they initiate games by going up to a player to tell him that his army sucks and that he is about to get pummeled into the ground. We are slowly shaping them up into proper 40k players, though. The smack talk died down rather quickly after their best player (a Tau player) challenged one of our best players (a mechanized Ork player). The Ork player claimed that he could table the Tau player without ever getting into assault, and he did.

I once played a game with a boy who judged to be roughly 11-12 years old. Later I saw him drive out of the parking lot. Whoops. It turns out that he was 17.

[Denzark]

HsosoosJJjaavaad

I don't have a problem with 'yougins' per se, I act as an adult instructor for a youth group in my spare time. But there is a time and a place. The place may not be recreating murder and death in 28mm scale, in the function rooms of a working mans club, where there is a bar.

I note you call me as partially in the wrong, and do not mention that the parents should have socialised him properly.

I go more with Eldargal as to what happens in a decent society - the parents should either be stopping the behaviour on the spot or engendering decent values.

Believe me, if I remember what it is to be a child, back to my boarding school days, we referred to youngsters as 'Tics' quite appropriate for small blood-sucking parasites. Had I reverted to form I would have givne him a small dose of gratuitous violence - sort of aversion therapy using some heinous torture or other. Actually whilst he was talking politely to me I responded in kind. So I don't think I was out of order at all.

What I am trying to get is not a run down of how one should act in a given situation - I assure you I will consult Debrett's before BoLS - but people's thoughts of the impact of (extreme) youth on our hobby.

[HsojVvad]

HsosoosJJjaavaad

I don't have a problem with 'yougins' per se, I act as an adult instructor for a youth group in my spare time. But there is a time and a place. The place may not be recreating murder and death in 28mm scale, in the function rooms of a working mans club, where there is a bar.

I note you call me as partially in the wrong, and do not mention that the parents should have socialised him properly.

I go more with Eldargal as to what happens in a decent society - the parents should either be stopping the behaviour on the spot or engendering decent values.

Believe me, if I remember what it is to be a child, back to my boarding school days, we referred to youngsters as 'Tics' quite appropriate for small blood-sucking parasites. Had I reverted to form I would have givne him a small dose of gratuitous violence - sort of aversion therapy using some heinous torture or other. Actually whilst he was talking politely to me I responded in kind. So I don't think I was out of order at all.

What I am trying to get is not a run down of how one should act in a given situation - I assure you I will consult Debrett's before BoLS - but people's thoughts of the impact of (extreme) youth on our hobby.

True enough. I see wher eyou are coming from, where the parents just drop their kids off as if it were Day Care. Day Care for young teen agers, is not fun at all.

Yes I do not like when kids just grab everything in site as well. After all you worked hard to model and paint and spent lots of money to buy the mini. You spent lots of time to complete it.

I would wish that since GW wants to get more of a younger crowd into the hobby that GW would put out a set of socially accpeted rules to fallow.

Like: Do not touch without asking, respect one another, and no matter how much you know, do not tell someone that their army is no good or will be beat all the time because of new codex or what not.

Even a half page spread sheet would help in the BRB.