According to this thread I'm a bad parent because I let my kids play violent video games including GTA V. They like to drive the cars and park them and explore buildings and role play. When I was a kid we called it "pretend" play. GTA has some of the best car models of any open-world game. They like Forza too, but they like the unstructured environment of GTA. Because in Forza, you can't get out of a car and walk around. They know what swear words are, and they know not to say swear words in front of an adult or other kids. Even though we all know kids swear in front of each other. And we as parents do not swear in front of our kids. It's about setting and respecting boundaries, and knowing right from wrong.

My kids are fine. They are polite, have many friends, and do well in school.

Even in kid-centric games such as Roblox, which they are also a fan of, people blast explicit rap and create GTA simulators. The only difference is that in Roblox it's a 24/7 deathmatch/greifing session. In my opinion it's way more intense than the single player version of GTA V. But many parents have no problem with Roblox.

We don't encourage violent video games, we just let them find their own interests, and we have discussion about what is real and what is fantasy, and talks about swearing, morality, and violence.

If you shelter a kid their whole life, they might grow up with a skewed vision of reality. In my opinion that does more harm than good, constantly viewing the world through rose-colored glasses.

Remember, there are kids in Afghanistan who are afraid to go outside because of getting mowed down by a drone. But that's their reality. And yet we overreact if we hear a F bomb coming out of their kindle speakers.