Xbox live - what age??

[Beanbabe]

My ds who was nine last month is asking for xbox live. Now if I'm honest I'm not really sure how the whole thing works but I do know I'm cautious about letting him have it.

He really only wants it so his friends can play in his minecraft world. I don't think that would satisfy him for long tho.

So I'm wondering
Do any of your kids have it?
What age is too young?
How do you control the content they see/hear. I've heard my cousin on his and the language leaves a lot to be desired IMO!

 

[Wriggley]

my OH uses XBOX live it depends what hes using it for... and if hes using headphones.

if hes just playing with his friends then yeah its okay but its very easy to get into public games with random people and if he uses headphones its very likely he will hear a lot of bad language

my OH will open play a game and if he wins the losses tend to send abusive messages.

IMO its not really suitable for a 9 year old...

edit: even if he dont use headphones their voices come straight through the tv speakers... but i THINK this can be turned off

 

[Foogirl]

I know nothing about it, but I assume it will have some kind of parental control system on it. Is it possible to restrict who he can play with? I guess there is also some parental responsibility aspect of it too, let him play only in an area where you can hear what's going on. If he really wants to use it to play with his friends, I can see no issue with it, but if there is a risk he will be exposed to inappropriate content, make it so you can see what he is doing.

A cursory search led me to this https://www.yahoo.com/tech/five-reasons-parents-need-to-stop-worrying-and-learn-to-83359212475.html. It gives advice how to restrict the game to family friendly servers.

 

[MummyMana]

Again I don't know anything about it, but I've seen people playing on it before and I believe they can but games on it, I'd checking make sure he can't buy a load of stuff and it be charged to your account...

 

[Beanbabe]

Thanks girls 😃 I wish kids were kids for longer - my ds1 cannot wait to be a teenager. He thinks life is cool when you are a teen - he has a lot to learn 😛

 

[Eve]

My son has a PS3 in his room (just let him have it in there a few weeks ago) and he is turning 12 next month. He loves playing his games online, but I have settings on there that are password protected so he cannot change them. He isn't able to send or receive PM's, people can't add him as a friend etc... as I do not know who he could be talking to. We are buying him a headset this year for Christmas but he will be monitored with it. I am not too sure about xbox settings, but if they are like the PS3 ones, I wouldn't worry too much at 9 as long as he is monitored well

 

[tjayne07]

My ds is 11 and we have xbox live...we didnt get it specifically for him as my dh uses it for his games.... but my ds uses it to play minecraft with his friends. If he doesnt use headphones you can mute players if your not happy with their language