Ok so think about this for a minute. The sims franchise has always had this air of innocense and been suger coated (which I personally like
); however to say that future game content or development should be moderated to suite kids who are under the age rating is like saying GTA (Grand Theft Auto) should be toned down because of kids who might play it.
Now don't get me wrong I'm all for protecting the kids; but the fact is you can only do so much. Lets say for example that we had two versions of the sims 2 they are basically the same game; only one is suitable for kids and the other has some more mature content making it suiteable for teens/adults. Now idealisticly the kids would play the game suitable for them and the teens/adults would play the other one. But in reality if kids thought that the teen/adults version of the game was better then they'd probably play that. At the end of the day if a kid wants to play a game they like or think looks good then they will; regardless of the age rating (I know I did
)
At the end of the day it's up to the parents of the kid(S) what they let there children play and where they draw the line. The thing to remember is that parents can only monitor and restrict what their child plays to a certain extent; they can't be with them 24-7. Kids can play games at their friend's house that their own parents wouldn't allow. Or they could borrow a game from a friend without their parents knowing.
The fact is that we can only moderate and change the sims so much; until it stops being the sims and becomes something entirely different. Which in the end would probably result in teens/adults losing interest in the game and stop playing it. I am by no means blaming kids for this (I mean come on blame them for what; liking a game!)
If you look at other games out there and then take a look at the sims franchise; you'll quickly realise that it's not half as bad as the others.