Games on line , and others.

[Switchy]

Some of you are parents and others are grandparents.  Some of you are young enough and enjoy these games.  I would like some opions on do you, would you let your kids play games such as Grand Theft Auto,  War Games, Gang games, and have killing and shooting in them ? 

[Mikekoz13]

No! But it does depend on the game. War games are really nothing more than what I played in the woods as a kid... "Army". BUT...My son is almost 16 and he knows that ANY games that show drug use or ANY abuse of women is not allowed in our home.He didn't understand when this first came up so I sat him down and asked him this simple question:

Do you know what prostitution and rape are? His response was "yes". I told him that both were disgusting and an affront to ALL women and that I would not have anything that contained these things in our home...... out of respect for ourselves, our beliefs and most of all out of respect for my wife an duaghter (his Mom and sister). He totally got it.

The game in question at the time was "Grand Theft Auto".

Please don't get me started on what I think video games have helped do to our Society.

[benlen]

I'll offer a younger perspective and say this: The issue isn't the video games themselves, but rather, parents being responsible about when/if our children are going to play games; after all, you wouldn't let your seven year old see an R rated movie, so why would a parent mindlessly purchase grand theft auto for them?

This isn't an exaggeration. When I was a kid, other kids in my neighborhood under ten were playing mature rated games that had extreme violence and extreme sexual content. Many of them turned out to be fine gents, but some of them turned out to be mean, bullies, or violent themselves.

The key is being responsible parents and keeping mature video games out of children's hands.

The reason I think a number of parents don't think about this, and then are horrified to discover what games their children are playing, is that Baby Boomers typically associate video games with being toys only of children, and not adults, when in reality, most hyped video game franchises (Call of Duty, Halo, Mass Effect, etc etc) are geared towards an older teenager/adult audience.

[Mikekoz13]

And I agree... it's not the games. It's the parenting. Which really was the original question.

I admit that I'm biased against video games because I believe they bring no value to kids..... except exceptionally strong thumbs.

My experience is that many parents use video games as an all the time baby sitter. It keeps the kids out of their way and that's all that matters to them.

[BillOnBass]

I've been passionate about video games since I was probably 4 or 5 years old and can't say enough about them.  I won't get into the entire censorship/violent-games-make-violent-kids deal but it's simple: parents, not the government, should monitor and control what media their children can access.   

Aside from that whole issue I wholeheartedly believe that many video games offer valuable life lessons and skills such as the importance of teamwork and cooperation, critical thinking and problem solving, better hand-eye coordination, and even math theory applications, to name a few.

[Switchy]

Thanx to those who have answered here.  All he answers make alot of sense.  So many good points have been brought up.  I do feel that many of these games that the shooter played in NewTown , played along with the same guns that he picked out.  And looking back into other crimes that has promoted violance.  Thank God their are parents that realize this.  I know kids can go over to friends houses etc.  Well Thanx for the comments.

[Bald Hobbit]

I'm in the younger guys crowd. If I had kids, I would be alright with violent games, as long as the violence is justified in-story, self-defence reasons and such. I still feel iffy about Assassins' Creed. I wouldn't let them play Bioshock based on the gore in it, but I highly respect that game on a moral level. Otherwise, with games where one chooses for good or evil, while the player may make immoral choices, the game(usually) properly identifies them as being immoral.

[Beardman]

I've been a gamer of all sorts for years now, I've only recently in the past couple of years slowly started stepping back from them because I've been involved in other things that I consider more important these days.

Video games are great tools for curing boredom, or keeping you occupied on a slow day, and I'd be bored senseless quite often if I didn't have them. I'm not the type of person that can sit down and read a book for a while or watch tv or a movie or something (I fidget like a crazy fiend haha). Even while typing this I've got a 2nd browser window open with youtube, and facebook etc, and I just flick between them.

Here is a little story about me that I don't share very often, because well... no one really likes to admit addictions... but I used to be pretty badly addicted to video games. Like I'm talking, wake up in the morning... or in a lot of cases early afternoon, and play until I go to bed at some ridiculous hour od the night and then rinse and repeat, on a daily basis. I got really badly hooked during my time off between 1st and 2nd year at university, and because of that my marks really suffered, while I was still writing a-grade material, I was always handing them in really late which resulted in them getting marked down and stuff like that. I was actually almost got suspended from uni for 1 year over it (while not entirely because of my gaming addiction).

At the time I was playing world of warcraft 10-12 hours a day, call of duty 2-3 hours a day as well as attending uni, and working 3-4 hours on saturday and/or sunday, if you do the maths you'll find that most nights I would be lucky to get mroe then 3 hours sleep a night. I did that for 12 months. You can imagine what my body and mind were like. I was a mess. Thankfully, I eventually woke up to myself, and just managed to scrap through uni and get my degree, but I learned a very valuable lesson, and one I don't plan on having to repeat in the future.

Yes, I do still game, But never more then an hour or 2 at a time, and where I would once put a game ahead of everything, I will now drop a game for anything. So I've come a long way.

Most of you guys probably wouldn't know what a gaming addiction is like, and you're pretty lucky in a way. But it is exactly the same as alcoholism and drug abuse, the only difference, is that most people refuse to believe that it exists.

When it comes down to it, games are great things, and there are plenty of games out there that you could let your kids play, you just have to make sure that they are actually the right games for kids, these days there are some games out there that look like kids games, but aren't. I can tell your right now, most games that your kids will want to play are not "child friendly" So make sure you know what you are getting into.

The most important thing those is moderation, and monitoring. Don't let them get to teh point I got too. Gaming addictions are no fun at all, and while they don't harm anyone, the side effects are the killers.

[Andrei]

I think we should consider the kid's age too.

If he/she is very young then why the need of a PC/video game?
What happened to playing the park or playing soccer?
I can understand that it is difficult to keep the young ones away from technology, but a swimming course or a sport played in teams would help more the child (not only for health, but he/she will develop better social skills and learn fair play). This doesn't mean that a performance for Olympics is expected, but fun yes.

In my opinion children get lonelier because they spend too much time on PCs/tablets, so they should not be aloud full access.

Call me old fashion, but a child does not need a PC or a video game to be happy.

[Mikekoz13]

I think we should consider the kid's age too.

If he/she is very young then why the need of a PC/video game?
What happened to playing the park or playing soccer?
I can understand that it is difficult to keep the young ones away from technology, but a swimming course or a sport played in teams would help more the child (not only for health, but he/she will develop better social skills and learn fair play). This doesn't mean that a performance for Olympics is expected, but fun yes.

In my opinion children get lonelier because they spend too much time on PCs/tablets, so they should not be aloud full access.

Call me old fashion, but a child does not need a PC or a video game to be happy.

Andrei!!! You are wise WAY beyond your years. Your post is just the tip of some of what I think about video games in general. And not just video games but as you say computers, tablets, etc.. It's all part of our societies having less and less social skills.

[Bluebriz]

Where I live the lack of social skills is a big problem among young people, especially young men.  My students are mainly aged 18-20 and a huge majority of the boys are completely incapable of holding a simple conversation with a girl because their social skills haven't been developed.  How much of that is down to video games I couldn't say, but I definitely think boys should be out playing sports and chasing girls rather than sitting in front of a screen with a headset on talking with strangers.

[benlen]

Like Beardman, my younger brother was an extreme video game addict, and still is to some extent, but thankfully has snapped out of it (a little).

But like some of the guys here who gamed too, I've just reached a point in my adult life where my money is better spent elsewhere, like on books and my time is better put to other things, like work and personal hobbies and projects.

And the ladies, let's not forget!


I'm going to play devil's advocate though and say that people tend to blame/demonize things they don't understand...parents, politicians and adults look at video games, and if they're Baby Boomers, and not part of Generation Y or X who either grew up with Atari/NES or Nintendo 64/Playstation, they generally have no understanding of how video games even work, from knowing what game goes with what console to the basic set up of controls.

They even commit the mortal sin (even our contemporary president Barack!) of calling video game consoles "The video game." It's games with an S! hahaha :-p

And it's not as if films and books haven't been demonized by culture for somehow perverting youth.

And yes, there's an addiction associated with video games. But what would you call my or my parent's watching of Netflix for hours each day? How is this different?

Ultimately, the medium isn't at fault, and it is a matter of personal responsibility. You decide to play the games. You decide when to walk away or not participate.


So finally, after that long rant in support of video games, would I give video games to my theoretical children?

The answer is no.

The problem with video games, but also with the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, iPhones, iPads and tablets is that these virtual devices are keeping our kids from cultivating an attention span for reading, as well as keeping them socially isolated.

Video games, iPads and tablet computers, and iPod Touches keep our kids indoors and isolated as opposed to going outside to play in the snow, play sports, and also make our kids obese.

These devices even keep young adults isolated. Hop on any T in Boston and you'll see dozens of people on iPods and iPads. Sometimes these kids will be in groups with their ipods/ipads and laughing at what they're doing on them, as opposed to talking face to face.

Now the above ^^ might sound like fear mongering, but I'm witnessing it with my younger cousins (aged 5-11) who have been given iPads/iPod Touches from their parents.

I didn't own my first computer until I was 16! Which I am thankful for, because my parents limited my access to computers and video games, and that allowed me to appreciate...BOOKS.

As someone who has loved video games, movies, etc, I can tell you that none of these ultimately beats the power and enjoyment of a book, and I'm in my early twenties in a generation obsessed with screens of all shapes and sizes.

Books are educating, books cultivate/hone you ability to focus for a long, extended period, and books don't give me bad headaches or migraines from an excessive assault of guns and explosions the way video games and action movies do.

Books also make you smart. If you read enough, you'll be "that hot educated guy" at the party who can discuss George Orwell and Dickens at a dinner party and impress the educated ladies.

 

[Mikekoz13]

Nice response Ben!!

I am a tail end Baby Boomer but I will tell you that I totally understand the whole video game thing. Please don't think that because I'm older (and other older parents!) that I don't understand. I'm 52 years old and totally understand the fascination and addiction to them.

It's funny that you mention books. I have no college degree but work in a high tech industry that requires a great amount of education and imagination. Friends and Family call me the "Book of Useless Facts" because I know a lot about a lot of things. I often hear, "How in the world do you know that?". My response is always the same..... I READ every day and always have. I was a voracious reader as a kid and teen. ... always on a first name basis with every librarian I ever met. I'm self educated in many ways. This is something I think is dying off in our society here in the USA. The kids of today, and yes their parents, are missing out on so many great, real life things by becoming numbed by always being on line.

We have "video game rules" in our home. Never before 9 AM. Very rarely after 8 PM. This doesn't mean they get played from 9 AM to 8 PM either. We limit number of hours too.
I think a lot of the parents that are using video games as a baby sitter so that they don't have to bother will one day wake up and realize that they don't even know their kids. They may even realize that all the possible wonders and joys of their own kids childhoods have passed and it's too late.

I

[benlen]

Nice response Ben!!

I am a tail end Baby Boomer but I will tell you that I totally understand the whole video game thing. Please don't think that because I'm older (and other older parents!) that I don't understand. I'm 52 years old and totally understand the fascination and addiction to them.

Interesting! Though I would contend that makes you the exception to the rule! My parents, baby boomers, don't even understand how to play Pong, so hahaha.

It's funny that you mention books. I have no college degree but work in a high tech industry that requires a great amount of education and imagination. Friends and Family call me the "Book of Useless Facts" because I know a lot about a lot of things. I often hear, "How in the world do you know that?". My response is always the same..... I READ every day and always have. I was a voracious reader as a kid and teen. ... always on a first name basis with every librarian I ever met. I'm self educated in many ways. This is something I think is dying off in our society here in the USA. The kids of today, and yes their parents, are missing out on so many great, real life things by becoming numbed by always being on line.

I think that too many people judge folks based on college degrees. My grandfather worked in a paper mill, but because he didn't have a college degree like his friends there, he could only advance so far. But my grandfather patented many things involved in the paper industry that he didn't get full credit for because of a lack of degree.

But he's always been extremely smart with math, reading, and languages, and cultivated a self-education!

We have "video game rules" in our home. Never before 9 AM. Very rarely after 8 PM. This doesn't mean they get played from 9 AM to 8 PM either. We limit number of hours too.

This makes you a good parent, seriously! My parents did the same thing when I was a kid, and it was the best thing they could have done for me. They also limited, until I was a certain age, what TV shows and movies I was allowed to watch. Good for you for being proactive on what your children are exposed to.

[Beardman]

We have "video game rules" in our home. Never before 9 AM. Very rarely after 8 PM. This doesn't mean they get played from 9 AM to 8 PM either. We limit number of hours too.

This makes you a good parent, seriously! My parents did the same thing when I was a kid, and it was the best thing they could have done for me. They also limited, until I was a certain age, what TV shows and movies I was allowed to watch. Good for you for being proactive on what your children are exposed to.

Very true, my parents did much the same. It wasn't until I became an adult that they took a step back and I slipped up, lesson learned now though!

I have very much the same stance on kids and video games as Ben, when I have kids, they wont be playing video games or getting tablets/ipads, or the likes until they are what I deem to be old enough. I've seen kids as young as 1 or 2 using ipads, that is just disgraceful really... give them a toy to play with not a screen.