bloodychill

So apparently kids shouldn't play video games because they should spend their time doing other things like reading? Well I guess they shouldn't be playing outside either because they could otherwise be learning.

That's poppycock. Videogames are fine for kids, as long as their parents regulate them enough instead of using them as a babysitter for them. Kids shouldn't be allowed to play MMORPG's though. That's like letting kids snort coke.

MSD

I don't see anythign wrong with explsing kids to mainstream entertainment technology at a young age, but if I have kids, they're going to spend a few years on Math Blasters and Astro Grover* before they graduate to Mario and Three Stooges. GTA and the like won't come until they have a firm grasp of reality and can differentiate between game violence and real-life violence. I'd estimate three years after the indroduction of paintball (~ age 12) before allowing GTA into the house.

edit: I should add that video games are a good way for kids to wind down after homework is done, and when playing out side isn't prefereable due to weather or nighttime. I also envision myself as the kind of parent who wouldn't have a problem sitting down and playing a multiplayer game with my hypothetical kids. Hopefully they won't have a problem with it, either.

*- A little-known Sesame Street-based game focusing on spelling and math, I still think it's an awesome game while drunk

Xazy

Parenting is important and at times I can see parents using the tv so they can get a break...

While growing up, I had 1 hour of tv a week, and had to earn more then that (well at least until I was 13). I think that tv shows now are not as educational or good for kids as the ones that were from the late 70's. Either way, I think moderation is the key, making kids earn the right for more (chores, grades, etc..).

It might sound hypocritical since no a day to day basis I tend to play games and watch tv.. But then again I hope more for my kids (well when G-d gives them to me anyway).

But I will again repeat what others said, moderation, and the tv cannot replace personal attention.

Aardvark

The poster whom flamingdog quoted has a point, yet its laced with a few too many straw dog arguments for me. The most obvious one was this -

"I don’t want my kid to lose hours and days in front of a video screen like I have. I want her to enjoy gaming as any other pastime, but I want it placed in its proper context."

Makes me wonder how he intends to convey the many years of his experience, coupled with the hindsight of his personal regret, and his current perspective of gaming to his daughter... by simply withholding her access. It sets up a parent-child dynamic of 'Do as I say, not as I do.' While I never found that dynamic to be effective with my son, I wish that poster well.

My son didn't become interested in video games until he was about five, just prior to entering the first grade. Then again, there were no older siblings to create that interest sooner. It became important to him because knowledge of video games is an inherent part of socializing among 'the guys' in the school yard. And while adults may not see a bunch of five, six and seven year olds as 'the guys,' their socializing patterns, in many ways, are no different than that of 'the guys' around the water cooler at the office, talking about sports. The older guys who can cite the latest statistics in football around the water cooler are given the same kind of undivided attention as the younger guys who can cite the hidden locations of energy and life 'ups' in video games.

While men rarely participate, personally, in the sports they talk about, the boys do. As such, in addition to having knowledge of a video game, a seven year old can earn distinction among his peers by his ability to win the game. There is reverence given to those few who manage to acquire the latest, hottest game... and beat it.

Another part of what goes on in the school yard is play-acting the part of one of the cool characters from a fighting game. In emulating their heroes (years ago, at least) the yard duty teachers saw the kids as being hostile and aggressively fighting with each other, and broke it up. What they actually broke up was nothing of the sort, despite the occasional bruises.

That's why those little guys are so adamant about video games. Its what makes them want to spend so much time to beat the games they play. In their world, its what allows them to fit in; its what gives them a standing among their peers. Its often the basis on which friendships start and what opens the doors to social circles.

Should kids play videogames? I think so. Not letting them play may soothe a parent's sense of propriety, or guilt, but it limits their kid's ability to interact in the social structure of their society.

My way of dealing with it was to tell my son that if he wanted to participate, he'd have to earn it. It took him five months of saving his allowance to buy his first console. He was six when he bought it - used, at a discount. Yup, he had rules for the weekdays: video games were okay until dinner. After that it was schoolwork. After that it was anything other than electronics until bedtime; reading, legos, whatever. On weekends he could do whatever he wanted, when we were home.

Actually, I spent the first year or two playing those games with him. LOL, I wanted to understand what he and his friends were always talking about! I also wanted to be able to talk with my son, so I could understand and appreciate his ongoing accomplishments and setbacks in that arena. He's currently in his second year in college doing very well. He acquired a lot of games over the years and his video consoles and all those games are still in his room... collecting dust.

As many posters mentioned, and I agree, its about moderation. Yet to understand what moderation really means, I think a child needs to be guided through the experience. Denying them access or imposing rules without ever letting them experience the downside of excessive gaming, and its obvious consequences, won't teach them how to recognize it in themselves and learn to moderate it on their own.

Sweetpea

My thoughts exactly...

As a nanny, i have a 'no gaming' rule. I focus on reading or playing actual person to person games with the kids i work with.... being a child is a time to expand on who you are and use your imagination... video gaming doesn't teach children anything, it's purely an entertainment and should be treated as such, and if played, should be done in moderation, if at all.


sweetpea

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Dael

I like when posts like this come up, because I know a lot of older folks (friends of parents) that honestly believe that video games and TV violence are the sole reason for the problems with violence and crime associated with the world's youth today.

I'm 24 years old, and have had access to video games from a very early age. I can remember (probably not being much older than 6) when my dad picked us kids up a ColecoVision and we'd while away hours playing Mousetrap, Donkey Kong and Space Fury. The when I got a little older I managed to get myself a Nintendo for Christmas, and loved that console to bits. This i probably where the gaming started to get violent, with fighting games like Double Dragon and Street Fighter and such. As I got older and into my teens, I got away from consoles and got into computer games more, where I'd shoot people to death and be shot to death in a variety of games in a variety of ways (Ultima games, the Red Baron, Unreal Tournament, Starcraft, Warcraft, and many moer). Furthermore, all throughout my childhood I was never censored from watching movies that would be considered violent too... you know, the usual stuff nowadays and in the 80's and 90's full of blood, guts, swearing, and fornicating.

Now the point I'm trying to make here with all this is that I've never committed a crime in my life, I've obtained my Bachelor's degree in Biology and Chemistry, and am now a year into my Master's degree in Chemistry. Even without this education, I'm proud of the fact that I've done my part to contribute to society, working for 3 years as a lifeguard at me local pool in my teens, and then later on when at university working for an organizational that provides support services for people with mental and physical disabilities. Video games and TV violence have NOT made me a violent or even jaded person.

The trick is that, while I enjoyed games and movies, my parents made sure that there was a moderation involved, adn we did plenty of other things. I was involved in sports, and we'd also do all kinds of things outdoors and even indoors as a family. Other than having a friend over for a sleepover, I cannot think of a single time that I was allowed to sit in front of a screen for more than a couple hours at a time.

Again, my point here is the video games and TV violence aren't the cause of a lot of crime and violence in youth nowadays, but rather it's more likely to be neglect of these youths on the part of their parents. Other factors come into play, sure, but that's just my two bits.

In conclusion, to answer the question of this post, I think it's fine for kids to play videogames. Just don't let them turn into what a lot of parents do: an electronic babysitter to keep the kids occupied and out of their parents' hair.

Coppertop

Games don't teach anything? I beg to differ. I have learned an immense amount of history from playing games. Both directly and indirectly.

Not all games are meaningless shooters, just as not all books are great literature.

Dael

I completely agree with the above post. I impressed my social studies teacher in Grade 8 with an essay on British and German "Knights of the Skies" (air aces), and a lot of the information, as well as the inspiration, came solely from the fact that I was playing Sierra's "Red Baron" at the time (the original, not RB2).