Moms Talk: The Video Game Debate
Are you concerned about your children's exposure to violent or war-based video games? Share your thoughts with us in Moms Talk Q&A.
If you have children in the current age of technology, you may or may not have the ambivalent feelings I possess towards video games. On the one hand, there are many educational games that expand children's minds and reach them in a way that no human can. On the other hand, the extreme violence in other video games paired with absolute addiction can drive any parent crazy.
The worst part about my hate toward the violent video games is that my husband (along with many other adults) are the prime suspect and influence with these games. I see posts on social media sites daily with mostly wives complaining about the gun shots coming from their living room, or their husbands staying up all hours of the night to play these games. My husband is no exception. But, now our 3-year-old is catching on to the addiction. He loves to watch these war games and re-enact them in our basement.
My husband is a veteran, so I feel he is partly using the games for therapy or nostalgia. But, we are both concerned about our son's interest in the games. On the other hand, my son has had an iPod touch since before his second birthday and has gone above and beyond the learning curve in his cognitive development. So, kudos to Apple! But, I curse PlayStation 3.
My original thought was to heck with all of these war video games, but then I had an interesting lesson on the Revolutionary War with a fourth-grade class. In honor of Veteran's Day, I brought my husband into school to compare the life of a Revolutionary War soldier to the present day soldier. To my surprise, many of the male students in my class were aware of different types of weapons and military equipment.
I asked my students how they were so knowledgable on the various elements of the military. One boy raised his hand with a sheepish look on his face and said, "Call of Duty: Black Ops." I wanted to scream in frustration thinking that a fourth-grader was playing these games too, but at the same time, if they are playing these games at least they are learning something. Right?
This is where I am reaching out to the Collingswood Patch readers.
What is your take on the video game debate? Yay or nay?
Do you budget your child's time with the video games?
Do they have to earn video game time based on good behavior or grades?
Do you find video games educational? If so, which ones?
We want to hear from you! Comment below and start the talk.
Jen Wagner
1:40 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
It is a shame that most parents do not know about the many varied benefits of video games. There have been many studies during the past decade showing these benefits in the areas of education, health, social skills, business, leadership, and more. And there are many studies and well thought out arguments that show that violent video games do not make gamers violent. A new eBook has just been released, The Gamer Generation: Reaping the Benefits of Video Games, that summarizes all these studies, so that parents can learn the truth about video games and stop worrying.
game for fun not for life
2:42 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Addiction of any kind is not healthy even if we assume that games such as call of duty are educational in any way. I am a 27 year old computer scientist who has no kids yet and does play call of duty on weekend nights. I have colleagues addicted to all kinds of games and I can see how it negatively affects their lives. It shows in their work performance and also their lack of motivation. I love playing games but like all pleasures of life, it needs to be rationed to not get out of control. Everyone including kids need a balanced diet of games,learning, exercise, occupation (study or work), and still leave some time for family and friends. If any one aspect takes too much of one's time, a change is in order.
nancy
6:54 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Video games have their positives and negatives.The abuse & over-use of anything is not healthy. I have a friend whose son rarely leaves their house, preferring the virtual world of games and gamers he interacts with around the world online. He's a nice kid but has no 'real' friends in the neighborhood. He's more comfortable with the video game avatars. Socially he's fine with adults he knows, not a quiet kid at all but I worry that he's lonely and need friends who are 'real' to just hang out with and do 'kid' stuff. It is not the violence of the games in his case that worries me, it's the isolation video games cause him. Do I worry about the violence? I think it bothers some kids more than others. Just like violent movies bother some more than others. I don't have a problem with violent games at our house where possibly the most violent thing we own is Zelda. No one in our house is 'into' the violent games, we just never went that route. I would not have bought my kids the violent games or rented them or allowed them to be played online, frankly I never had to put my foot down. But like anything else moderation in video gaming is key. The budget at our house was TV/Computer/video gaming time that was not related to school work. The educational component of video games again can be a plus or minus. Some have educational value, others provide students with problem solving and decision making skills that are of value. I don't think the hard core games are something a kid need.