Comments on: Are Video Games Bad for Kids? A Personal Story.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:19:49 +0000

These are great topics,

I have been on the fence with video games, verse sports, reading, writing etc. with my 9 year old as well.The difference that concerns me is my son has no motivation for anything else which frustrates me and I feel like I’m punishing him when I have him read or play outside because he hates it.As a single mother raising a boy is a constant battle, and activities become stressful and expensive when they want nothing to do with them.I myself am not into video games or TV, so I can’t relate and I see children literally walking into walls with the dam DS, however I bought one for my son then gave him limits on it.I guess my questions are where will my son reap more benefits, for life and are games offering a false sense of reward.I don’t even know if he is good at them he just plays for hours till I pull the plug, and also get emotional if he looses.Considering his dad is not around the feedback from other fathers is very valuable to me.

By: Matthew Slade

Matthew Slade — Sat, 21 May 2011 02:29:23 +0000

Hey, don’t worry i speak from experience games will not ruin a person. One of the most infuriating this to me is that the media says violent games cause aggression. I LIVE ON THEM (and Little Big Planet but thats really the only exception, oh and Portal) AND I HAVE ALMOST NO AGGRESSION. In fact the only time I ever really get mad is with my parents when they yell at me because they think I play them to much MAN IT DRIVES YOU INSANE WHEN THEY MAKE YOU STOP WHEN THERE IS LITERALLY NOTHING TO DO BUT WATCH THE CARPET!!! In school I am really never mad at people, when they make fun of them I just tell them “Its nice to see you too, and its also nice to see the dean sitting right over there, you wanna go have a chat?” I think that people are more disturbed by the almost limitless bank of science facts in my brain than the obsession for Sci – fi video games that drove me to research almost every scientific field known to man. As my final testimony to the wholesomeness and non destructiveness of video games, I hold one of the highest GPAs in my class.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:35:30 +0000

Sorry, but FOUR years old? There are too many other BETTER things to do: How about drawing instead, I mean real drawing, with pencils and paper? How about making his own cartoon characters, with REAL playdough? Or climbing a tree, buidling a snowman or sandcastle, making a penne/rigatoni necklace and painting it? Washing the dog? Building with Lego? Following a recipe and baking something to bring over to the neighbors? Making a paper mache volcano and watching it erupt? Starting a bug collection? Going to the museum? Maybe dance class, or gymnastics? Soccer or swimming lessons? Yes, these things involve an active parent, but so what? That’s what we are – parents! Too many of us these days got used to having no responsibilities until we married late and had kids…and we miss our free time to read the paper and have a coffee without being disturbed. But getting that back by handing a DS to a 4 year old seems like a wrong turn at the fork…

By: jimmy

jimmy — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:53:28 +0000

hey steve
About your topic i believe that you should let you kid play the game untill you start to c some bad behavior in him. if the game has violence in it then c how he start to act in like 3 weeks if he starts asking for guns and stuff like that thats when you know tio take away the game and unplug it.. But if he is playing some sword game then he shouldent go to crazy. Like my son started playing “Call of Duty” and that game is pretty cool and there are alot of guns and stuff on it but its at a resonable level to ware kids can play it. But the main problem is that everything he does in the game he wants to do in real life. So thats when i took the big step and finaly pulled the plug cause he started wanting guns and knifes and wanting to do the things in the game. So i just want to say is only pull the plug if they are wanting to do things in the game and they start to change their acts and and their language. Also if they are starting to want weapons.

By: Karf

Karf — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:57:12 +0000

OH, I forgot to mention something else:
ALWAYS CHECK THE ESRB RATING FOR GAMES.
If you want to know how one of my cousins got so addicted, is becouse of that; One day, they where in el paso( i was with them), and my 12 year old cousin saw halo someting( i think), and he wanted it so bad. His parents didnt know what E, T, M, etc. ment, but anyways, they said NO. What did he do? he started to cry. To scream. To run around like a crazy kid. THen the cops came, and asked for the problem. His paretns told the cop, and they started laughing, and went away. Then they go the game, and went home. One week later, he comes to school, almost falling down.
You want to know what happened? he played so much video games, he BROKE HIS BRAND NEW XBOX 360… And so he led his life through video games.

I also agree that they do make you not want to converse with other people. An example? My cousin( yep, he has A LOT of problems. LOTS OF THEM).

When he started liking a girl, he just wanted her to be his girlfriend. SO, one day he plucked up the courage to ask her. And you should have seen how he asked her. Let me try to reapeat it:
Cousin: “Ummm… So…. Would you like to b-be my…………………………………….G-G-G-Girlfriend?
Girl:” HMMMM…. i will think about it.
The next day, she had said yes. After around 2 months, she went to his house. And oh boy, what did my cousin do all the time? VIDEOGAMES…
So, she broke up with him, and he cried, like a baby… But maybe its different there in the US, but here in canada…. WOW

By: Karf

Karf — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:36:54 +0000

My god, if only oyou knew what I have to live trhough…

I am 14 years old, and, well, I like videogames. BUT im not addicted to them. I only use them when I have free time. But my god. I have a cousin… WOW… Its like its his world. He plays video games for HOURS… once, I went to his house, and I was going to stay there for 5 hours. By the time I had only 2 hours left, I was already playing with his little 6 year old sister outside, while he was inside with his Nintendo DS. And then I came inside, and asked him what he was doing. He didnt answer. I asked him again. Then he looks up, amazed, and says ” Oh, playing spore”, and turns to play again. Since that day on, I do not want to go there again.

And i had this other cousin: He was 16 years old, and he was playing games for around 8-11 hours… STRAIGHT… What happened? One day( or better said, night) he started shacking while he was playing a game. These where those symptoms( the once where you do unwoluntary movementes) and after 1 minute, he fell to the floor, shacking like hell! They took him to the hospital, etc etc…

So kids( well, im a kid, but anywasy) DONT GET ADDICTED TO VIDEO GAMES. THEY ARENT BAD, BUT TO MUCH, CAN LEAD TO DISASTER.

Just do what I do.
If I play more than one hour( usually I play one hour and half, when i can) and take a break from 10-20 minutes each hour.
MULTIPLAYER GAMES:

This are the worst… They just want you to play more and more, so these, avoid them.

And thats all I have to say today…
Oh, and there are good games out there, and for me, the best one is LittleBigPlanet. Very fun, for all ages, and puzzles, logic, etc.
You can get for PS3, and PSP( have it for both, and my PSN is megachevpro for anyone to know, just in case)

By: diana hampo

diana hampo — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:35:50 +0000

I’ve never let my kids(there are 4) have video games but they play at friends houses. I worry about the same stuff all the time. Will they get fat, will they be unable to ask a girl for a date. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. I’ve linked your post on my blog http://www.hampoland.com
Thanks again, Diana

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:27:22 +0000

I was writing my blog for this week on how video games might or might not affect kids and stumbled on your site. I am a retired teacher, now substituting, and found an experience I had last week disquieting. Third graders in a Seattle school were writing their autobiographies. Boys, particularly, could not come up with anything for the day’ subject – What am I most proud of doing in my life?” All they could think of was video games. Something some of them do in every possible moment. When video game play takes over everything else that kids could be doing I start to worry. What I think we worry about is addiction to gaming. I think the idea of giving them certain times during the day and certain amonts of time, offset by other activites, both physical and mental, helps
relieve that worry. Lots of good conversation and direction with involved adults also is helpful. Read my blog on Sunday for more info on this topic. http://www.teacherslogon.blogspot.com).

By: HL

HL — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:50:53 +0000

Nice article, but i think I’m okay with being called an over-reacting parent. I’m a believer in all things in moderation, balance being the key; however, my bright and engaging 7 year old boy went to his first summer camp — and it turned out to be a room full of boys playing handheld video games. When the 2 weeks of camp were over, I didn’t recoginize my son anymore: he stopped making eye contact, he stopped saying hello and goodbye and he stopped talking to me completely except to say “Can I play my video game” — it was the first thing he said in the morning (like at 7 am) and the last thing he said at night. He stopped doing his homework or showing interest in it, and to my greatest dismay, lost interest in taking pride in his work. He was a totally different boy and any hyperactivity and distraction that he had before had doubled.

So, how do you balance when all you child’s friends have little to no limits?!! These kids are giving giant screen TVs and violent video games by age 7. There are way too many parents using video games as babysitters, without regard or responsiblity or even the knowledge of what kind of effect it’s having on the child. Like it or not, gaming is a form of addiction and the younger children of today are being exposed to a level of addiction in a way that I don’t think children ever have been. At least with TV, children are not ACTIVELY participating in “killing” and being physiologically rewarded for it.

Please give me back the “too much TV” syndrome — THAT was easy!

I just wonder with the average child’s screen time in front of video games, TV, computer monitors and cellphones — will these kids know how to have a conversation? Read a book? Maybe in a few generations from now, kids will actually have a metal plate they attach to their face as they become one with electronics. Who the heck needs actual human relationships?

As a woman, i personally think that any guy who is a “gamer” is about as unattractive as a grown man living with his mother eating tuna fish out of the can. It’s only a matter of a few years before self-help books appear on the shelves titled “Men Obsessed With Gaming and The Women Who Love Them.”

And one more thing: has it ever occurred to anyone that information about your child’s computer game use — and I’m talking specifically teenage boys who play war games like Modern Warfare could be sold to the gov’t? Anyone selling something always needs to find and solicit their target market group. And last I checked, war as a business isn’t going away anytime soon in this country. In fact, it’s the United States biggest business.

“Great for hand-eye coordination” and “helps burn calories” are two of the dumbest reasons to justify over-use of video games — sounds like denial.

By: Emirick Haro

Emirick Haro — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:33:59 +0000

Thank you, Cockmaster, for reaffirming my stand on video games.