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Video Games Put Parents in Control
Video games are often the scapegoat for some serious social problems, but they're rarely seen as a tool for good parenting. I propose, however, that video games provide tremendous value to parents who try to be aware of what media their children are exposed to. Television, radio, and Internet are so dynamic in their content, that parents can never be fully aware of what their child is absorbing. A well chosen video game, on the other hand can provide a parent with complete control over the media their child consumes.
Obviously, no one wants the TV or a video game babysitting their children. There are times as a parent, though, that you have to get the kids occupied so you can cook a meal, take a phone call, or clean up the mess the family dog left on the carpet. A well-chosen video game is an infinitely better digital pacifier than any TV program. Some TV shows are great for kids, but commercials are almost always terrible. They encourage your children to waste money on cheap plastic toys, they teach that whichever child has the new toy/game/product is cooler, and, worst of all, they breed a material lust within young impressionable minds. "Happiness is achieved through acquisition of material goods" is not a healthy message, especially for children and teenagers who are still too young to know any better. Video games don't have commercials! Let your child sit down to play a thoughtfully selected video game and know that they'll not be presented any material foreign to the subject matter of the game. When you watch TV, you pay for those programs with your time. You watch the ads, and you inevitably buy the products and that support the TV show. When you play a video game, you've already paid the game developer. They're thrilled that you selected their product, and they want to provide you the most engrossing experience possible. You'll not have your gaming experience interrupted with further sales-pitches. It’s also worth noting that DVD/VHS movies and PBS offer good commercial-free alternatives for
kids in front of the TV.
Television, radio, and Internet, besides being frequently interrupted with commercials, are also very dynamic mediums. There are dozens of radio stations, hundreds of TV channels, and millions of Internet sites. The next station, channel, or site is only a button click away. It only takes a fraction of a second to go from a decent kids program to a violent police drama. You never know where your child will be. Be aware that your children don't have to go looking for this stuff the moment your back is turned, it’s so prevalent, that they're bound to stumble across it unintentionally. On the other hand, how many video games do you have in the house? Six or eight, maybe a dozen? It should be a far more manageable number. Since you've paid attention to what they want and what they buy, you know the content of those games, and even it they get up to change games, you don't have to worry about inappropriate
material popping up on the screen.
It takes a lot of effort to know the content of all the new video games and what is appropriate for your kids. Think of it as an investment of your time. Spend some time now, researching on the web or asking other parents about a prospective video game purchase, and then rest easy for the next 6 months as your children play this game to death and miss out on all that MTV. Surely, some video games are terrible for you kids to play, commercials or not! But with some effort and forethought, you can provide a more constructive environment for your child.
No system is perfect. Perhaps your children borrow a game from their friends, or perhaps a friend comes over with games that you're not familiar with. The point is not to know what your kids are doing every second of the day, the point is to provide safer choices.
Reading, drawing, building, playing outside...of course these are activities that your child absolutely needs to engage in. Encourage these traditionally constructive areas of play whenever possible. But when it comes to digital media consumption, be aware that a thoughtfully selected video game can provide a very safe environment for your children to explore.
Click here to read other articles by Brandon Wood.
Copyright © Brandon Wood. Brandon is President of Quest Engine Incorporated, a growing software develoment company in North Carolina that creates family-friendly video games. Brandon is a father of two, and wants to help families and children make smart choices about video games. Visit his website for more information about Quest Engine Incorporated, and discussion of this article. Reprinted with permission.
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