MY THREE YEAR OLD SON LOVES WHEN I HELP HIM PLAY ONLINE GAMES ON LEGOS.COM OR DISNEY.COM. BUT I REMEBER WHEN I WAS YOUNGER MY MOM NEVER LET ME PLAY VIOLENT GAMES. I DIDN'T START TO PLAY VIOLENT GAMES UNTIL I WAS ALMOST 16. AS A MOTHER NOW, I UNDERSTAND WHY SHE DID THAT. MY SON LOVES HIS CARS, BUT I WON'T BUY HIM ANY TOY GUNS. AM I BEING OVERPROTECTIVE. I WON'T EVEN LET HIM WATCH ME PLAY A VIOLENT GAME. I FEEL A LITTLE HYPOCRITICAL, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS. THERE SO MANY OTHER GAMES OUT THERE HE CAN PLAY, UP UNTIL I FEEL HE IS READY TO PLAY MORE ADULT THEMED GAMES. THERE IS A REASON THEY RATE THESE GAME.
MY CUZ EVAN NEARLY WENT CRAZY WHEN RESIDENT EVIL FIRST CAME OUT. HE GOT REALLY SCARED WHEN HE WAS PLAYING IT! I THOUGHT THAT WAS HILARIOUS. AT THAT TIME I WAS IN HIGHSCHOOL, AND HE WAS PROBABLY IN 7TH OR 8TH GRADE. LOL
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Its really hard being a parent. If only they came with an owners manual, right?
Video games are a big issue when it comes to kids. No matter what you choose, you have people who are critcizing you for doing it. If you don't let them play the games or watch the tv with language and violence then you're seen as sheltering them and holding them back from the "real world," yet if you allow them to play/watch then you are not being responsible.
The best any parent can do is follow what they think is right. Like you, I never, ever bought my kids toy guns or things like that. We never bought any mature rated games for them either. Our Internet is double filtered, first through our ISP parental controls and secondly through a program called Activity Monitor. So we can keep them from most of the stuff we don't want them accessing yet.
Have you read the interview with Henry Jenkins that was assigned for this unit?
He points out a lot of interesting things. For instance, he states that violence in video games can absoloutly be a good thing. He backs up his argument by saying critics need to pay attention to how violence is portrayed in these games. "The issue shouldn't be how much violence is in the game but rather what the violence in a game means." (Converging: An Interview with Henry Jenkins, page 5). Good point.
I do agree that parents should be cautious, though, and should pay attention to ratings. There's some things that children shouldn't have to see while trying to have fun while playing a video game.
Oh man can I relate to this. My parent were pretty open on video games, no matter the content. All they asked is that we weren't influenced by a game negatively.
In regards to the violence of games, we often have cartoons that are just as violent, if not more, than video games. However, people laugh at these and see them as completely respectable. Look at Wile E. Coyote cartoons or the famous "Duck Season! Wabbit Season!" antics of Bugs and Daffy.
My parents really didn't care what games we played - they only cared when we played sports games together because my brother and I were very competitive. When we played "violent" games, it didn't make us violent people - if anything, I think it just made us more aware.
My son's only 2.5 and when we play games it's usually the Disney or Sesame Street ones online. But he doesn't like playing - just watching mommy play.
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