Young Kids and Video Games

[Noob Saibot 38]

Alright so before i get into the subject I'll explain something.

 

I have a 7 year old nephew who his parents (my older sister and her boyfriend) let play video games 10 hrs or until it's time to go to bed. Well my mother (nephews grandmother) doesn't like it and says if he continues he will be as fat as my sister (and she's a big women). So now I have to listen to the drama of my sister calling because her boyfriend gets mad when she tells their son not to play the game all day. Then my mom calls and more drama and yelling....wow...so any way.

 

 

What's your thought on young kids playing video games (doesn't matter if its a violent game; just video games in general).

 

 

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I think it's alright, but parenting plays a part in it as well. Setting limits to how long the child can play and can't play.

[Kevin.ds 28]

well when i was 7 i played final fantasy 7 for the first time (And loved it / understood it) and now 13 years later iam still skinny as a stick and love video gaming. Although maybe spending TO much time in front of the tv or pc isn't that great but I loved it then and I still do. So my thoughts on it is , Let him play ! :D ( he will tire eventually and spend more time with friends ) :jay:

[Noob Saibot 38]

I disagree. He spends hours on it already; sometimes until it time for bed. He is 7 years old and should be playing out side at his age, not sitting down all day play video games; and this goes for any child.

[Meteor Rain 0]

In my opinion young kids shouldn't play games. If it's online games it is because they're annoying the older people, for him it's because it's bad for it's health. If he keeps playing like that for 10 hours a day in a few years he will go totally crazy, never go outside, get really fat etc.

[Bigace360 38]

In my opinion young kids shouldn't play games. If it's online games it is because they're annoying the older people, for him it's because it's bad for it's health. If he keeps playing like that for 10 hours a day in a few years he will go totally crazy, never go outside, get really fat etc.

 

Uh and you base this off what, me and my friends do this and we're very atheletic. I understand online games though because they never end so you can be on for 24 hours straight and the you only like 1% through and so your intent is to finish tomorrow morning instead of going outside. Then that leads to obesity. But playing normal games that end after 36-48 hours isn't going make you lazy, that's only online games that make you lazy.

[Polraudio 122]

The parents are 1000000% at fault for any kid playing video games. Before i came home my sisters use to play games all the time because my mom let them. Now that im home i make them get off of the games and go outside if they like it or not. They usually dont like it at first but they always find something fun to do outside.

 

For kids that age to be playing games all day is wrong. They need to get out and learn about the real world and not some fantasy land. A sheltered life is a bad life. It doesn't prepare kids for anything, it cripples them. 1-2 hours a day is a good amount they should be allowed but never 2 hours in a row. I usually make my sisters play outside for 2-3 hours before i let them come in and play games for 1 hour then its back outside.

 

I think your sister really needs to step up to the plate and set some ground rules if she doesn't want her kid to fail at life. Because that's what will happen. I would know because it happened to my best friend. All she does is play games all day and has no job, and lives with her grandma. Note: she is 22 years old and has no plans for life.

[Rose 3]

A healthy kid needs multiple sources of entertainment.

Inspiration Comes from many places and a young mind not yet knowing what it wants needs to be exposed to all possible artforms.

 

The way to how long is an independent estimation.

But I say give him more then just games but your mother is still crazy.

Im an avid Gamer almost to addicted levels but I was never fat...lol

[Matt 0]

Own a video game (pc, console or what ever platform) at home and just let the kids play as long as not affecting their health (physically & mentally), they aren't doing crime though.

 

I heard a case where the parents do not allow their kids to play the video game (no video game at home), the kids eventually sneak out of the house at the middle of the night when their parents asleep to visit an internet cafe in town. :o

And, the crime happens!

 

So, any difference between kids with video games and adults with iphones? LOL

Edited September 5, 2011 by Matt

[Heretic86 25]

(I know this is an old thread but I'll post anyway.)

 

I think that there needs to be a Balance as to how much kids can play video games.

 

Just about everyone knows or at least has heard of the Four Food Groups. However, what most people dont think about is that the Mind is just like the Body. The Mind needs its share of different types of mental stimulation, just as the body needs different types of foods. If we let kids eat what ever they wanted to eat, they would consume sweet sugary snacks and junk foods until their eyes exploded out of their skulls because of their high blood pressure and diabetes. The mind is similar. Video Games arent necessarily the Mental Version of "Junk Food for the Brain", but too much or too little of anything is effectively unhealthy. Vegetarians can get around eating meat by replacing it with other sources of protien in their diets. If kids are left to choose to consume only the Mental Stimulation they desired, they would usually go for the types of mental activities that produced the most adrenalline in their brains. Video Games are able to stimulate more adrenalline than watching TV, and watching TV causes the brain to release more adrenalline than reading a book. Thus, given the opportunity to play Video Games, or do Math Homework, kids are going to choose Video Games.

 

High Adrenal Stimulation by Video Games, however, I think is a much safer alternative than encouraging kids to engage in high risk real life behaviors, such as fighting, stealing, and any other activity where someone else is made to suffer for their Adrenalline Rush, or the behavior is such a high risk that it is completely unsafe. As a kid, I didnt play a lot of Video Games. I got my "fix" out of playing sports, and riding a bike a lot. Although some would consider those to be "high risk activities" now adays, I do not. We have to look at what the kids are experiencing. What they are experiencing in Video Games can not be safely performed at all in Real Life, and is the equivilant of being in a full on military combat situation where people die, for their entertainment. Going to war and literally getting shot at is what I would consider to be the "high risk activity". Playing a First Person Shooter where if your character gets shot twenty thousand times by four hunred tanks, gets at lest 10 nuclear weapons detonated, there is no risk of physical injury, but the kids do still get nearly the same Adrenal High that Military Personnel get from an actual Combat High.

 

However, the brain needs more stimulation and input than just the Adrenalline Rush. It needs stimulation from other types of activities, such as educational and human interactive activities. However, in order to try to get kids interested in Math, Science, or whatever their intellectual stimulation is, the material needs to be presented in such a way that it is exciting and interesting. And paying teachers minimum wage in overcrowded schools where most of their classmates dont even speak the same language just isnt going to cut the mustard. I could blather on about our whole situation in the Schools as its own topic, but for now, I'll try to stick to the intent of my post, and that is that the brain has its own Food Groups. Focusing on Intellectual Stimulation for a second, if you can teach kids how to do the most complex math equations in their heads in less than two seconds literally, kids become interested, because they can show off to their friends, and use their math skills to challenge their friends, there by stimulating one of the other necessary elements that the minds are all in need of, and that is human interaction. Seriously, teach your kid that one hundred eleven million, one hundred eleven thousand, one hundred eleven Squared is twelve quadrillion, three hundred forty five trillion, six hundred seventy eight billion, nine hundred eighty seven million, six hundred fifty four thousand, three hundred twenty one, and be dead accurate, in less than a second by just recongnizing that the number being squared has all ones in it, and the "trick" is to count to the total number of ones in the string, then back down again. Thus, 111,111,111 has nine 1's in it, so count to nine, then back down again. 12345678987654321. Not that difficult. then put commas in. Dont believe me? Plug it into your calculator. Forty two times eleven. The trick, add the two numbers together and put it in the middle. Four plus two is six. Oooh. Hard math there. Put it in the middle: Four, Six, Two. 462. 462 is 42x11. 11x27 is 297. Less than a second to figure out. Teach a kid how to do that, in their heads, and watch how exited they get over learning.

 

Intellectual Stimulation is one of the elements, another is Human Interaction. Without the experience taught by Human Interaction, the kids will not know how to interact with the rest of the world when they finally come into adulthood. The source of the Human Interaction I dont think matters quite as much as it just being present. However, it also can not be the ONLY source of stimulation for the kids brains. We tend to think that if the kids arent studying expected school related lessons that they arent learning anything. This isnt true. Human Interaction teaches kids how to do exactly that, interact. If a kid were forced to focus only on school and studies, you end up with nerds. They end up being booksmart, but have no idea how to interact with the rest of the world. Its one of the reasons I despise the concepts of Homework. The time that the kids spend at home needs to be utilized by the kids to do everything but homework. Homework takes away from Family Time, or social time with their friends, which, as I already pointed out, is just as important as the scholastic elements.

 

Video Games allow the kids to have an in depth knowledge of a subject they focus on which can be used to influence how well they are able to interact with other kids. Say there is a new Pokemon game that your kid is playing. When they go to school, they have learned quite a bit about their new popular game, and this gives them a means to learn human interaction, even if the human interaction is to talk about their favorite video game. Some of the games also have the whole online component to them. While the kids are playing their currently favorite video game, they are also gaining that Human Interaction, although I dont think is done in such a way that it is exactly healthy. When kids play sports, if the kid somehow cheats and is called out on it, they dont have the opportunity to learn that human interaciton is all about mouthing off and not being held accountable for their actions. They can cheat in video games, the other players cant do anything about it, and the kids end up establishing an overdeveloped ego, and disregards any sense of responsibility for their behavior.

 

I think Video Games are fine, as long as they are Balanced. But try to encourage kids to take on other different types of challenges. Sports develop hand eye coordination as well as focusing heavily on the Human Interaction aspects. But the benefits of sports, or going over to a friends house, riding a bike, or what ever type of activity that a child is encouraged to engage in, they should ALL be in moderation, they should all be Balanced, especially Balanced, because the worst thing that a child can become is Unbalanced. Unbalanced is Unhealthy. As a Parent, I feel that it is the Parents responsibility to Balance homework and scholastic studies against the need for Human Interaction, as well as to provide some down time, and allow the kids to just veg out.

 

Ultimately, I think it comes down to Parents being Responsible for their kids and not allowing Video Games to replace their role as Parents, just as my Parents did, and the Parents of their Generation to allow TV to become their children's Parents. It is all about the Balance, and that is the Parents greatest Responsibility.