I'll start by saying that it took me years to convince my parents to even allow a video game besides frogger and chess in their house to begin with. By the time I was a sophomore however I had broken them down, presented my plans to them, and outlined what exactly I wanted. I had recently gotten a job at Kroger's and EARNED the money to buy my very first console. My Playstation. How I miss that old clunky peice of junk. I was able to convince my parents to allow games into their home by first setting rules that they found reasonable regarding my games.
1. All chores and homework must be completed before any games can be played. A reasonable request to allow me to continue to keep up with my school work and chores.
2. No more than 2 hours by night and no matter what the games get turned off at 10pm no matter what. Most parents don't realize. BECAUSE THEY DONT BOTHER PLAYING THE GAMES WITH THEIR CHILDREN that half and hour is nowhere near enough time to accomplish anything or even save a game most of the time in todays games which are becoming increasingly more complex and sophisticated. If I refused the unit was easily disconnected from the power socket that supplied the power.
3. All games were to be approved by my parents and supervision was required when purchasing the game.
4. Suggested age ratings applied to movies, tv, and video games. I was not allowed to purchase any games with blood, senseless violence, or a rating of M or higher. The one time I did without my parents knowledge and they found out, I was forced to sell the game and donate the money to a battered women's shelter. That will teach you really quickly that violence is nothing to laugh at.
I eventually moved on to pc and online games, specifially mmorpgs. The rules still applied until I turned 18 and was able to make these decisions myself.
What really bothers me is the sheer ignorance of some people who stereotype gamers as social rejects who can't get a date and live in their parents basement. As funny as this sterotype can sometimes be the reality is that most gamers especially those playing mmorpg's are under the age of 17. I know I was living with my parents when I was 17.
I won't deny that in some rare circumstances video games may prompt violence in unstable individuals who cannot discern reality from fantasy. But these are rare cases and do not even represent a millionth of a percent of gamers to begin with. Don't believe me look for yourself. What causes violence is ignorance and intolerance and bad parents will reach out to blame anything besides themselves for failing their children as parents.
The fact is video games encourage creative thinking. Type in emergent gameplay in google and see what you come back with. They require problem solving skills, attention to detail, and strategy. If I'm not mistaken I beleive that many companies look for this in considering a candidate for employment. They can also teach organizational skills when a person much organize their inventory to maximize space and efficiency.
My whole point is, take an active role in anything your kids are doing. Meet their friends, meet their friends parents, take them to the park, go on vacation, watch movies, read the books they are reading, and play the games they are playing. And for any parent reading this that doesn't care, you should have thought of that before you had premarital sex or entered into a loveless marriage. Get over yourself and make your childrens' lives better by enriching it with a little bit of everything. I think you'll find that your kids may even have a thing to teach you about kicking sephiroth's butt in FF7. You may even find yourself enjoying it. Because when your children smile you smile right back because they are happy.
Not trying to seem harsh in any way but I tell it like it is.
~Andy
