Parents today seem to be split on whether or not they should allow their children to play video games. If so, how much and which ones. Some parents, from my experience working at Gamestop for approximately 5 years, don’t care enough to research the games their children are buying, allowing them to play whatever the child picks out. With a baby of my own on the way, my wife and I have discussed this issue a number of times, and luckily we agree. I am a huge gamer and want to share that passion with my child as they grow up. What I do not want is my hobby to become an obsession.
Recently, Kotaku posted a series of articles that consisted of comments and e-mails from parents who saw value in gaming, but also from those who did not. Personally, I feel gaming is as important to a child’s development as reading books, playing board games, and running around outside in the fresh air. There is no denying that games are becoming increasingly more and more prevalent in today’s society. Instead of railing against it, maybe it is time to embrace the positive influences gaming can have and be wary of the negative. Television is a poor substitute for a babysitter or to good parenting, and the same can be said of video games as well.
Games provide an outlet for creative thinking, interactive problem solving, and if the parent can find the right games, quality family time can be enriched, where everyone will not only enjoy themselves but learn to work as a team or find opportunity to teach valuable lessons concerning losing with honor or winning with humility. As a child, I had to learn the hard way that I wouldn’t always win at games or competitions when my parents soundly trounced me in Chess or Monopoly, games in which I dominated my various friends. At first, I was discouraged, but then my parents coaxed me into playing again and again until those mistakes that cost me victory were rectified. Eventually I won. Since then, I don’t mind losing, but when I do, I become determined to win the next time by studying my mistakes, inevitably correcting them.
It seems this kind of determination is lost within children, maybe even adults, today. I have seen children become verbally abusive when they win, or tragically dejected in their losses, so much so that they don’t wish to play the game ever again. They switch games in and out of their consoles and repeated play the same levels. Forever switching the games at the same point, a puzzle they cannot solve or a boss they cannot defeat. The easy, well-traveled path taken rather than the harder one that promises new challenges or greater rewards. Though, I have also seen children pick up Rock Band or Guitar Hero, play it relentlessly, and suddenly desire to learn to play the real thing. My nephew is currently taking both guitar and drum lessons. Though he still loves to play the games, he enjoys his lessons as well.
Not only have games inspired children to take up music, a public school in New York has begun teaching children using video games in lieu of books. Quest to Learn opened last September using Gaming Literacy as the core of their lesson plans. With 72 students already, the school uses games to teach children all the skills they would learn from tradition text books, but in a more interactive and compelling fashion. To help with the initiative the MacArthur Foundation awarded the school 1.1 million dollars. The innovation of gaming is changing the face of everything, for good or worse. Fortunately, it isn’t up to games, developers, or those of us who love to play them whom decide anything more than gaming’s retail success.
In the end, it comes down to parents whether or not games are a positive or negative influence on children. If the parent takes an active interest in the activities of their child, they can guide their children down whatever path that seems appropriate. My wife and I are in agreement that our child will be limited in his game play during the week, divided amongst reading, games, homework, and playing outside. Weekends will be a bit more lax, but by no means is it our intent to allow our child to sit in front of a gaming system all day. I love gaming, but I temper that love with the good sense that though games are fun, there is more to life than what I see on a computer or television screen.
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