Are you kidding?
http://www.playsavvy.com/articles/features/eight-valid-concerns-about-video-games/?page=1 Right! Let's attack video games. WTF?! The only thing they say that I agree with is right at the beginning: Limit your kids. Give them half an hour to an hour! Then, after a while, they give it up for two or three hours. Give'em another half an hour before bed - if it's a scheduled event, they're less resistant to giving it up at bed time, because they know they get another crack at the save-game the next day. Then you can use it to your advantage. If they're bad at school, only give'em that half an hour before bed, to wind down - but they lose the 30-60 minutes they'd usually get right after school.
In my unprofessional opinion, giving kids a few minutes after school to unwind in front of a game isn't such a bad idea. Say, for example, 30 minutes after school, then they go outside with their friends for 30 minutes. After that, it's time for homework, then dinner, then finishing homework, then some productive home fun - toys, a movie, a predetermined craft activity... then a snack (something healthy) and, finally, 30 more minutes to game before winding down. Put them to bed with a book and a low-power lamp in the corner (on a timer if your kid is prone to falling asleep without turning off the light). That way they feel like they're getting a good deal of having an activity at bed time, but really they're being encouraged to read.
Seriously, folks - Video games can encourage reading skills, problem solving skills, develop three dimensional thinking and if it's a challenging game, it will help them develop fortitude against life's frustrations. So what if they shake the controller at 8 years old. By the time they're 16, they'll have grown used to the occasional defeat. And, finally, video games provide something that is proven, published and well documented: It provides hand-eye coordination. Lord, don't some people need that more than others... nothing says, "Please don't embarrass yourself" like a klutz. If you're all thumbs in life, learn how to play Mario for goodness sake. Seriously. Then, take up typing, drumming and treadmill jogging. It may not make you a ballroom dancer, but it's sure better than falling in public as much as you might.
Needless to say, when a critic attacks how educational a video game is NOT, I feel obligated to attack how UN-EDUCATIONAL legos, toy cars, and model airplanes can be. SERIOUSLY.
I feel that children SHOULD play video games, as it encourages them to develop their rapidly growing brains - the younger the better. Find an easy game that holds attention very well... and put the controller into the hands of a one year old. I watched Richie, at four years old, the first time he played Mario Kart. It amused him to keep driving off the cliff and hearing the character scream, "WAHHH!" Within two weeks, he was avoiding holes in the road by crying when he crashed. By one year, he was better than many adults, grumbled some when he lost, but feeling competitive enough to challenge his mother and myself whenever he could, KNOWING he'd lose most of the time to a seasoned adult gamer. That means he was gaining CONFIDENCE, something Richie seriously lacked a few years ago. Kids half his age would be jumping off the monkey bars, into the sand and breaking into a sprint. Richie would looking down at the dirt from the shelf where the monkey bars start, going, "I don't wanna try - if I fall, I'll get hurt bad." Next thing you know, we get him gaming. Then the next time he's at the park, he's rough and tumble, full of adventure and self confidence, in front of the monkey bars. So what if he falls, he says to himself; he knows there's soft dirt down there.
When I see Richie get through a hard level in Star Fox Assault, like planet Corneria (level 7 out of 10), I note that he feels deeply accomplished, productive and joyous for beating it. I'm not going to lie, it's difficult to catch all the homing missile launchers while on the wing of Wolf's fighter - you're on a moving shooting gallery - the level is on rails and it's not easy for an eight year old, holding that big controller in his tiny hands. But he overcomes it!
This silly internet publication does get worse:
http://www.playsavvy.com/articles/features/eight-valid-concerns-about-video-games/?page=7
Yes, this one amuses me the most. A lady buys ONE Nintendo D.S. for her FOUR children. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! ONE TOY for FOUR KIDS?! What was she THINKING? No child values sharing until it's become a true habit - and no one wants to share with THREE OTHER PEOPLE, because they're already limited to the times they can play - not during school, not during dinner, not during bed time... so how do you share a FEW short hours with your three other siblings? Besides, the DS is DESIGNED for multiplaying. Have them go head to head! It's WIRELESS multiplayer, for chri'sake! UTILIZE IT! Seriously! If you're going to do that, buy at least TWO, but for God's sake, don't buy ONE for FOUR KIDS! DUMB! Oh, and notice - in the picture - the two kids are fighting OUT SIDE. So the publisher is using a picture that would scare parents by giving them a visual of two kids kicking and hitting one another.
It's like, "Mom, I only found ONE whole pokemon during my half-an-hour of play time. My brother found three, after seeing where I got mine, and my other brother didn't find any, so we felt bad and let him play longer, which isn't fair... but then the neighbor came over, and my fourth brother didn't get to play at all, so now he's crying." STUPID!
Either pony up and buy each kid one DS and each gets a separate game (so they can swap and trade later), or don't do it at ALL, lol.
Finally, every child is different - has different needs and their gaming time should vary with an open minded parent mindful of building a schedule based on that child's situation, needs or mentality. That's all.
Rant over! :D
In my unprofessional opinion, giving kids a few minutes after school to unwind in front of a game isn't such a bad idea. Say, for example, 30 minutes after school, then they go outside with their friends for 30 minutes. After that, it's time for homework, then dinner, then finishing homework, then some productive home fun - toys, a movie, a predetermined craft activity... then a snack (something healthy) and, finally, 30 more minutes to game before winding down. Put them to bed with a book and a low-power lamp in the corner (on a timer if your kid is prone to falling asleep without turning off the light). That way they feel like they're getting a good deal of having an activity at bed time, but really they're being encouraged to read.
Seriously, folks - Video games can encourage reading skills, problem solving skills, develop three dimensional thinking and if it's a challenging game, it will help them develop fortitude against life's frustrations. So what if they shake the controller at 8 years old. By the time they're 16, they'll have grown used to the occasional defeat. And, finally, video games provide something that is proven, published and well documented: It provides hand-eye coordination. Lord, don't some people need that more than others... nothing says, "Please don't embarrass yourself" like a klutz. If you're all thumbs in life, learn how to play Mario for goodness sake. Seriously. Then, take up typing, drumming and treadmill jogging. It may not make you a ballroom dancer, but it's sure better than falling in public as much as you might.
Needless to say, when a critic attacks how educational a video game is NOT, I feel obligated to attack how UN-EDUCATIONAL legos, toy cars, and model airplanes can be. SERIOUSLY.
I feel that children SHOULD play video games, as it encourages them to develop their rapidly growing brains - the younger the better. Find an easy game that holds attention very well... and put the controller into the hands of a one year old. I watched Richie, at four years old, the first time he played Mario Kart. It amused him to keep driving off the cliff and hearing the character scream, "WAHHH!" Within two weeks, he was avoiding holes in the road by crying when he crashed. By one year, he was better than many adults, grumbled some when he lost, but feeling competitive enough to challenge his mother and myself whenever he could, KNOWING he'd lose most of the time to a seasoned adult gamer. That means he was gaining CONFIDENCE, something Richie seriously lacked a few years ago. Kids half his age would be jumping off the monkey bars, into the sand and breaking into a sprint. Richie would looking down at the dirt from the shelf where the monkey bars start, going, "I don't wanna try - if I fall, I'll get hurt bad." Next thing you know, we get him gaming. Then the next time he's at the park, he's rough and tumble, full of adventure and self confidence, in front of the monkey bars. So what if he falls, he says to himself; he knows there's soft dirt down there.
When I see Richie get through a hard level in Star Fox Assault, like planet Corneria (level 7 out of 10), I note that he feels deeply accomplished, productive and joyous for beating it. I'm not going to lie, it's difficult to catch all the homing missile launchers while on the wing of Wolf's fighter - you're on a moving shooting gallery - the level is on rails and it's not easy for an eight year old, holding that big controller in his tiny hands. But he overcomes it!
This silly internet publication does get worse:
http://www.playsavvy.com/articles/features/eight-valid-concerns-about-video-games/?page=7
Yes, this one amuses me the most. A lady buys ONE Nintendo D.S. for her FOUR children. ARE YOU SERIOUS?! ONE TOY for FOUR KIDS?! What was she THINKING? No child values sharing until it's become a true habit - and no one wants to share with THREE OTHER PEOPLE, because they're already limited to the times they can play - not during school, not during dinner, not during bed time... so how do you share a FEW short hours with your three other siblings? Besides, the DS is DESIGNED for multiplaying. Have them go head to head! It's WIRELESS multiplayer, for chri'sake! UTILIZE IT! Seriously! If you're going to do that, buy at least TWO, but for God's sake, don't buy ONE for FOUR KIDS! DUMB! Oh, and notice - in the picture - the two kids are fighting OUT SIDE. So the publisher is using a picture that would scare parents by giving them a visual of two kids kicking and hitting one another.
It's like, "Mom, I only found ONE whole pokemon during my half-an-hour of play time. My brother found three, after seeing where I got mine, and my other brother didn't find any, so we felt bad and let him play longer, which isn't fair... but then the neighbor came over, and my fourth brother didn't get to play at all, so now he's crying." STUPID!
Either pony up and buy each kid one DS and each gets a separate game (so they can swap and trade later), or don't do it at ALL, lol.
Finally, every child is different - has different needs and their gaming time should vary with an open minded parent mindful of building a schedule based on that child's situation, needs or mentality. That's all.
Rant over! :D