Computer games rant

[malteeza]

Warning this may aggravate some people

The PostThe other day Stew put a post regarding Trevor McDonald's news programme 'Are Video Games Killing My Kids

Comments

[petal1983]

some good points, well made.

i still don't agree that videogames in themselves are to blame. parents need to moderate their kids' activities, but isn't it so easy to plonk them in front of a game, have a few hours peace and quiet and not have to worry that their kids are in danger/getting up to no good? and there lies the crux of the problem. lazy parenting.

on the other hand, anything else could be attacked in the same way. i'm not a gamer, but the amount of time i sometimes spend on the computer, on the internet, and even livejournal could be considered worrying. i don't need parents to allow me to play x-rated games. i could do so online, and even without the gaming element, the amount of violence and inappropriate material available to underage people is incredible. even with safety networks and "online police", its still possible to get past it.

what kids need is good guidance. unfortunately thats just too much effort sometimes. the obesity crises is there because junk food is so easy to palm off on kids, and they'd prefer to eat it than healthy stuff. parents like kids sat in the house watching tv/on the PC/playing computer games, then they aren't worrying about them.

imaginative play has diminished, but with the scare stories every couple of pages in the papers about how dangerous our streets are, what do you expect parents to do? this way, at least in the short term, everyones happy. or so it seems.