A Parenting & kids forum. ParentingBanter.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » ParentingBanter.com forum » misc.kids » General
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

advice on game systems?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old January 4th 08, 07:27 PM posted to misc.kids
Beliavsky
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 453
Default advice on game systems?

On Jan 2, 6:36*pm, KLE wrote:

snip

And for those of you who will say they'll still play the games we
don't approve at their friends' homes, so far the older one has shown
a lot of maturity and integrity in that area and has declined to play
such games at the neighbor's house, even asking me to tell the mom he
didn't want to play them. (The younger neighbor son had gotten into
the older son's games, apparently.)


Today's (Jan 4 2008) Wall Street Journal has a jeremiad against video
games by Stephen Moore, which has reinforced my decision not to buy
them for my kids now or in the future (let's see how long that
resolution lasts).

http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110011080
Teenage Zombies
By STEPHEN MOORE
January 4, 2008; Page W11

My new year's resolution is to get my two teenage sons back. They've
been abducted -- by the cult of Nintendo. I'm convinced that video
games are Japan's stealth strategy to turn our kids' brains into silly
putty as payback for dropping the big one on Hiroshima.

The trouble began last summer when my sons started spending virtually
every unsupervised hour camped out in front of the computer screen
engaged in multiplayer role games like World of Warcraft and
Counterstrike. At the start of this craze, I wrote it off as merely a
normal phase of adolescence. I was confident that, at 14 and 16, they
would soon be more interested in chasing real-life girls than virtual
video hoodlums.

Boy, was I wrong. Their compulsion became steadily more destructive.
They grew increasingly withdrawn, walking around like the zombies from
"Night of the Living Dead." Unless I pried them (forcibly) from the
computer, they would spend five or six hours at a time absorbed in
these online fantasy worlds. My wife tried to calm me down by
observing that "at least they're not out having sex or doing drugs."
But how would that be any worse?

Both are decent athletes, but their muscles began to atrophy right
before our very eyes; their skin tone paled from lack of sunlight.
Their idea of playing sports these days is inserting Madden football
or the NBA slam-dunk game into our Xbox.

We recently considered purchasing the new Nintendo Wii, because at
least its games -- simulated bowling, snow boarding, guitar playing
and motorcycling -- require physical activity. Nintendo even
advertises this product as good exercise for kids, and I have
colleagues who swear that they get a great workout from Wii boxing and
skiing. Alas, a new study from the British Health Journal suggest that
Wii is no substitute for the real and vigorous outdoor exercise that
adolescent boys need.

My wife and I aren't entirely inept parents -- our 6-year-old seems
fairly well-adjusted anyway. Back in October we established for the
older boys strict screen-time limits. It was then that we discovered
the true extent of their addiction. They ranted and raved and cursed
and even threw things -- almost as if demons had taken possession of
them. These are classic withdrawal symptoms; they craved a fix. When
we installed parental controls on the computer, our boys scoffed. It
took them about 15 minutes to disable them. We've become so desperate
that we may have to get rid of the computers entirely, though that may
hamper their school work.

It turns out that we're not alone in our predicament. A parent down
the street confided to us that his 12-year-old son was so obsessed
with video games that he wouldn't take even a three-minute break from
gaming to go to the bathroom -- with unfortunate results. The other
day we saw a kid at church, in a semi-trance, going down the aisle to
Holy Communion while clicking on a hand-held Game Boy. Talk about
worshiping a false god.

This summer the American Medical Association's annual conference
debated a proposal to declare excessive video gaming a "formal
disorder" in the category of other addictions like alcohol, drugs and
gambling. One study released at the AMA conference found that many
kids who spend a disproportionate amount of time playing games
"achieve more control and success of their social relationships in the
virtual reality realm than in real relationships."

I'm not one to blame every human frailty on some faddish psychiatric
disorder. But I'm persuaded that computer games are the new crack
cocaine. The testimonials from parents of online gamers are horrific:
kids not taking showers, not eating or sleeping, falling behind in
school. Some parents are forced to send their kids to therapeutic
boarding schools, which charge up to $5,000 a month, to combat the
gaming addiction.

The war lords of the gaming industry tout research on the positive
attributes of gaming -- and admittedly there are some. One study
published this year in Psychological Science finds that gaming
improves eyesight. A famous 2004 study by researchers at Beth Israel
Medical Center in New York, found that video games improve manual
dexterity and hand-eye coordination: "Doctors who spend at least 3
hours a week playing video games," the researchers reported, "made
about 37% fewer mistakes in laproscopic surgery." Fine. I'll give my
sons the joysticks back when they become orthopedic surgeons.

In the meantime, what is to be done? I'm not suggesting making the
games illegal -- we don't need a multibillion-dollar black market in
video games. But I am pleading that parents take this social problem
seriously and intervene, as my wife and I wish we had done much
earlier.

November sales for the Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, and the games
that go with them, were up a gaudy 52% over last year. In my neck of
the woods, Wii's were such hot sellers that they weren't available in
the stores at any price. I'm proud to report that we rejected our
youngest son's pleas for a PlayStation for Christmas. He pouts that
we're the meanest parents in the world. Someday he'll thank us. A mind
really is a terrible thing to waste.
  #12  
Old January 5th 08, 06:09 AM posted to misc.kids
joni
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 27
Default advice on game systems?

On Jan 3, 11:12*pm, "deja.blues" wrote:
Children do get exposure to computers in a school setting, but I don't see
them taking the place of learning to write or replacing a classroom setting
anytime soon.


Perhaps not in elementary schools, but many high schools have their
students using personal laptops for a large percentage, if not all of
their school work.
Webcam teaching, conference groups, even worldwide with other students
in some other country,
teachers can be teaching not in front of the class but in segments
downloaded at a students individual pace and
homework can be sent in on a disk, uploaded or emailed to the teacher
for review. All paperless.
Yes it *is* the wave of the future and a young child who knows their
way around a computer will
be one step ahead of the pack.

And to the person who posted about how their young teens were zombies
in front of
the computers, its just like television. You are the parent, act like
one and set some rules.
You dont let your child watch what they want to when they want to, so
the same goes for
video games. Let em howl. Then do something constructive with them, ya
know spend some time with
them doing outdoor stuff or go somewhere together - like actually be
an involved parent.


joanne

  #13  
Old January 5th 08, 06:52 AM posted to misc.kids
deja.blues
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 242
Default advice on game systems?


"joni" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 11:12 pm, "deja.blues" wrote:
Children do get exposure to computers in a school setting, but I don't see
them taking the place of learning to write or replacing a classroom
setting
anytime soon.


Perhaps not in elementary schools, but many high schools have their
students using personal laptops for a large percentage, if not all of
their school work.
Webcam teaching, conference groups, even worldwide with other students
in some other country,
teachers can be teaching not in front of the class but in segments
downloaded at a students individual pace and
homework can be sent in on a disk, uploaded or emailed to the teacher
for review. All paperless.


I have a 12th grader, a 9th grader, and 4th grader in a very large,
well-funded and technologically up-to-date suburban school district.
Students do not take their own notebook computers to school. They have
personal drives and directories on the school server where they store their
work, and use flash drives to transport files. Teachers post homework on
their websites.
My kids have written many papers, and teachers still want them printed and
handed in on hard copy.


Yes it *is* the wave of the future and a young child who knows their
way around a computer will
be one step ahead of the pack.


You'd be hard-pressed to find a young child today who doesn't know how to
use a computer. My youngest son has had a gmail account since he was 7.

Frankly, I think kids should learn how to do stuff like carpentry and
cooking. Any idiot can use a computer, but show me someone who can saw a
board in half or make an omelette.



  #14  
Old January 5th 08, 06:55 AM posted to misc.kids
deja.blues
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 242
Default advice on game systems?


"joni" wrote in message
...
And to the person who posted about how their young teens were zombies
in front of
the computers,


That was a cut and paste of a Wall Street Times article.



  #15  
Old January 5th 08, 01:40 PM posted to misc.kids
enigma
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 447
Default advice on game systems?

"deja.blues" wrote in
news:uWEfj.1607$%A6.282@trndny08:

"joni" wrote in message

groups.com... On Jan 3, 11:12 pm, "deja.blues"
Yes it *is* the wave of the future and a young child who
knows their way around a computer will be one step ahead of
the pack.


You'd be hard-pressed to find a young child today who
doesn't know how to use a computer. My youngest son has had
a gmail account since he was 7.


mine has had email since he was 13 hours old. he's been
playing on my computer since he was around a year old. he has
his own laptop now (thanks to gramma & grampa).

Frankly, I think kids should learn how to do stuff like
carpentry and cooking. Any idiot can use a computer, but
show me someone who can saw a board in half or make an
omelette.


well, pretty much any idiot can saw a board too, it's just
getting the cut where you need it & at the exact angle
but i agree that dropping things from school curriculums in
favor of more reading & arithmatic (thanks to NCLB), things
like music, arts, shop & basic home ec for *all* students are
just plain stupid. first, because people *do* need to be
exposed to the arts & more and more frequently are not exposed
at home, and also because we're raising a nation of functional
idiots.
lee
  #16  
Old January 5th 08, 03:07 PM posted to misc.kids
Ericka Kammerer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,293
Default advice on game systems?

deja.blues wrote:
"joni" wrote in message


Perhaps not in elementary schools, but many high schools have their
students using personal laptops for a large percentage, if not all of
their school work.
Webcam teaching, conference groups, even worldwide with other students
in some other country,
teachers can be teaching not in front of the class but in segments
downloaded at a students individual pace and
homework can be sent in on a disk, uploaded or emailed to the teacher
for review. All paperless.


I have a 12th grader, a 9th grader, and 4th grader in a very large,
well-funded and technologically up-to-date suburban school district.
Students do not take their own notebook computers to school. They have
personal drives and directories on the school server where they store their
work, and use flash drives to transport files. Teachers post homework on
their websites.
My kids have written many papers, and teachers still want them printed and
handed in on hard copy.


Similar district here, except that it is common for
teachers to accept assignments turned in either on hardcopy or
electronically. Some schools are going exclusively to electronic
submission, particularly so that they can run electronic checks
for plagiarism. I doubt distance learning technologies are
replacing classroom instruction for any substantive fraction
of elementary or secondary classes in the US. Maybe someday
well into the future, but not now except perhaps in isolated
instances. I also doubt that there are many public secondary
schools where all the students are bringing in personal laptops.

Best wishes,
Ericka
  #17  
Old January 5th 08, 04:54 PM posted to misc.kids
KLE
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default advice on game systems?



On Jan 2, 6:36 pm, KLE wrote:
We have 2 boys, almost 4 and almost 8. So far our kids have only done
any kind of electronic game playing on the computer with educational
games we own or online ( Blues Clues, Magic School Bus, PBS Kids,
etc.). For a long time I was dead set against having a video gaming
system (the kind that hooks up to the TV), but I am now coming around
to my husband's point of view that if we want to continue to exert
strong influence over the types of games our kids play, it might be a
good idea to have a machine of our own so our kids can play the games
we approve of at home and hopefully their friends will play here,
too.

So now I'm considering looking into a unit for their birthdays, or
maybe next Christmas. Of all the different game systems available, is
there any one system any of you have found to offer a large variety of
educational or non-violent games appropriate for kids under 10?

And for those of you who will say they'll still play the games we
don't approve at their friends' homes, so far the older one has shown
a lot of maturity and integrity in that area and has declined to play
such games at the neighbor's house, even asking me to tell the mom he
didn't want to play them. (The younger neighbor son had gotten into
the older son's games, apparently.)

Thanks for any advice or guidance.

Karen


Thanks for all the great info and advice! I'll talk it over some more
with my husband and see what time frame he was thinking about going
ahead with one of these units.

I was interested to hear that Lego Star Wars could be played on the
computer with a special controller, as that game is the big draw next
door where they have a gamecube and upgraded to an xbox for xmas. I do
have concerns as someone pointed out though about the family computer
never being quite updated enough to run these demanding games; I think
we're probably at that point now, and need to think about upgrading
the home computer in the foreseeable future.

I think for the age they are and our current budget, the gamecube and
hoarding games for it may be the way to go, then in a few years plan
and budget for whatever the current, more heavy duty system will be. I
understand that the gamecube games can be played on the Wii - can the
Wii games play on the gamecube?

Thanks again.

Karen
  #18  
Old January 5th 08, 09:57 PM posted to misc.kids
Ericka Kammerer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,293
Default advice on game systems?

KLE wrote:

I
understand that the gamecube games can be played on the Wii - can the
Wii games play on the gamecube?


No, you have to have a Wii to play Wii games.

Best wishes,
Ericka
  #19  
Old January 9th 08, 05:03 AM posted to misc.kids
Nikki
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 486
Default advice on game systems?


"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...
I also doubt that there are many public secondary
schools where all the students are bringing in personal laptops.


In South Dakota more and more schools are issuing each high school student
their own laptop. I think the goal is that by 2010 all districts in the
state will issue each student a laptop. So at least here, students have
laptops, they are built in to the curriculum, and they are expected to bring
them and use them.


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06


 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Recommend a game boy style handheld game Ignoramus18452 General 7 November 20th 07 06:55 PM
dvd car systems john[_2_] Child Support 0 September 6th 07 05:13 AM
Great game for kids 12+ Breakscore® a fast moving strategic board game of challenge, chance and skill. bolero48 General 0 October 9th 05 10:51 AM
diaper disposal systems Shena Delian O'Brien Pregnancy 57 March 8th 04 07:11 PM
Dr. Gelles says CPS systems are *chaos & tragedy* Kane Foster Parents 1 January 17th 04 12:28 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 06:01 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 ParentingBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.