Kids Too Plugged In – Who’s Really Online?
September 3, 2009 - Life has a funny way of introducing you to new perspectives, doesn’t it?
The other day I came across an article on The Examiner, a website that I had in my favorites over the years. It was in my perusing of the Examiner that I came across an article–this one, to be exact. In case you choose not to read through the one-sided opinion put forth by Natalie Reilly, I will sum it up to you.
Mrs. Reilly had uncovered a plethora of games from her children’s past. The kids seemingly brush off the finding after taking in a brief moment of euphoria, so Mom decides she will find the suitable mean to dispose of the games. Of course throwing out a bunch of games does nothing productive, so instead of donating the software, to perhaps a charity, Mrs. Reilly takes the games to her local Gamestop for some cash.
Inside the store she meets a salesman who goes by the alias or nickname of ‘Midnight’. To Midnight she discusses her issues with gaming and states that her children have no need for video game entertainment. She continues her rant about how it is a danger due to not knowing who is playing via online services. A little debate sparks between the two and each side is resistant to changing their beliefs. It must come to an end as neither are to give in, so Natalie puts forth a straw man argument. In the end, the woman proudly leaves a self-declared winner with a $20 Gamestop gift-card.
Not only are most of her points laughable, her call to arms to fellow parents for support is brainless.
The people online cannot be of any danger to your children if you have taught them the common knowledge of the potential dangers that come with online interaction. Obviously any parent should preach to their kids to not give out personal information to strangers–or even people they have played with for an extended period of time.
Natalie’s points all imply that video games will become the child’s focus and his/her sole mean of communication, cutting him/herself of from the outside world. To say preventing games in her house has allowed her children to become superior to those who have spent some of their time gaming is completely ludicrous.
“Unlike the many “lives” acquired in video games, my boys only have one life – one glorious shot at making it count,” says Mrs. Reilly. …Really? I bet they’d be in an alley shooting up heroin in-between games of Halo 3 had you allowed them to spend some leisure time at night on a video game platform.
“[...] endless hours at a time is luring them away from the real world, from their ability to effectively communicate with the people around them, their parents – never mind some bloke in England,” states Mrs. Reilly. A fair remark to make if she didn’t conclude her piece with the line; “[...] moderation is the key!”.
If your children are in school, football leagues, etc. there is no worry of ‘endless hours’ being spent on the gaming console. In fact, not only can your kids make friends internationally and have someone to discuss issues of relevance (i.e gaming), they can continue their real world interactions through online gaming. What better a team building exercise than having the Football stars getting together for some Call of Duty?
As Midnight mentioned to Natalie Reilly, you do not know people in the real world. If your kid encounters a dangerous person–in person (for lack of a better term), be it a negative influence, drug dealer, nutcase, or whatever extreme you want to take this, the dangers are far greater than if they were to stumble into this character in a game lobby. Not only can they choose when to end communication (muting or blocking), there is no chance of ever confronting this person in reality.
Video games have been a growing industry and many of us have grown up with our hands wrapped around a gaming controller. If there were serious risks involved they would be well known by now.
Us gamers keep real-world lives and interact with people daily. The dangers of video games are no different than the dangers of television, movies, or a night out with friends. Surely an old dog can be set in her ways, but an old dog can always learn new tricks and I suggest you attempt to gain a better understanding of a medium before publicly declaring it an enemy of the children. (You can end up looking like a parent of the 60’s, “Rock music is the devil!”).
I suggest you put that $20 dollar gift-card towards a down-deposit on a next-gen console.
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