Games and kids -> fully OK?

I have an impressionable, almost two year old daughter, who's mind is like a sponge and picks up on everything going on around her - be it from big to small. I do not like playing video games when she is around me, as I would much rather spend time doing things together that I consider much more constructive in her development: helping her color, building things, listening to music or playing it on her keyboard, playing outside in general or going to the nearest park, dribbling and shooting a basketball, reading and writing, or just watching some Sesame Street, Backyardigans, Franklin, Blues Clues, et cetera.

Here's my take: How people choose to rear and govern their own children is their own business. It's very easy for others from the outside looking in to wag fingers and admonish parents when they don't have the foggiest notion of what it takes to pour yourself into a child day and night. It's a time consuming job that takes a great deal of patience, understanding, and perseverance. Quite a juggling act at times as well, depending on schedules, jobs, and your extended family around you (if any). How other people raise or spend free time with their children is up to the parents, not anonymous people that think they could do better. I think when it comes to parenting, common sense and a loving aura goes a long way in their general development.

I don't think it's wrong for parents to play video games around their children, but I just choose not to do so with my own (or least keep it to a minimum). Me and my brother grew up playing video games religiously when we were younger (Atari 2600 and ColecoVision), but it was balanced by playing outside, sports, and other activities. I think the real key here, much like anything else in life, is striking that balance.

 

This probably isn't too related, but I've been playing games since around 5, and began playing shooters not many years later.

I am 19 now and have never been in trouble with the law and have a 3.8+ GPA..

Though GTA at 2 years old? That's probably pushing it...

 

By the way guys, check this out:

Football video games make players more aggressive than violent ones | Metro.co.uk

 

This is very interesting way of thinking that most people have.

First of all, Thanks for sharing your own experience. However I don't think your own experience make M rated games OK for kids. And also remember video games existed not long.

Second, never been in trouble with the law doesn't mean you are not violent. Also a 3.8+ GPA doesn't mean anything (not to downplay your achievement in any way but with nowadays over-rewarding education....).

Third, you won't know how you would've been doing if you never played those shooting games from a young age, or played other games from a young age.

So it's better be careful than sorry.

 

Yes, not being in trouble legally is only loosely tied to violence at best. Second, with a sample size of (1), it doesn't really say much about anything.

 

I wish my parents has showed me marijuana. Some things really shouldn't be illegal for a certain age group, unlike alcohal and GTA 4

 

Y'know, I used to think that violent video games and TV shows were perfectly fine for children. After all, I played Doom as a kid and watched Robocop, and I turned out fine. I did, right? Right? Didn't I?

Unfortunately, however... as it was in my case, most of the people posting here seem to be bringing up anecdotal evidence to suggest that violence is fine for young children. The people who do shy away from letting their kids play violent video games, on the other hand, seem to tend towards statements like "you can raise your kid how you want to".

I'm going to sit with the psych student on this one. How much stock should be placed in psych research is up to you, but most of the research seems to indicate that violence in video games and TV shows -does- contribute to violent, aggressive behaviour. The Bobo doll experiments were a seminal set of experiments that formed the bases for more research that indicates this result fairly clearly.

In short, the way it works is something like this: if you're showing children more ways to be violent, they do tend to think that it is okay, and they also pick up more ways to be violent. It doesn't hold just for video games, either; TV shows, movies, and even violent sports (hockey, I'm looking at you) have much the same effects.

In addition, note that the effects of violent media on children - and indeed, on people of any age - does seem to correlate somewhat with violent behaviour, but it is of course by no means a perfect correlation. How much each individual is affected by this media would depend on their psychological makeup; much in the same way psychotic people can have psychotic episodes triggered by varying degrees of stress, the same stressor may cause one person to go on a shooting spree, while the next goes to the ice-cream parlour.

In short, it does appear that you really should try not to let your child see you playing GTA, especially not at this age. Developmental psychology indicates that you should not exercise overly strict control over your child at the age of 2, but playing GTA probably lands in the region of things-you-should-avoid.

TLDR: Stop playing GTA 4 in front of your child.

 

How can I tell if I'm violent? o_o

 

I think that when you say "violent" it's possible you mean when a kid goes up to somebody and jokingly says boom headshot pointing a hand at their face, starting a conversation or laughing. Although, I am not to say that it has nothing to do with people actually being what we call violent, but I just don't think that I beleive people who are obviously coming up with data like that, then saying
" if we don't get a positive result, I can't bring home the bacon. lets add in kids doing *what i said above* to "violent" in the study"= their data. please don't say I said that kids don't get any influence, I think they do, i'm just saying my 2 cents about psychologists data.

 

Alright, this thread has pretty much crossed the line and has entered the forbidden territory of medical discussions on this forum.

Thread Closed, Happy Gaming.