Sep
3
The gun, the boy and the game
I played guns when I was a little kid. Yup. Almost everyday, my friends and I would play some kind of game in which we either threw a ball at each other (…ball tag…) or we grabbed some wooden and plastic guns and went into “the bush” to play guns. Really, it was just another game of tag to be honest. There was lots of “I got you”…”NO! I got you!” type of debates. For some reason, an unwritten rule existed on who won those debates and who had to count for 30 seconds while the winner ran away to get his next victim.
I was also heavily bullied as a kid. I remember taking the bus to and from school and being extremely anxious?sorry, scared shitless?. over which kid was going to chase me home that day. I was an easy target. Skinny, shy kid with a funny last name and big ears. GET ‘EM!!!! Heh.
I was also exposed to real fire arms. My whole family hunted various animals from deer to rabbits.
My point. If I were a kid today, my parents would be deeply concerned and others would probably put me on the watch list for “most likely to murder by the age of 13″. Somehow, I ended up turning out OK. I have a great family. I have a job (…that I barely tolerate…). I have great “online” and “offline” friends.
I came across this blog post…which has inspired this latest look into gaming violence. Simply put….he’s walking away from violent video games and I totally respect that position. He’s doing it for his son…and that?s just a boat load of awesome. Here’s the comment I put on his site:
I wish you the best of luck with this and I admire your stance on it.
I have the same issue with this and my 7 year old daughter?but I keep this in mind when she?s playing it: she?s going to be exposed to violence in one form or another whether I like it or not. I would rather be the one to coach her through those feelings than someone else. Having the ability to seperate fantasy from reality is key here and I think video games are a great medium for teaching that lesson?so are books, and movies.
Now, whenever my daughter shoots a fireball at a mushroom in Super Mario or ?kills? a Cog in ToonTown, I know she can tell the difference between game and RL because I?m there managing her reaction to them.
?food for thought.
…and that’s just my take on that particular subject. I’m sure that there are as many views on video game violence on children as there are parents. We want to protect our kids. Heck, I’ve seen parents keep bike helmets on their kids at the park. One of the local schools has banned the game of tag for “safety reasons”.
I think we have all lost sight of something…especially for the little boys that people raise. They have a streak in them that needs to exercise conflict in some form or another. They have some kind of energy that needs to be expended in games like playing guns, or ball tag or dodge ball and for some reason we come to the conclusion that this is bad. I’m not exactly convinced. I honestly do think that video games are an extension to expending that energy.
Do you want to monitor what your kids watch? Of course you do. You also want to teach them how to handle a whole range of emotions so that they can deal with them when you’re not there. The trick is figuring out what they can handle and what they can’t…and they usually let you know quite quickly.
So?will banning violent video games stop your kid from being violent? No. Will banning violent video games make you a better parent? No. But both will make us feel better and maybe that?s translates to the greater good anyway.
D out.
