Raising two kids of my own, one eight and the other three, has given me the chance to see first-hand how games can effect children. There was the first proud moment when my son asked to play my DS, and later when my daughter asked to play "Pweggle" on my iPhone. It was scary the first time; she had the tendency to throw things when upset, and the idea of seeing my iPhone fly across the room was a bit horrifying. Nonetheless, she wanted to play a game, and as a good father I feel I must foster the same love I have for games in my children.
Watching them play these games has changed my opinion on games as a whole. Games have become teaching tools, and it's hard to limit the use of them when I see how much they help my kids. For example, my son is being tested for the gifted reading class in second grade. I fully believe his love of reading came about from the need to understand the gibberish on the screen telling him how to play games. Now that gibberish is just more words in his vocabulary.
My daughter is learning in the same manner. She has developed coordination that is unbelievable for age, and in addition I believe she is learning troubleshooting skills based on how well she plays the Legos brand games. She's better than me at them now. It's can be scary.
Those are just a couple examples of the things I've witnessed my kids learning, and I'm sure there are many more examples. For instance, there is an article about a school using video games as a teaching tool over at Popsci.
So this leads us to a few questions:
- When is it okay for kids to start gaming?
- How much should they be allowed to game?
- What are the pros and cons of children gaming?
As always, feel free to comment here or take it to the forums for more in depth discussion!
Well, I had my own Amiga when I was 4. I can't remeber anything on it apart from this really cool maze game. I was also playing Doom at around the same age, though not very well. I think 1-2 hours is good. Otherwise, it gets too long to sit down and rate of learning drops dramatically after long periods of time. Pros? Fun, great learning, passes the time, fundamental skills developed. Cons? No exercise, some bad habits created, unhealthy foods (you don't see anyone eating a salad while gaming), learning to ragequit.
I think I've burnt myself out.
TheManWithTheGoldenBuns
Coming from a teenager, my input to this conversation may seem minimal. But anyways, I think kids are allowed to start playing games whenever they get to the age where they are able to handle it. That depends on the child; certain children get certain amounts of maturity at different ages. For how much, I would say probably 1-2 hours a day. My parents have not raised me up right, to be honest: Games are actually getting in the way of my schoolwork. And when that starts to happen, you need to either A. Lower the time they can game, or B. Prevent them from gaming until they bring their grades up. Some Pros of Children Gaming: Teaches them great motor skills, such as twitch reflexes. It also can be used as a learning tool for many kids, with all the educational games out there these days. Or, better yet, they can play games like Mario to learn things too. Cons: Kinda the way I'm living right now, sadly. If they play too much, they grow dependent on them. Dang, I just typed a lot out.
-Freky
My six year old daughter got a Nintendo DSi this past Christmas. I do not limit her play time on it, but I don't need to, as for her it's something to do when there is nothing else to do. She uses it when it's too dark or wet to play outside, or in long car rides. I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones; she would rather run around or ride her bike than game (unlike her mother).
She plays games on my Palm Pre or my iPod touch when we go out to dinner and there are no kids around, or when running boring errands. I guess for her, games are a last resort of entertainment so there is no need for me to limit them. The major pro I see in her case is that she is never bored to tears. I have yet to find any real cons in the situation (except when I'm driving and she tries to show me her new high score)
With regards to young children, I'm going to disagree quite heavily with most of the posts so far.
*After the last episode, I should note that the following is referring to video games, on the PC, console, etc, * 8-)
Kids of a younger age have a lot of brain development happening that can be compromised by gaming.
I'm not talking about the content of the game at all. It sounds rather harsh, but simple movements such as learning to physically turn your head towards a sound and learning how to hone in on from where a sound is coming in the 360 degree area around you (for example), are things that make important connections in your brain. My mom is a special-needs teacher for children with certain disabilities, and she has this long list of silly looking exercises that kids who didn't engage in proper activities previously have to do everyday. They are as simple as laying on the floor making a bicycle motion with their arms and legs while turning the head from side to side - they aren't to build muscle, but to hopefully still make connections in the brain between motor skills and brain interpretation.
The education she has received for this doesn't support kids of a younger age playing games as it slows or damages certain brain development.
I don't know what ages "young" refers to, but I have read that there are pieces of ones brain that finally finishing developing in the early teens. I'm not a parent, but from what I've been told at this point, I would probably wait till my child was around 10 to let them start engaging in this (in moderation) .
Moderation in all things. I'm very proud when my kid joins me on a TF2 server and people give him kudos. But he also is never allowed onto a server when I'm not there. They play other games offline, and have a PC and a Wii.
When? We started with letting them work the computer and play "baby games" very very early, and I think that's appropriate. When should they be allowed into online games? Depends on the game and community. Something like Club Penguin is probably fine for any age that can manage it. Other online environments are probably fine when supervised even as pre teens. XBox live? I'm pretty sure most adults shouldn't be on XBox live unsupervised. O.o
How much? For our kids a half hour or so at a time is generally the line between a fun break and brain rot. It also is important to think about the time of day and which game. If my oldest wakes up and immediately sits down to Age of Empires, Lego Batman, or mindless flash games, he's ruined for the day. If he goes and plays Wii Fit, he actually has a better day.
Pros are: mental stimulation, learning (Games that rely on history like Age of Empires I and II are great for that), critical thinking, strategy, prediction, teamwork (Solo pyro < Medic/Sollie combo), dealing with others and with negative emotions.
Cons CAN BE: Brain rot, exposure to bad influences, exposure to age inappropriate material, and of course exposure to bad entertainment. I mean there are some really bad games out there. We don't let the kids watch much "kids TV". Not only because we have some issues with the values or what not but mainly because it's just really poor quality. Do you want your kids learning about acting or Special Effects by watching Power Rangers? Come on!
Consider this.
Gaming for children is an easy way to make friends and build connections. You may not have played super smash brothers lately, but nothing can bring a group of 5 or 6 together, screaming their heads off because something epic just happened onscreen like a video game can.
Video games can be negative AND positive for a growing child's social interactions.
As a side note, I attribute some of my intelligence to the the critical thinking I developed at a relatively young age through online play of Warcraft II and Warcraft III.
My parents didn't support my want for gaming at first. I had to sneak over and play on friends games. They weren't to happy when they found out my dad specifically thought I was wasting my time when I could be playing sports. Still I played in secret and eventually convinced them to get me a console. The SNES with super mario.
I don't know why they wouldn't let me game i was reading at a higher grade level than most kids in my class and was doing fairly well at school.
In face i always have done well at school cause if i didn't they wouldn't let me play.
A good time to let your kids start playing in my opinion is whenever they ask you too, and as long as they do it in moderation it shouldn't be a problem. As long as it doesn't affect there school work or any major life events it should be fine.
More importantly is what they should be playing. weather there old enough to play a game like GTA4 or Call of Duty. Obviously thats for the parent personal taste to decide.
Gaming is just like any other outlet a child or person can do. Its just as for filling for killing a final boss, leveling up your character, finishing a mission, or capping the last point of dustbowl. As it is getting the winning touch down or hitting a home run.
I started gaming at 5. I myself am a young'un, at 13, but my problem solving skills and the ability to troubleshoot things surpasses that of the kids around me. A kid should start simple; Legend of Zelda (one of the early handhelds), or Pokemon. Zelda, because some puzzles force you to think, and the answer isn't obvious in later parts of the game. Pokemon, because you need to read to get ahead in that game, building a vocabulary along the way.
-------------------------------------
Age: ~5-6
Amount per day: 1-2 hours
Pros: Advanced Learning, higher vocabulary(RPG's must be played)
Cons: Less of a social life, ridicule
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Start your kid small, and build. Single-player Garry's Mod may also be a good idea. *OPTIONAL FOR GMOD* Download Phx 3, and smartsnap. Works like Legos.
really nice from you guys to stream a mute podcast. thanks, but i'm not watching this anymore
When is was around 4,5,6 or 7 we had a playstation 1
On it I played crash bandicoot <3, spyro and a gorey little game called Biofreaks (look for it) and let me tell you something: Heads were flying of bodies and blood was spraying like kool-aid out of a super soaker and I didn't think anything was wrong. I've grown up and i've found that the concern of agressive behavior is a lie. In fact I found i've grown to be the exact opposite. I try to avoid violence.
So if you're thinking that M games are completley out of the question don't it's not that big of a deal. Most kids are distracted by the games it self to notice any gore or violence.
Just a little help for you hungry gamers.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-edibles/be32/
I started gaming when I was 2 years old. Now, keep in mind that it was those silly kids games, like freddy fish, pajama sam, the really old stuff, but I actually really enjoyed it as a kid. I thought it was a good age to start gaming, but I kept it small. I hadn't gotten into the more current or popular games until around 8. I believe that anywhere in that range is a good time to start. You should probably start small(as in don't play anything M right away)like star wars games or something, and move on depending on your age. At a certain age, mine was 12, you could move on to M games, but until then, it simple. A good amount of time to game would be around 1-3 hours a day. If games are educational for children, maybe 2-5. The pros of gaming as a child are an increased education, social skills, and a great amount of imagination, while the cons may fall under unhealthy eating habits, tantrums, and lack of time with family. Even with the consequences stated before, I believe it is not only something i would recommend for children, but many otheres would recommend as well. Thanks!
Kids can start gaming as early as physically and mentally possible. As soon as they understand how to manipulate a controller, they can experience gaming. Of course, the ESRB ratings of Mature and even some Teen games are not kid-friendly. But uneducated parents can't rely on the ESRB to decide whether or not a game is good for a child. For example, Grand Theft Auto games are obviously out as a choice of game for a 7-year-old. But it makes no sense to wait until they are 17 to play a game like TF2, or Halo, is ridiculous.
I dont think any parents will have to worry about violence in video games. Im saying this from experience. When i was young i remember had playstaion 1. And constantaly played a game called Biofreaks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bio_F.R.E.A.K.S.
There were heads flying off bodies and honestly i found nothing strange and when i grew up i noticed i was a little less frightend by gore and violence. Im not saying its completely okay to let your kids play saw the game or prototype but all im saying is that there's not as big of an impact as you think.
Also not to mention that those games were old.
In my experiences with my two younger cousins, I love that they play games. It's got them learning English, it's got them putting things together and more. But they're also competing more. Maybe it's just the sibling rivalry, they're both boys and only 2 years apart. But it's gotten out of hand at times.
It's fun to have them play and taking turns in Burnout. I introduced them to TF2 while I was there too, after I turned off any sound. It was fulfilling to see them actively want to work with the team and actively complain about snipers and class balances within their team. I do regret showing them Left 4 Dead, not sure why, but I did realize that they were too young for that game. They only got to play it once.
I think kids ought to play games as soon as they can grasp a controller. Under strong parental supervision, of course. It's a fun way to pass time together, it has kids using lots of brain power, and I'm confident they do learn skills from games.
However, I am of the belief that children should be kept away from the internet for as long as possible. Kids need to have GOOD writing skills to communicate with others and not be alienated. Kids need to know who they should and should not be interacting with. And in general, they need to know etiquette of communication over the internet.
And I want anonymity eliminated from the Internet too; but that's a different topic.
I'm not sure when I child can start gaming but, feel I do know when they can play a violent, competetive online game. We have all played with an eight year old who is dropping f-bombs online to sound cool and I see it as a problem. Kids should not be exposed to violent online video games until 13, ebough time to learn respect and devolop maturity.
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