Parents and video games.

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-7071108,00.html] Read Article[/url]

This reminded me of Vamp when he said he played video games for 16 hours steight the other day. :D

I predict video games will become a worldwide pass-time, and a world-wide addiction. In a way, its a critique of our current society; people are just not satiated with the way things are now, so they find an alternative. China is a prime example, it being on an epidemic scale.

Even just spending an hour in the same room with your kid while he/she is playing is better than doing nothing at all. Parents shouldn't suck this hard.

Yeah, more damage is done by parents that don't spend any time with their kids than children just playing video games. I remember getting yelled at for playing video games too much one day because I was supposedly waisting all my time. As soon as I turned off the Snes though my parents watched TV.

My dad used to be into games around the N64 era, but I guess he lost interest. My aunt was a pretty good gamer too - probably the only person I know who can handle the Medusa heads in NES Castlevania.

Not surprised there. All this should change though when our generation grows up and becomes parents. Unless of course we turn into our parents...

The most involved my parents got was when I had to convince my mum to let me get Perfect Dark, which had an 18 certificate. Well, I say convince, we were already in the store and I had a pre-order, the store clerk just explained why it got an 18. My mum was more concerned over whether or not the violence in the game was excessive and whether or not you played as a good guy.

My mom kept me away from VGs all the time I lived at her place. And my brother is strickly forbidden to play any form of game as well to prevent him from being addicted to any of them. My mom and step dad are of those parents who want their kids to be outside and play. Breathe air and make friends. Not even going a friend's house to play VGs.

But my dad himself plays once in a while certain games. Mostly Starcraft, Myst and Wii Sports. He doesn't mind me and my step brother playing hours of VGs if that's what we enjoy doing. Although if it's a 12 hours straight, chances are he'll tell us to take a break. And I must admit that playing for 12 hours or more a VG is quite a lot. No matter how fun it is, spending a whole day in front of the TV isn't healthy. A few hours each day is ok, but 12 hours is too much.
I agree with my dad. I'm glad he doesn't us playing whatever, but he's counting on us to moderate ourselves with VGs and I usually don't play that much. Longer I've been playing was 7 hours on Gunbound. First night I played it. After that, a 6 hours straight on SC battle.net. And I felt ****ty for having spent the entire afternoon playing because I realized I didn't eat, missed a few shows I liked and did not take my shower. I wasn't very proud of myself on that one.
But I wouldn't be of those parents who start controlling kids to keep them away from VG and make them feel bad for playing because I'm against it. I'll never be against it. It's fun. But there's a limit to fun I believe. School comes before, etc.

Some parents must just assume kids naturally learn how to moderate free time with out their involvment, forgetting how much their own parents had probably harped on them for playing outside all day. Just like the parents against violence on TV, they just want to blame something, thinking that that something is responsable for why their kid is a lazy ***, instead of blaming themselves. My parents bought me all kinds of video games, but I had to earn them by racking leaves, painting walls, shoveling snow, exc. Video games were the reward, and before I could start playing a videogame I needed to spend one hour on homework, even if there wasn't any due the next day. Lucky for me, my parents saw how to use video games as motivation, and in the end they taught me moderation.

Parents and games just never seem to get along, its something that most of them will just never understand, and i think the word addiction is crazy to use then we have a TON of people addicted to movies and TV and those are just things that are looked at as, no matter how much you watch its just TV or a movie. At least with games you are interacting with it.

As for me its my hobby and i don't have enough money to play in a mens league hockey, i loved ice hockey but once you graduate its all said and done. and no i am not in college if you are wondering.

I spend my time playing video games, my parents watch movies and my sister is on the phone, all in ultra excessive amounts but thats just what we do. and from now to the day i die i will come home from work and play some games. its my TV and almost everyone i know just goes to work and comes home to a TV watches it cooks dinner eats it in the living room starts to doze of and goes to be.

Video Games - My anti-television.

[COLOR=Navy]Do I have a story for you guys.

When I was a kid, my parents had concocted an insidious system of limiting the privileges allotted to my brother and myself. We were required to do chores and in return, we either earned money or were given "Privilege Chips," which were poker chips we could spend to play video games (there was no price for watching tv, but we didn't have cable so there wasn't much point in doing that since we were little kids).

Conversely, if we ever got in trouble, we could either sacrifice our "Privilege Chips" or receive a spanking with the dreaded "Black Stick," which was basically a hollow, black, plastic tube that stung like hell if you got hit with it.

Because of this system, I didn't spend much time in the house because I valued my money too much (aside from which I had a limitless supply of energy, my best friend lived next door, and there was a *** **** forest on our property ripe for the exploring). My brother, on the other hand, loved video games (although he doesn't play much anymore; now I'm the gamer), and would often suffer "The Black Stick" in order to preserve his precious "Privilege Chips."

Good times, good times.
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It's no wonder that older parents aren't so enthusiastic about gaming. They were already in their twenties by the time hits like Doom, Mario 3, and SFII came out. It would be harder at that point to support a hobby that consumes so much time and money.

Like Vampiro said, statistics will change when this generation, with its Halo/Pokeyman background, reaches the parenting stage.

No longer will the average parent be able to say, "In my day, we threw rocks at sticks to pass the time."

I wasn't given restrictions because I never broke any rules. The closest thing to a restriction I got was to babysit while my aunt was at work. I was once asked a question if I would rather live my life as a bad guy or good guy; I chose good. When asked to explain why, I said because it was easier.

You know, I think most parents are just too lazy to get invovled with what their kids like to do and research the games or shows they want to play/see. So with them being lazy, they are quick to blame video game companies for making maturer games and the stores for selling them. I feel like parents shouldn't expect someone else (government or what-not) to make things easier on them. I'm a parent of two boys, ages 2 and 3. Sure theyaren't asking to play Halo or Manhunt 2, but they do play games. And I will sit next to them and watch as they control Tiger Woods and swing 60 times to get theball out of bounds. I had the kids so it is my job to determine if they can handle a game.

Somehow missed this during October:

[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/26/games.childrens] Read This [/url]

Go Will Wright, Go!

Or they care too much and want to shelter them from practically everything. It seems like most parents choose to take one extreme or the other, not realising there's a perfect balance.

[quote=VirtualRealityZone;782452]Exactly.
I had no restrictions when it came to video games, t.v, etc and look how I turned out.
I'm not violent at all. & I'm not in anyway crazy or corrupt.
My parents always knew what I was playing or doing when I was growing up.
They didn't care if a game or movie I was watching was violent or not.
They just made sure I could distinguish between whats real & whats fake, whats right & whats wrong.
Thats the problem nowadays. Parents just don't seem to care about their children.

I hated when my parents would say I spent too much time on the games or outside, but when I was inside spending time with them there were always distractions and disturbances ruining the time we had together. I never really realized how much time I was wasting on games (about 4-5 hours a day) until my first vacation but it was practically too late since I was 16 at the time(around the time I joined VGC for the first time!). I look back at that time and feel kind of ashamed I wasted so much time....

How is that considered wasting your time if you enjoyed yourself? Not like you would've done anything constructive with your time anyways.

I agree with what Will Wright said though, that it's the generation gap that's causing most of the problems. And like what Vamp said, how is enjoying yourself a waste of time? With all the stresses that are accumulated through high school, work, and parents, video games create sanity in an insane world. Hell, if those people who are so against video games would play some maybe they'd be happier.