Agnostic Mom

My husband thinks he whooped my tail in regard to the issue of child development and video games. On his blog, he linked to a PBS article about the myths of video games, saying it should help him win arguments against me. I admit it was a good article. Okay, Israel won a few points. He still didn’t cover all the bases.

Israel is Pro-Gaming. I am Pro-Gaming-In-Moderation-Only. He is liberal with the types of games he allows Blake to play. I’d rather limit Blake to childrens’ games.

I insisted on, and Israel went along with, a rule that mandated “no shooting people, or killing.” So when Israel introduced the adult game, Splinter Cell, to Blake, he instructed Blake to only use a stun gun, not a regular one. No matter that it all looks the same, whether the guy falls dead, or falls stunned.

I complained, but went along with that. Blake is a peaceful boy, the son of a man who once loved writing violent, gory suspense thrillers, but can’t go fishing, because the fish’s death is too traumatic for him. I doubt sneaking around as a CIA official, with a stun-gun, would turn Blake into a voilent predator.

As leniency tends to increase with time, the rules evolved slightly; it somehow became okay for Blake to shoot aliens dead. Aliens are bad. Guns, in this situation are good, according to Israel.

About a month ago, Israel bought Blake a new game. I walked in to find him playing the role of an alien, and shooting humans, specifically police officers.

Israel’s justification? “From the viewpoint of the alien, the humans and the police are the bad guys.”

I wasn’t giving in this time. I told them, “I hope you can get your money back on that, because if it is still here tomorrow, I’ll be putting it in the trash.”

They didn’t get all their money back. But they got some.

Returning to the subject of my “tail-whooping”, Israel thinks I am Anti-Video Games. He convinced me long ago, that they have value: They refine the child’s hand-eye coordination (a skill I lack,). They teach the child quick-thinking skills. They also taught Blake to read. Like an adult.

So, great! There are some benefits! My argument has been that excessive gaming deprives the child of time to develop other vital skills, learned only in the formative years. Those skills come with physical activity and role-playing. While Israel’s article convinced me that gaming may have more benefits than I thought (such as social benefits), and also made me feel better about the lack of substantial evidence regarding violence, it did not address the issue of excessive time and the imbalance that must result from it.

As for the violence issue, and whether Blake should be allowed to shoot police officers, I’m still not going for it.

If you don’t mind my changing the subject , you ought to check out my husband’s video podcast. It’s had enormous success and has received the notice of prominent bloggers and podcasters. Israel is a talented videographer, and he shares his skills in small five-minute bites. If you like to video your kids, or anything, for that matter, you will love Izzy Video.