I reckon it all comes down to balance. The Jr. Blaise has benefited from computer games for sure. And, as time goes by, he's learned to load new games and I've taught him the magic of the right button on the mouse. I fall in with Sozobe as being old fashioned; I see a nice bright sun shiny day and just know little ones should be outside enjoying, whether they like it or not.
I know my parents had the same concerns with me an television when I was growing up. One can only imagine what gripes our kids kids will have with their kids.
I think that video games are okay -- i would just restrict which one he can and cannot use. There are some violent ones out there but you just need to make sure he is not renting or buying those -- also, restrict the amount of time that he can use it. Too much time infront of a video game is not a good idea -- he should be reading as well
I'm late as usual to this thread. I pretty much agree with others here that a lot depends on how much time and what kinds of games.
I bought my kids one of those 15 dollar plug in the tv games. They are mostly very simple little games. The one I got was basically an atari remake -- centipede, missile command, pong, etc...
The only other exposure they have is at the local grocery store's daycare. There my son can play more strategic "big boy" games (like Crash Bandicoot -- I love that one) and my little girl can play matching and memory games on an educational computer.
But as for buying a gaming system I say, not any time soon.
educational video games?
Are there any PS 2 games that are educational w/o the kids even realizing it is educational? I would not feel as badly about them playing some of the games if I really felt they were learning something valuable during play.
Thanks,
Joanrenae
My son's in middle school now with lots of homework everyday, so our PS2 is strictly used for entertainment. I will recommend one thing, though. Get the Eye Toy. They jump around and get lots of exercise while playing it.
When I was teaching, I saw so many of my students--especially teenaged boys--scrounging every spare minute (and quite a few that weren't genuinely spare!) to play video games, I perceived them as a potential disaster. Hours spent in a sedentary posture can't be good. And, although a few of the games skills are demonstrably transferrable to real life, I wonder just how many and just how well.
Then, I discovered Mindstorms, a game which allows children to program the motions of a remote toy truck. You can look at this on-line--it is sometimes called Lego-Mindstorms. It is not cheap, but it truly does promote deeper thinking. The fellow who invented the MIT prototype for this game (he was cofounder of the AI Lab at Tech) "retired" to our town, and he has figured out how to involve 2nd-graders with the action. This brilliant guy (Seymour Papert) studied with Piaget before going on to become a world-class mathematician/philosopher, and he is convinced that this sort of programming, in which a child is able to see results in his living room is highly beneficial to the mind.
I see no harm in giving one's child use of a Game-Boy during a long trip, a special occasion that's tough on the young--and their parents!
