No nintendo for my kids.

I don't even have kids, but just this past weekend I was out at a buddy's house. He has 3 kids and two of them are boys probably around 12-13 years old. Anyway, they're pretty good boys. They know how to weld and throw hay, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for the bulk of the kids I see parents with today. Well... he bought them Nintendo DS, or whatever they're called- small handheld game systems. They were on those things the whole time I was there, and that was pretty much all day. Its like they turned into zombies.

Like I said- I don't have kids, but if I did, I'm pretty sure they'd hate me because there's no way I would get them game systems to spend the whole time on.

 

No, you SHOULD get them nitendos, but be a GOOD parent and teach them moderation. There is nothing wrong with playing it, just gotta teach them it is not the only thing to do with their time

 

I've seen kids like that. It think it says a lot more about the parents than the kids.

Complete opposite: I've babysat with some kids that have a Wii. I think I need parenting lessons from their parents... Both kids are active in multiple sports and are great all-around kids. They enjoy the Wii, but when I say, "it's time for bed," they literally put the remote down, turn off the Wii, and head upstairs.

I think there's room in kids lives for video games, but it MUST be a PART of their lives, not dominate them. Same for TV, Pizza, (insert potentially addictive and bad item here)

 

I finally found something I agree with you on bob.

I hate all these damn gaming systems.

all part of dumbing down America in my opinion. Stands right up there with public education aand the stupid FCAT tests.

 

I'm 35 and when I was a kid the Atari was the thing to have, but I didn't go nuts with it...that being said, I don't have kids either(sorry mom) but my older brother has 2, I think it's an electronic pacifier of sorts just like every owning every DiZZ-Knee dvd to the point he cant go to the grocery store with out a dvd in the head rest mounted dvd for them to zone out on. Children grow up around computers and I-pods, so it's natural to want to have the newest and best thing. I wanted Star Wars toys. SO I guess it's similar. One difference was when I had Star Wars toys I would go "OUTSIDE" and create a Tatooine or Dagobah to play in. Hell I didn't even have a cell phone until a year ago, I tried to hold out but my brother had a free one through his business and it doesnt cost me a dime, but if it wasn't for that I would only have a land line. And for all you young kids out there, Stay off my Lawn.

 

We have 5 different consoles or gameing systems in our house. I think my son is far from a zombie, he is active in little league 4-5 nights a week and helps out aroud the house with chores or yard work. We also ride motorcycles on the weekends and that helps keep him going. I think having the games are fine, but just as in watching TV you just have to be the parent and moderate what or how often they do it. As long as we take an active role in parenting and not turn him loose on the Xbox or PS3 as a electronic babysitter I think we will be just fine.

 

x100

moderation is key with EVERYTHING in life.

 

I never had one But I have a 4.2 GPA and All County lacrosse player so it's okay!

 

The videos are allowed by the parents to become a bad thing. I can tell you in my experience with my son that if allowed in moderation kids can actually benefit bfrom video games.

My son is in first grade although we are very involved with his education, do you know how difficult it is to get the average kid to read (I'll speak for myself and tell you more then difficult). The problem is at that age they don't want to read anything that he don't have to, you see with the computer and some video games he is forced to read in order to play the games (there are excellent age appropriate games like this). Secondly I think it helps in his decision making processess i.e. risk and reward, decisions and consequences.

So as mentioned above with PROPER PARENTING there is room for video games in a healthy kids routine.

 

I have two sons, well they are adults now. One was and still is into the games and now plays the on line games and he is 25. My oldest son was not really interested in the games. He was into shooting, surfing working on cars and just building stuff, he is 27 now. We kept both involved in baseball, soccer and basketball. My 25 year old Josh rolled his passion for computers into a living, he is the IT manager for a huge automotive dealership here in So. Cal and does some web design on the side. My oldest Jeff still loves to shoot and fish, still loves building stuff and was a mechanic for Lexus prior to moving to Texas and becoming a school teacher. The kids today need to find a balance.

 

how bout we just blame it all on the Japanese for giving us video games. the only they didnt screw uo was making our trucks. hahaha

 

coooooooooooooooool

 

Yeah...I played pleanty of video games in grade/high school...I also used the internet/computer from the time I was about 10.

And I graduated with a 3.98 from high school as as Eagle Scout, went to a military academy, and graduated there with a 3.14. I learned how to take care of business when needed and how to enjoy my time off.

Everyone who has said moderation is key it right on. Plus it's another tool to use in discipline-If they enjoy it- you can take it away. It's all about teaching them the value of things and where the games lie in priorities.

 

When I was growing up, I admit that we had an Atari. But we had a pretty shitty TV set that the thing was plugged into and the graphics back then were basically little blocks that shot at each other. Can't say it kept me captivated for hours and hours. Besides- my Mom would come downstairs and actually turn off the TV and say: "Go outside and play!"

 

when i was younger i had the regular nintendo. we had a rule, i could play it 2 hours a day but only 1 hour consecutively. as a result i got to play video games but i spent the vast majority of my day's outside. if i have kids i plan to do something similar. but i agree, letting your kids play games till they drool is not helping them out at all

 

It will make them concentrate more anlong with better reflexes and focus