Violent Video
It doesn't surprise me to read that most research shows that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior in children. I've watched kids play a variety of those games, from fantasy swordplay to military strategy, and they always seem to get emotionally involved in the action. How easy it is for those feelings and responses to cross over to real world situations. My kids play educational computer games, some of which are actually more about fun than learning. I just see no reason why kids need to sit in front of the TV screen blasting people and creatures into oblivion.
Permalink posted by Phil at 10:09 AM
5 Comments:
I'm going to post on this soon, but our son, who does not watch commercial TV, has been picking up bad things from preschool kids who do watch it. That's where he learned the decidely undesirable "I kill you" from.
Is that from some video game? My son learned the exact same phrase during first grade. He also learned about slashing people with a sword, and the "across the neck" motion. To me that's a little beyond the more innocent BANG BANG cowboy or soldier play. He stopped the "kill" talk after a couple of good discussions with us.
We're very careful about the DVDs and PBS shows he watches. We did let one slip through the other day: "The Private Eyes" starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway. Shoulda previewed that one first... lots of jokes about death and murder. A bit too much for a 7-year-old.
I have no idea where the kids got the "I kill you" phrase, but I spent weeks getting my boy to stop. He is so young, it was hard to explain why it was bad to say.
One of the ironies of not watching much TV anymore is I no longer know which shows the bad stuff is coming from.
He is 12 now, but when my son was 3 he received some "action" figures (boy dolls) from a family member. He immediately removed the packaging, rammed the dolls together and said "Kill, kill, kill." I know he wasn't getting that from Barney and Friends.
He plays plenty of video games, but all are sports oriented...right now his favorite is golf. We won't allow the shoot-em-up, choke your opponent games in the house.
I agree that games are just too violent for kids anymore. We've come a long way from playing cowboys and indians.
Guess Im really lucky, though. Logan (2.5 yrs) sees me practice karate,and imitates me. He has his own uniform. Putting the uniform on, and taking it off , has helped define our activity. He knwos that kicking and punching and judo is for when you wear the uniform, not for the playground when he has to wait in line for the slide.
We watch The Karate Kid all the time, but I make sure to emphasize the emotional parts as well. Like when Danny gets beat up on the beach, we talk about how they gave him booboos, and thats not nice. Violence, in moderation, and with the proper guidance by parents, doesn't have to be a negative thing. It can become so when parents just pop in a dvd to keep the kid busy for an hour, and pass up the chance to sculpt their childs mind and emotions.
Shannon
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