Ridiculous . . .

Ok so I have another blog post in the works but I just had to post this . . .

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1220221

Roxbury mom calls cops because her son has a videogame obsession . . .

Does anyone see anything wrong with this article?

I remember when game systems were new and, you know, you COULDN’T SAVE! This basically meant in order to beat a game without losing all of your game time you had to either a) Keep playing or b) turn the TV off, keep the system on, and risk someone pulling the plug while you were out of the room.

I also remember my mom’s reaction to gaming, if she thought we’d played too much nintendo it was either go outside or she’d pull the plug on the game. If she found a videogame she didn’t like she threw it away, no questions asked. She didn’t care whose it was or how we got it, it was in her house and that was it.

WHY WAS THERE A TV IN THIS KID’S ROOM?!?! Honestly! If he has a videogame obsession and she is so worried about it why is he still allowed full access to the system and his TV?

I started reading down into the comments and I just felt sick to my stomach. Videogames promote poor social skills and low self esteem? Boys play videogames to fit in? Okay . . . obviously if they are playing games to fit in then that would make it SOCIAL and would mean that they make friends through their gaming. I can’t tell you how many weird moments I’VE been in and yet I’ve been able to jumpstart the conversation by referencing something on a videogame. How did I get to know Brad? Through gaming.

How did I meet my first group of friends at college? Gaming

I understand that I’m only one person, but honestly, generalizing game players? We aren’t all socially inept dolts, most of the guys I know who play games and are GOOD at them are extremely intelligent.

I do not agree that kids should be playing games 24/7, I’d be worried if my kid was doing anything for twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. I’d feel uncomfortable if my son obsessively played basketball or my daughter obsessively knitted . . . or something. There is a time to stop a behavior that seems unnatural, but in order to do that you have to set boundaries.

I don’t think I can count how many times my parents took the TV away from my brothers and me when we were younger. Did we deserve it? Yes. Did it work? YES!

The fact of the matter is, none of the people in the older generation knows how gaming effects kids, why? Because they never did it. They are making guesses and conjectures about something they know nothing about. Brad and I are very happy to know that we have an edge when it comes to raising our children because we play videogames. I know parents that never had a chance to have that kind of edge and they really watched their kids. I never heard of these kind of problems. I just think parents are too nice these days . . .

What do you think of the story? Really, I want to know.

(btw I found it funny that someone mentioned how U.S. kids are so lazy and that’s why jobs are being sent overseas, you know, where people have virtual girlfriends and die playing WoW)