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Are Kids Addicted To Electronic Games?
Are our children addicted to video games and other electronic media?
Santa (ahem) brought my tweenage daughter a Wii for Christmas and Hanukah...and he brought it just in the nick of time...get it....nick of time. Anyway, we're right smack dab in the middle of an arctic January cold snap here in New York so we are so pleased to have the Wii to play with. She's got lots of cool games too like PokePark Wii, Let's Dance, etc. Too bad they don't make a Let's Clean Your Room Wii or a Wii Do Your Homework game. That would be the bomb.
Needless to say, my normally happy and cheerful 9 year old is even more anxious than ever to finish her chores and homework so she can earn time on the Wii. However, I've noticed a slight change in her temperament since we acquired the Wii....she's become really moody. If she doesn't earn time on it she throws a tantrum or sulks for ages. She was never like this with any of her other toys. This is the first time we've ever had any electronic games in our home so I'm new to this. I've managed to avoid them so far but since we moved to the burbs and all her friends have them so...there you go. She cries at the drop of a hat too when I inform her that her time is up and I always limit her time. I'm wondering...are these electronic games addicting to our kids? Is Electronic Game Withdrawal similar to the Delirium Tremens or radical changes in personality one normally witnesses with substance abusers? She begs for more time on it like it's heroin. If she starts trying to trade candy for time or trolling our Cul De Sac for a WiFi connection she's headed for Electronic Gamer Rehab.
A friend of mine advised this check list for children in order to earn time on electronic games, I think it's helpful. They have to complete all the tasks in this order...then and only then can they earn time:
1. Make my bed
2. Straighten out my room
3. Take out the garbage
4. Go to School
5. Do my homework
6. Study
7. Get some exercise
8.Feed the dog
9. Phone a friend
10. Visit a friend
11. And, lastly, play video games
Hope this helps. Have you noticed a change in your child's mood or behavior since he or she started playing video games?
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Have you had her tested for ADD? Having a diagnosis myself, it reads very similarly to poorly-managed hyperfocus.
I'm curious why these are responsibilities and why they must be completed before video games. They don't follow the theme of the rest of the list.
7. Get some exercise
9. Phone a friend
10. Visit a friend
Maybe you should just limit video game time to, say, 3-4 hours a day? Earning "reward points" seems like something they do in prison. I wouldn't say it's addicting, but you wouldn't want to be pulled from a good book right in the middle of it would you?
Bad mothers are just gonna keep blaming video games for there children problem which is a joke. There to old and bitter and don't research topics enough to really care certain things you moms just decide are horrible. Don't let your daughters play lots of games or they be losers
If you want your son to grow up like a champion and have good character. Let him trash talk people on xbox live. If you want your daughter to grow up as a virgin forever then let her play alot of video games
If your son doesn't play violent video games then he will end up like these soldiers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIHKP3EX2zw
If he plays violent video games then he could do this in virtual reality and not in real life
For the first time in history, like minded people are able to participate and communicate DIRECTLY with their respective peers in an environment and community on a global scale, with exceptional speed.
More and more people are spending time in virtual reality which is impacting their physical social behaviour and influence on topics, discussions and actions within their day to day world.
Internet is young, and the decline in face to face human interaction is changing the way we think and live our lives.
Censorship is the ultimate hindrance towards the construction of global identity, and is a step backwards in terms of human progression.
Internet is the digital medium. We need to fight to ensure that this medium stays free and open to develop global inequality and ensure that a sense of global morality continues to grow.
In terms of your kids, encourage them to play video games, by not doing so will actually cause more social harm in their peer relationships at school and their day to day lives.
As you mentioned, 'every kid in the burbs' had video games, she is feeling left out in terms of discussion and 'coolness' within her own social groups.
The future is changing, and your generation needs to grab hold of it tightly and help push your children into the digital age.
Thanks for all your comments. I'll try to address some here. The reason why my list contains Get some exercise, phone a friend and visit a friend is because I need to stress the importance of HUMAN social interaction over the constant playing of video games. And when was getting some exercise ever a bad thing? Especially for a teenager! LOL
3-4 hours of video game time seems excessive to me. Sounds like that 'anonymous' writer is a friend of my daughter's or perhaps even my daughter!!
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Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been a fivarote for a long time. Even though it may be old, it's a game you can never get tired of. You can also do tourneys with your friends and such.
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Wow video games are so cool, I like these. Actually I am always playing all types of video games. When I am feeling sad so either I am watching some cartoons or play some video games then my mind is felt fresh and cool. My kids and husband are also interested for these. We all are playing this maximum in holiday. Thanks for your nice post.
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All kids and little people also play some many types video games. When school and tuitions are closed and homework also completed then all kids are busy in video games. Actually I am also interested in this plays. Thank you so much for post a beautiful concept, I like this.
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If you tell to kid 'baby close your study and go to play some video games, so they are how much happy, that you can't understand. Maximum time I saw something not only kids but also their parents are involve these games. Really I am so glad for read this cool post and thanks for sharing.
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Really all kids are very cuties and funniest, if they are watch on cartoon serial or start to play on electronic games, so definitely they can’t close that up to when parents are not interfered. This blog is really like it and I am so glad for reading this.
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Kids are really cute and funniest that’s why those are doing some funniest work like; playing some amazing normal games and electrical video games, etc. Holiday is the best day of kid’s sweetest life, because that day those are playing some video games in maximum times.
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