VIDEO GAMES

VIDEO GAMES

Many new electronic toys have appeared in the market in recent years, these include Nintendo, Play station, Game Boy, Sega, X Box, and the like. Children are fascinated with these toys for three reasons:

They can control some portion of the action
New games can be added so they do not get bored playing the same games over and over again
Parents do not tend to control the number of hours their child plays with these games (unlike the way parents tend to limit the hours that they will allow their child to watch TV. or the content of what they will let them watch).

In an of themselves, these games are not a problem, however, like everything in life, when not used in moderation, they become a problem. Parents presenting in my office complain of their children fighting over use and access to these games with each other; of children spending countless hours playing these games - often instead of playing outside or doing their homework and chores; and, of constant pressured from their children to purchase new additions to the game collections.

THE NATURE OF THE GAMES

Violence, The Good and The Bad:

A notable feature of many of the games is a focus on violence. Enemies are killed or annihilated, the player is rewarded for these actions. The proposition of the games is there are "good guys" and "bad guys". It is important to remember your child does not have either the depth of knowledge about the World, nor a fully developed sense of logic about the things they hear and see. Children do more of what they see then what they hear. Constant exposure of young minds to games of violence and the idea the world is divided between good and bad people (rather then good and bad actions) influences how they interact with other people and how they view the world and themselves. The younger the child, the less they are able to tell the difference between reality and make believe. The young child who still talks to his teddy bear and still believes the tooth fairy puts money under their pillow is very impressionable. What does such a child make of a game, seemingly sanctioned by parents, which encourages them to kill other creatures and divides the world into only good and bad?

The importance of Interpersonal Contact:

Human beings are social animals. Acquiring the skills to work, play and interact with other children and adults is a major developmental task of childhood. Electronic games do not foster this developmental task. They foster a relationship between the child and the electronic machine. Even when playing the game with another child, the focus is not on the interaction with the other child, but with the images and actions of the game. The other child is often the opponent killed or annihilated. This fosters isolation and a type of competition which is unhealthy. For specific children, such as children with ADHD, these games seem particularly problematic. Children with ADHD often tend to be aggressive, isolative and internally oriented - all features that these toys support and encourage. Additionally, electronic media - the games in question, TV., and similar visual media - appear to have a special electro-chemical response in the brains of ADHD children. These games become one of the few activities on which these children can focus for extended periods of time. While the increased focus, attention, and quiet parents experience when their child is playing with these games feels like a blessing, extensive use of these games actually increases negative behaviours and interactions with others.

Do No Pass Go, Do Not Collect One Hundred Dollars:

Most of the games presented in the electronic toys are made up of multiple levels of play. If the player succeeds at the first level, they go on to the second level, if they succeed at the second level they go on to the third level, and so on. In many of the games however, if the player does not succeed at a particular level, rather then going back to the previous level at which they did succeed, they must start all over again at the lowest level. For many children, going all the way back to the first level is extremely frustrating and undermines their sense of self-esteem.

All parents know their children get frustrated from time to time trying things they have not yet mastered - whether this is learning to tie their shoelaces or ride a bicycle. The eventual mastery of such skills is what helps our children grow and develop a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence. As parents, we praise small gains - the first time our child manages to ride their bicycle a short distance before loosing balance and falling down, or the first few steps our toddler makes while holding on to the furniture. We do not wait to reward their efforts until they can ride a bicycle or walk across the living room without incident. Our encouragement of each small success is what supports our child's developing sense of mastery and ability - we don't take their bicycle away or put training wheels back on it because they fell after the first time they actually rode it without our holding on to the bicycle. The electronic games however, do exactly this - they take away all previous small successes, putting the child back at step one. The younger the child the more frustrating returning to the first step. Again, for ADHD children, whose sense of mastery tends to be weaker then non-ADHD children, there is a greater sense of frustration.

MANAGING YOUR CHILD'S USE OF ELECTRONIC GAMES:

The U.S. Government held hearings on the effects of entertainment media on children. Among the proposals discussed was the idea of rating electronic games in the same way we now rate movies. This approach seems impractical given the thousands of games developed each year and the fact that individuals can and do develop games that may be taken from the internet, many for free. Additionally such limitations would only effect content not some of the other adverse effects of these games. Control of these games and their effects on our children rests wit the parents. Below are some principles parents may consider in managing their children's use of these games.

Review the Contents of the Games Before you Buy Them:

Before you purchase a particular game for your child, read the labels on the game. If you can, sample the game at the store or, if one of tour children's friends have the particular game, have them bring it over and sit down yourself and play it. If the game appears especially violent, if it encourages the player to do things you would not want your child to do - either in the game or real life - don't purchase it.

Limit the Time Your Child Plays With The Games:

Parents need to set limits on how long their children play with these games on a daily basis. Use your own discretion, but consider limiting use to one or two hours a day. Children should, as a general rule, spend no more time playing these games then they would spend watching TV. on any given day. Parents might consider balancing TV. and electronic games as a single type of activity, so that the choice is between the two - more game time means less TV. time and visa versa.

Monitor How Your Child Interacts With The Games:

Observe your child when they are using these games. If it is apparent that your child gets unusually angry or frustrated with a particular game at any one time, step in and have them put it away for awhile. If they continue to get frustrated over and over with the same game, then it should probably be put away until they are older and can better manage the frustration that the game causes them.

In homes where there are several children there are often fights between children about who gets to use the game and how long they get to use it. Rather then constantly pleading for them to share, it makes more sense to schedule a time for each child to use the game - either different hours for different children or different days for different children. If you decide to use the different hou4rs schedule, then allow a half an hour break between the use of the game by one child and the use of the game by the next child. The half hour break period keeps the child waiting to use the game from pressuring the child presently using it to hurry up and finish.

ENTER THE INTERNET

The internet provides wonderful educational games and websites, as well as resources for your child to access for school work. For many children however, surfing the web has become simply an alternative to electronic games. Again, parents need to monitor the sites accessed by their children, the content of these sites, and the amount of time their children spend "on-line". The parental controls feature of internet sites is useful, but it is not a substitute for parental oversight. In the same manner that parents would not let their children talk on the phone for hours on end (remember the internet is a phone line and it is not free) we should not let our children surf the web for hours.

As additional caution is needed with the internet in the form of chat rooms. Children have access to chat rooms on the internet. These are purportedly designed for children, however there is no way to ensure that the person on the other end of the chat room is a child. There are a growing number of instances of adults obtaining personal information (names, addresses, phone numbers) or trying to lure children to meet them outside of the home thought the use of chat rooms designed for children. Again parental oversight is necessary. The fact is that there is nothing confidential about use of the internet, all contact information is stored in a server, your computer has an IP number which is exclusive to that computer and makes you traceable.

In conclusion, parents need to manage the new electronic toys and internet access of their children. We expect our children to protest when we do this, but that is no different then the protests they give us when it is time for bed or time to come in from playing. It is simply part of our job as parents.