Archived from groups: alt.games.unreal.tournament (
More info?)
"goPostal" <none@this.net> wrote in message
news:SDaNe.235$WO2.71@fe06.lga...
| Actually it's pretty interesting that the opinions are falling where
they
| are. Me being American, the world home for violence and guns in
society, and
| having an anti-gaming for children stance while the European
contingent has
| a safer general society with much less guns being generally
pro-gaming for
| kids is surprising.
|
| I know it is by no means scientific, but would the lurkers chime in
with a
| simple where you live (nationality) and whether you think it is OK
for kids
| to play FPS? I'm really quite interested in how people feel around
the
| world. Obviously we have an older than normal demographic that hangs
around
| here (no jab intended
so the opinions are pretty valuable as most
of us
| have children.
|
| Besides it's nice to have an honest discussion in here!
|
|
First, Thumper's post was way off base, and I have no intent to launch
a gun control law debate, as there are pro's and con's to both sides.
The irony is that anyone would make such a cheap jab at someone asking
a serious question or making a considered commentary on an interesting
topic such as "FPS games for little ones, is it good or bad".
As to goPostal's query, I'm a US (Midwest) resident, and have to say,
in my experiences with the little ones, and I have one of my own
(though she's not old enough yet for any puter fun), I think each
child should be evaluated individually in regard to their ability to
experience and/or cope with "imaginary violence". I recall as a kid
we were exposed to countless acts of violence. For example, have you
ever watched Bugs Bunny or Road Runner cartoons?, or the 3 stooges? or
Space Ghost (now I'm dating myself)? Such television programming
designed for kids is quite violent, yet my generation had no stronger
a propensity to violence than earlier generations (at least I think
this is so, no data to back up my statement, but I'm a 60's experience
kid, and what a time that was, peace, love and plenty of anti-war
protest violence). In fact, the extreme violence in children seems to
me to emanate from other more serious problems, such as a bad home
life, poor parenting, isolation or insecurity problems, and other
"light" mental health maladies.
I do not for a minute "buy in" to these preposterous legal defenses
asserted by some lawyers that "the teen who committed a horrible crime
learned such heinous acts by playing the GTA games", that's all
poppycock. Why his lawyer did not also assert the "Road Runner"
defense or the "bugs bunny" defense is beyond me, because these are
certainly as applicable as the GTA defense, iow, hey, the Road Runner
does this type of violence to good ole Wiley Coyote, so my client
thought it was OK to do the same to others. I simply would never "buy
in" to such a preposterous argument. Of course, circumstances can be
extreme, and an isolated child who is not exposed to regular normal
society might believe such violence is acceptable.
Now, as to kids playing FPS games, well, I would be reluctant to let 5
or 6 year olds play such games, but beyond age 8 or so, the harm would
probably be minimal if not non-existent given the violent content
exposure that a child experiences with television programming. By age
8, all the other kids at school have passed the word on Santa and the
Easter Bunny, and the tooth fairy, so imaginary fantasy characters
have pretty much been placed in perspective by the children.
The important role of a parent in this situation, in my humble
opinion, is to make certain the child properly distinguishes fantasy
from reality. If there is even the slightest hint that the child is
more prone to confuse fantasy and reality, then FPS games could
present a negative impression or cause a negative reaction. For
example, any of us who have immersed ourselves in some good old UT
action have probably had at least one dream of playing the game, I
have any way. Such dreams might be harmful to kids, but I cannot be
certain, since I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Just a few of my thoughts on the topic, which are neither right or
wrong, and I'll be the first to admit I would lean toward keeping FPS
games away from kids as long as possible, though I'm an avid fan of
such games. OK, I'll fess up, I'm 48 and we have a 15 month old
child. So I got married a bit late (age 40), and the wife is 13 years
younger, so yes, I'm a cradle robber also, hehe.
--
Best regards,
Kyle
How much I enjoy
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram