VIDEO GAMES

We live in a world where technology is improving everyday. Unfortunately, some of it hinders our child's creativity and spontaneity. When I was young I went outside after breakfast, came in for lunch, and back outside until dinnertime. I made chocolate chip mud pies, dressed in my father's old shirts and put on plays for the neighborhood kids, and went to the park and rode bikes and floated popsicle sticks in the brook. I seldom watched television during the day, and in the evening our whole family would watch shows together. In this day and age, everywhere I go I see small children up to adults, playing hand held video games on the go, and playing video games on the computer, or PlayStation and X-box and whatever else is popular at the time. It blows my mind that these kids spend HOURS upon hours playing violent games that have them killing policemen, prostitutes, and random people that get in their way. It is so realistic looking, that after a while I can imagine that it is hard to tell reality from the game that they are playing. Our children are getting so conditioned to vulgarity and violence that it becomes second nature to them. When we were young and driving to my grandparents house, we didn't have hand held games to keep us quiet. My father would engage us in singing rounds, one starting and each one joining in after a round. I was always disappointed when we reached our destination because it was so much fun. Sometimes we would each pick a color car and count how many we could find while taking a long ride. My daughter and I used to play a game in the car which kept us occupied for a whole hour. I would say "I am going to the beach and I am bringing an apple." Then she would have to say apple plus something that started with a b, and so on. I would actually have a hard time concentrating on driving and remembering all the words, so I can't imagine people texting and driving. The point is, we thought of things to keep our kids busy without relying on video games. For some reason, some parents find it easier to put a controller in their kid's hand, rather than actually engage in conversation with them. When my son was young he really got into playing video games. The games were nothing like they were today, but very addictive just the same. I don't think they had memory cards for the games like they do now, or if they did I didn't buy them. He would spend hours "beating" different levels, and couldn't stop or pause it or he would have to start all over again. My younger son always thought it was funny to go over and switch the power off of his game, and I honestly thought my son would hurt him he would get so mad and crazy. It seems like kids are more agitated after they play for long periods of time. There has to be some kind of control on how much time your child plays these games, and more control over what games are suitable for them. I really don't think most parents even know what their kids are playing. They just know that they are quiet and out of their hair. BIG MISTAKE. I remember one time when my kids were little they were in a concert at their elementary school. My husband drove them all over earlier so I would have time to get ready in peace. Well, I picked up the controller to play Super Mario Brothers, because I had never played and wanted to see what the fascination was. I started playing and couldn't even get past the first level. I tried and tried and finally got to the next level. Before I knew it, the time had really gotten away from me. I almost missed the whole show! I know first hand how addictive video games can be, so you need to let your children know that they have time limits on how long they can play. We are stifling our kids creativity and imaginations like you can't believe. Make sure that you allow them that time to play outdoors, and you will be surprised at what games they can come up with on their own Who knows, maybe they will even make you a mud pie!