Violent Video Games Contd.
I like a particular type of game…I like games to be more of an interactive movie.
I like to get lost in the environment, in the world of the game, like you can with a good book or a (rare) exceptional movie. And I come “back” with a better outlook on life.
I get fed up with the people who fly past me on the freeway and squeeze between me and another car without signaling. I get frustrated when I am accused of not helping my customers, then as a customer, don’t get a fraction of the service we give. I get riled up when I see the media portray their biases and agendas as news, and I get tired of competing in school with kids who have nothing better to do than to study for some unholy amount of time.
Now I know none of these things are really worth getting angry about, but blowing up aliens, or driving in a digital demolition derby seems to dissolve the urge. I don’t wish I could shoot anyone in real life, nor do I imagine the red Jetta with the punk on the cell phone when I smash a car into a million 1s and 0s. It’s all very abstract.
I think the escape is the relief
I know it’s possible that violent games aren’t good for me. My mom struggled while raising 4 boys to try to decide what games were appropriate (My dad just hated them all together—till he got hooked on Cabelas Deer Hunt that is). For a while my mom was really restrictive on what she wanted us to play, and we were really upset at first. We thought our games were fine. I remember explaining why we chose the games that we played, and what we avoided. I’m not sure if that changed her mind, or how much that affected her, but she let us make our own decisions.
Having said that, I want to emphasize that there are many games that I will not play as a matter of principle. Some games I think are enjoyable but have offensive subject matter, others I think the entire premise is wrong. And I think that any more than “a little” video games is way too much.
Of course everyone has their own definitions of what is offensive and how much, is too much. (And that is as it should be)
I think a lot about being a parent, so this is how I want to approach the subject with my children. I think we should be part of their lives. I think we should know what our kids are playing. Not that we need to check up on them or intrude on their privacy, but we should find out what interests them. “So what do you do in this game?” Listen to the response, the strategy they have developed, and what they like and dislike about the game. If there is a problem, address it. For example if my child at 10 years old said “Well I’m supposed to strangle a street girl, but if I have to cap her client first, then I lose the clean job bonus” –I’d be a little concerned. And I would probably see if they could pause the game while we evaluated the lessons that this game was teaching.
Seriously though, help children set the criteria for what games they buy or play. Make sure it is based mostly on their criteria, even if it’s hard for you. My mom, bless her heart, would try to be as accepting as she could. The music in racing games drove her crazy, she let us play, but would ask that we turned it down. There was a snowboarding game we had, that the character bled if he landed on his head—that made her physically ill (queasy, gag reflex etc.) but she tried to appreciate the moves, and we tried hard not to land on our heads. She even tried to play some of the games with us (she said it was like having a disobedient child—she told the character to do one thing, but they did whatever they wanted to) I think we were more sensitive to the content of games, and it meant a lot to us that she tried, and I’m sure it meant a lot to her to know what we were in to. I want to have that kind of an approach with my kids.