http://theliquidarchitect.com/2007/11/27/parents-just-dont-understand/ Exploring the art, business and culture of videogames Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:37:29 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 http://theliquidarchitect.com/2007/11/27/parents-just-dont-understand/#comment-263 guyguyguy43 Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:40:44 +0000 http://liquidarchitecture.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/parents-just-dont-understand/#comment-263 very good, I like it. :D :D very good, I like it.

]]> http://theliquidarchitect.com/2007/11/27/parents-just-dont-understand/#comment-21 Idetrorce Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:13:03 +0000 http://liquidarchitecture.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/parents-just-dont-understand/#comment-21 very interesting, but I don't agree with you Idetrorce very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce

]]> http://theliquidarchitect.com/2007/11/27/parents-just-dont-understand/#comment-19 Paul Berkman Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:25:32 +0000 http://liquidarchitecture.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/parents-just-dont-understand/#comment-19 For many parents there is a reluctance that is both natural and understandable in terms of their participation in their kids' video games. Parents have lots of demands on their time, so those precious hours spent with their children need to be intelligently allocated. A caring parent is motivated by lots of concerns -- including, but not limited to, character building, educational considerations, imparting the right values, demands made by other stuff on the kids' schedules, and just plain fun. To a very great extent, the parent's choice of activities that he or she participates in will make a strong statement to the children about what that parent values most. In that context, very few children need to be encouraged to play video games or to actively engage in various forms of electronic stimulation. The kids will engage in those activities -- for bettr or worse -- whether or not the parents get involved. Of greater concern to the parent is that the kids not get "hooked" on sources of electronic stimulation to such an extent that other valuable activities get crowded out. Those could include reading, sports and other forms of physical exercise, homework, visiting museums, mind-challenging (non-electronic) board games (like chess or checkers), and just plain social interaction with others. So statistics that show only very modest parental participation in electronic games with their kids are not necesarily a bad thing. The important question isn't what specific activity the parents are involved in. More crucial is whether they are involved at all with their kids, and to what extent. For many parents there is a reluctance that is both natural and understandable in terms of their participation in their kids’ video games. Parents have lots of demands on their time, so those precious hours spent with their children need to be intelligently allocated. A caring parent is motivated by lots of concerns — including, but not limited to, character building, educational considerations, imparting the right values, demands made by other stuff on the kids’ schedules, and just plain fun. To a very great extent, the parent’s choice of activities that he or she participates in will make a strong statement to the children about what that parent values most.
In that context, very few children need to be encouraged to play video games or to actively engage in various forms of electronic stimulation. The kids will engage in those activities — for bettr or worse — whether or not the parents get involved. Of greater concern to the parent is that the kids not get “hooked” on sources of electronic stimulation to such an extent that other valuable activities get crowded out. Those could include reading, sports and other forms of physical exercise, homework, visiting museums, mind-challenging (non-electronic) board games (like chess or checkers), and just plain social interaction with others.
So statistics that show only very modest parental participation in electronic games with their kids are not necesarily a bad thing. The important question isn’t what specific activity the parents are involved in. More crucial is whether they are involved at all with their kids, and to what extent.

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