Monday, January 22, 2007 [ 11:28 PM ] ;
0 replies-
Saw this online, its interesting so I decided to post it up.
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Society itself is breaking the family unit down. Technology makes lives more
difficult just as much as it does make them easier. Many people no longer have
a clear line drawn between work and personal time because they’re digitally
tethered to their jobs, or at least their co-workers, through e-mail, cell
phones, etc.
Play / recreation is an important part of life, and many people are forced to
work long, odd hours because of a 24/7 mentality where work never really stops
for many people. Video games are a good way to get that sense of play in,
because they’re convient. It’s a lot easier to, say, hop online and play a game
of Madden than it is to try to organize a ‘real’ game of backlot football with a
group of people on the weekend. People need to have downtime.
Anything in excess is bad. Video games can be good for children in proper
doses. You can have human interaction while playing games, by inviting kids
over, there are a lot of kid-appropriate games that allow for more than one
player. Most parents don’t want bothered with that, it’s easier to drag their
kids to football or baseball games, dump them on the field and sit in the stands
reading a magazine while the coaches watch them.
Maybe if some soccer moms would be less worried about dragging their kids all
over God’s creation to participate in ‘worthwhile’ activities instead of letting
them come home from school and actually playing with them, be it a video game or
just running around in the back yard, having them help prepare a meal instead of
going through a drive-thru for a Happy Meal, you’d have kids that were a little
more relaxed and have a better relationship with their parents.
I don’t think that activites that center around the home are a bad thing.
That’s just as big of a problem, many kids don’t get much of a stable, quiet
home life, because it’s considered essential to have them participate in every
last after-school activity, run, run, run from the time they get up in the
morning until they go to bed at night. Parents need to be parents and not stop
every five minutes to check their voice mail or not spend time with their kids
because they have to do this or do that around the house. Those things can
wait, kids are only kids once.
‘Real human interaction’ starts with parents, not teammates, coaches or dance
instructors. And God forbid you sit and play a video game once in a while with
them, and show them that games can be fun, but you also need to know when to
say when and turn them off, balance them with other activites.
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Trying to remain strong despite being desperately sick. I will never show weakness to my parents anymore.
