Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Video Games zapping my sons brain

Everything in moderation I guess. Sitting in front of a tv like a zombie isn't good either but that is another issue!

Yes, I would think the computer would be better than the TV, since one has to be active on the computer to make anything happen.

Our preschool has educational computer games available for 3yos to use for a few minutes each day in the classroom, so I don't think it's a problem for a GT 2.5yo.

What's supposed to happen to them if they use the computer? What ill effects are they supposed to suffer?

This was/is my take on the computer: fine as long as in moderation. And we only allow her on educational programs. The two she uses is pbskids.org and starfall.com. She also has a few programs loaded from CD but all educational.

I did a little research on this idea of harmful to the young and this is what I have come up with:

http://www.acei.org/inf.vol.13.4.htm - the article is entitled "Computers and the Very Young"
By Patricia Cantor, Plymouth State College, Plymouth, NH

From this article I think I found the main opponent of computer use for toddlers:

Fool�s gold: A critical look at computers in childhood. www.allianceforchildhood.net


I am still reading the fool's gold but up to this point in the reading I have not been swayed to the other side. Mostly there is a jump to conclusions that children are left to play on the computer for many hours and it takes the place of other activities such as playing outside and reading books.

I have to say, BLESS THE DS! I have a very reluctant early reader who felt like a bit of a freak that he was reading and wouldn't perform. My parents bought him a DS for Christmas with a Pokemon game. The pokemon obsession ensued... as did a three year jump in reading level. Most DS games have quite a bit of reading in them. I simply told him "You can play but I"m not reading it to you." So he had to read it to himself. Then he read the strategy guide, the collectors guide and taught himself to play the card game- all at 5.

We also have a Wii. No Wii on school nights unless you've earned it. I have a sticker chart on the wall- 5 stickers means 30 min of Wii time on a school night. All 5 stickers come from "brain food" where he has to do some type of school work- handwriting, math, journal work, etc. Since is school is lame- this is our version of "unschooling". If he wants to play Wii, he'll have a snack afterschool then hit the table for about an hour of work. If not, then he doesn't. No pressure from me- no negotiations.

The DS is mostly in the car. We have a 30 min each way drive to school and we carpool with another boy. They play together etc. I can totally see how the DS is a social object- my kid has learned a lot of topics that help him chat with older kids. Most don't expect him to have 100 Pokemon characters in his head or to be able to give tips for Super Mario Galaxy. It works for a way in!

I've gone back and tried to find the study several times when this topic has been referenced. I'm not at my home computer but I know there is at least one study that HG+ children relate differently to the computer, get more information from television and just process the information differently. So in general, the "zombie" idea doesn't really hold the same weight for slightly older HG children.

Ok, I should first admit that i didn't read all 8 pages of this topic! haha

Intensity and the need to 'finish' it ... but with these games, you can't 'finish' it.

How different is it from reading a really good book and you can't put it down? Try watching half of a good movie and turn it off to finish it later? Now add the fact that it is a child who can't possibly have the self-control that an adult has (and considering most adults have self-control issues with these very same things)

...

I try to talk about this feeling of wanting to finish a section of the game, the intense immersion of their being into it, and how that feels. How does it feel for them to not have 'control'? What would they feel if they could 'control' themselves? How could they reward themselves when they are able to 'stop'?

etc etc

Ds8 is now in possession of the "DSi", the newest coolest darn thing I've seen in a long time. He got it in the mail the other day. He is totally stoked about the pokemon game we got him, although he's been late in warming to pokemon card game preferring yu-gi-oh (but there's very few folks around to play that one with so he's finally coming around to the card game after all).
I am letting him go a little hog-wild these first few days (last days of spring break) to kind of get it out of his system. First day he just really wonked out with it. He would hardly give it to me for the 5 minutes needed to get it connected to the web. I did announce that there would be much less screen time once school is back in session, and in general.

A couple days before we got it, I asked if he was really excited about it. He said, "Yeah, now I can fit in a little bit!". I had not spoken with him about that at all - nor did Dh. I asked if he'd talked to daddy about it, and he said, "No, mom everyone just has one!!". (I have added a 'DUH!' for myself to the beginning of that sentence.)

Funnest things so far, don't know if these are all available on all models:
Recording obnoxious sounds and replaying. Recording your sister's obnoxious/cute sounds and replaying.
Brain Age Express - Math (we got a couple free downloads w/purchase). The reason he/we picked that one was not the hoped for 'ooh math!' but because it has a drawing and dramatic expression training also built in. Those are really fun, the math is too, but so far not a focus for him.
- Taking pictures of oneself/everything and messing with them in the photo editing area (aka using diff. 'lenses'). You get all kinds of freaky/silly results.
- being able to hop online wherever there's an available access point.

All in all an incredible piece of gadgetry, and one pretty satisfied kid.

(We'll see soon enough if we've created a monster. )

Isn't that a shame? That's how Pokemon started for DS - I hated the darn little creatures. It just doesn't make any sense to me, but EVERYONE else had it, knew about it, played it, and so on. Finally, I relented and let DS start playing.

We handle the video games a little differently. DS is an only and when there are no kids around to play with, he plays the games quite a bit. He reads and other stuff, but he enjoys the video games. DH and I make it a point to watch him play or ask questions or listen to what he's telling us about whatever game he's playing and a lot of times we even play with him.....well, DH plays, I just push the buttons and pretend . I personally don't get the whole video game thing, but DH does and there is a thinking aspect to alot of what they play, so I guess they're not all bad.

Our rule has always been that if the game(s) become so important that he'd pass up playing with friends and interacting with humans, then it's become a problem. He and his friends do play the games together sometimes, but if the weather's nice, they'd rather be outside which is what I love to see. I tend to agree with the other poster who said that (paraphrasing) stopping a video game in the middle is likened to not being able to put down a really good book or only watching half of a great movie. I'm pretty sure this is how DS views it and we try to be considerate of that, without letting him rot the day away.

eema - that is exactly the reason why we went down the DS and Wii route, we wanted to give both our DS's something that they have in common with the other children their ages. My husband sees no problem with gaming - he is an only child and spent a lot of time playing computer games and has turned out OK (well according to him - LOL).

They are not allowed to play during the school week, and have an hour (sometimes a little more) a day on the weekend. If their behaviour is bad then they will have the "privilege" taken away, or at least some of their Nintendo time!

This seems to have worked for us, as otherwise they would play all the time

JDAx3, like you, I don't get this whole video game thing!

Oh yeah, as long as when the weather is good we can all have fun outside, ... then the games have not taken over. Phew!

If child's decision is rather to stay inside to play video games ... uh oh

That's exactly how it is at our house! And I fully understand, as I don't want to quit a game without saving it, either!

My DH and I are both games addicts (I don't know that he would admit it, LOL) and I really don't think DS6 is as bad as we are. He will get obsessed with something for a while, but it wanes and turns to something else soon enough. I myself have been known to devote every waking hour to a game (can anyone say "Civilization" or "Myst"?) until the obsession wears off--I haven't been that bad in quite a few years, however.

I guess what I'm saying is we just kind of let it pass on its own. He will play for two or three hours and then just put it down and go outside to do something else all of a sudden.