There’s some interesting discussions going on about when is the right age for kids to play video games, and parents and psychologists are weighing in on the issue.
Here’s a post at Slashdot that got me started:
http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/24/1425221&from=rss
Here’s the MTV Multiplayer blog article:
http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/01/23/when-are-you-old-enough-for-video-games-part-1-of-2/
And here is an article summarizing the thoughts of industry experts recently gathered at CES:
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,23036907-5014117,00.html
I think I can agree that the educational aspects of some games is definitely overstated, and I think parents definitely need to be involved with their child in any kind new media situation, whether it be gaming or electronic gadgets or otherwise. Having grown up with my fair share of electronic educational toys, and also just purely non-educational but fun electronic toys and games, I feel pretty comfortable allowing my children access to games and computer, as long as I have approved it.
What do you think? Do you have parenting ‘rules’ about gaming and computers? I’d love to hear from you.
[UPDATE]: Chris Brogan, social media advisor, and someone I follow on Twitter, has a new post on gaming and virtual worlds:
http://chrisbrogan.com/xbox-ps3-wii-second-life-and-you/
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Tags: parenting, gaming, computer, video games, violence, CES, MTV, Slashdot