Inconceivable wrote:Zoidberg wrote:For the record, studies show that video games may contribute to bla bla bla..."
yeah, yeah.
It's the only medium where you can fantasize that you are actually an amazing athlete while sporting what I call a "nintendo gut".
I guess some my not recognize the problem here. These kids will die fat and young, desensitized to random acts of aggression/violence, bereft of interactive social skills, unable to qualify for even military service because 300,000 cyber situps don't really count.
You would not want these Halo orphans to end up on your local police force.
Anyway, Oaks ought attend his great, great, great, great, great grandson's scouting overnighter and discover what the real problems are (Odds are that the kid is most likely home bullseyeing womp rats).
What you so arbitrarily replaced with bla bla bla was actually a collection of references to built-in exercise equipment, as well as research that has found benefits for social skills, spatial skills and dexterity (which can help imrove athletic ability). But you, in your infinite wisdom, are content to pile all video games together. Who here was arguing that being desensitized to violence is good? But please don't imagine that anyone is naïve enough to believe that lack of exposure to video games per se equals lack of exposure to violence; I'm sure there are plenty of kids in the Middle east right now who have never played any video games, and yet they are desensitized to violence.
The Bible and the Book of Mormon are literally full of violence and convenient justifications of rape, genocide and murder, in case you've forgotten.
That said, I'm very against violence and am aware of the research that indicates that media violence has negative effects, especially on young children. However, video games are not the only domain; lots of movies, cartoons and holy books are full of it, as well. I'm generally for reducing violent imagery and eradicating the "guys with guns are cool" mentality, but I don't see how video games per se pose a threat to our society.
If too much time is invested into a single activity, there are likely to be some negative effects. If someone is locked up reading the Scriptures all day, I don't imagine it will do them much good in the athletics department. That no one really does that because it's too boring is another question.
Just because DHO has never played Sims or Dance Dance Revolution (wouldn't that be an awesome sight to see?) doesn't mean that these activities are somehow less appropriate than playing some commercialized scripture game at FHE or going hunting with your dad (and you don't have to actually kill anything when you're playing video games). I would generally stick to moderation in all things, less violence in all things, and more video games that promote exercise or extra equipment that allows you to exercise while playing. If these requirements are met, playing video games can be very beneficial, IMHO.