February 4: Game Face

Video games seem to be one of those things that parents pass down to their children as they reach a certain age. Typically, this introduction is the result of a parent excited to see the child's face light up upon witnessing such grand technology or because the parent simply needs some time for themselves and the TV just isn't cutting it anymore. Often, some combination of both. In our house, it was more of the former. I was, and still am, a video game junkie. I love everything about them - the graphics, the story lines and, of course, the challenge. And, until recently, I've been a strong advocate of there being no connection between video games and a negative affect on a child's brain and/or behavior. I mean, I grew up playing video games - Atari, the original Nintendo, Playstation (1 and 2), and now the Wii. So, for me, it seemed harmless when I first allowed my kids to experience video games sometime last year. But, last night, while waiting for my daughter at her dance class, I had a different sort of experience with video games. My son asked me to help him with a part of the "Super Hero Squad" game for his Nintendo DS that Santa brought him last Christmas (thanks, Santa!). I obliged and it was quickly "bye, bye Scott". Immediately, I was absorbed in the game, neglecting my son's pleas to return it to his hands; even found myself irritable at his request to hand the game over because I had already been sucked in and winning was now my sole focus. It was like a drug. Luckily, my wife broke my trance and reminded me how foolish I was being, and she captured the moment in photo so I could see how foolish I looked. For the first time in my life, I was able to see my face when consumed by a video game. It isn't pretty! Here, you can see me lost in concentration, followed by a good shot of my son, annoyed, as he attempts to reclaim what is rightfully his (poor guy):


Now, I'm thinking the video game thing is not such a good idea for my kids. Not yet. Don't get me wrong, both kids enjoy playing, and they've gotten pretty good at it. But, like me, my son seems to become obsessed with it. If he's not asking to play the Wii, his face is buried in his DS. To compound the situation, we're seeing a change in his behavior immediately following a video game excursion - he's more aggressive, impatient and sometimes downright mean. Looking back at my own video game days, I can remember getting quite upset when the game wasn't going my way and lashing out at my parents as they tried to explain how ridiculous I was being. Yikes! It appears I may have passed down more than just an interest in video games. And, it's not like these photos just put the light bulb over my head. We've been seeing the signs for a while, and we've already implemented some changes. First, we've cut back the game time considerably, and, secondly, our goal is using the video games as more of a reward for good behavior. But, I guess it's true that "seeing is believing", as seeing myself in that light definitely changes the way I see video games and their affect on both children and adults alike.