Ask GamerDad 4/10/09
Posted on April 15th, 2009 by
So what if I turned this in over a month ago. So what if there’s still a couple more in the backlog, it’s not my fault, What They Play seems a little shaken up lately. Hope that’s not the case but it’s not my business really. With this one I decided to use one coherant and well-reasoned (if not well-written) essay a 15-year old sent me and then worked through the essay addressing his points. I think it’s a great read.
April 15th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Thanks to whoever wrote in for actually writing well and giving us teenagers a good name. I think I might check out that MPAA movie, that sounds interesting…
April 15th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
That 15 year old was great and you did an overall very good job at responding to him.
I have a bit of an issue with your last comment though, gamerdad. You appeared to be saying something along the lines of “there’s no reason why mature kids should play M rated games therefore they shouldn’t” (sorry if I misinterpreted what you said. We all know I have a tendency to do that) which could be said about pretty much all other forms of entertainment as well. “But the malleability of a teenager is pretty scary in the eyes of parents” isn’t a particularly compelling argument either in my opinion. From my experience, most things in life are pretty scary in the eyes of parents.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I never liked videogames but now you’ve inspired me to bond more with my dad………Guess what I did and now I play almost every other day and it’s soooooooo much fun……………………..OOOOO! and did you know there’s an article abou this website on kidbiz3000. thanks,
person who now likes videogames
April 17th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
“But the malleability of a teenager is pretty scary in the eyes of parents” isn’t a particularly compelling argument either in my opinion.
I think this is a very valid argument. If you look at them as a group, they tend to be very status oriented and heavily influenced by peers and popular trends. This also holds true in terms of brain development. Teens tend to not have the same level of impulse control as do older people. One place that this is easily observed is in the military. While the armed forces have raised the age limit for new recruits, they still prefer 17 to 19 year olds. Besides being at their physical peak, they are easier to get to follow orders and are much less likely to question the authority of those in charge.
There are exceptions, or course, and this doesn’t mean that teens shouldn’t play video games, but it is still a valid point.