Video games have never had much of a presence in my house. While other kids have enthused about the awesomeness of their Wii, or Xbox or Kinect, my kids have politely nodded along, without having much personal experience to contribute.
So last Christmas, I gave in. I found an old, 12-inch TV in our basement, hooked it up to the husband's old PS2, set some gaming limits, and let them have at it.
I thought I was on top of the video game's lure, I really did. But a few extremely hot weeks this summer, coupled with unbreatheable, smokey air from our local Colorado fires, kept the kids indoors. A lot. And their video game consumption increased. A lot.
My daughter, 11, really didn't seem much different, personality-wise, after playing her more-than-normal amount of "Star Wars." But my son, who is almost 9, reacted far differently. My once happy, go-with-flow, helpful guy had morphed into a surly, sarcastic pain in the you-know-where -- when he wasn't parked in front of his game. Was there a connection? I decided to find out.
Last week, I unplugged the PS2, hid it in my room, and said it wasn't coming back for a while. My daughter took it fine; my son, not so much. But after five days of the video game ban, here's what the experiment has revealed:
1. Less surly attitudes -- Like I mentioned, my son's negative attitude was just through the roof prior to the ban. He was sarcastic, argumentative and really pushing my buttons. Besides that, he was constantly asking me if he could play his games; that, or I'd just catch him playing them. A few days after losing his system, he was back to his old, pleasant self. Coincidence? Hmm.
2. More time spent reading -- My son was awfully quiet yesterday up in his room, so I peeked in. He was reading. A book. It had been a good hour, and he was perfectly content. In the past, he would probably be on Level Gazillion on Planet X or whatever at this point, but instead, he was exercising his brain. I quietly closed the door.
3. Interest in hanging with the family -- Olympic Fever hit our house hard these past two weeks, and all of us were parked in front of the TV, including my son. But even when the TV wasn't on, he was in the den, chatting with his grandpa or just lingering about, not holed up in his room. And it was pleasant having him around.
4. Increased exercise -- My son and his neighborhood buddy are known as the skateboarding kids on the block, because that's what you normally can find them doing. But the PS2 was starting to take a huge chunk of their time -- and causing my son to turn into a huge chunk. Today, he spent two hours playing in the pool and is probably on his board right now, where he should be.
5. Lots of helpful behavior -- OK, initially, I took this as a ploy to get back in my good graces and re-plug in the video game system. But after making me my third cup of coffee in as many mornings, with no strings attached, I'm thinking my son is actually just being nice, for the sake of being nice.
My daughter asked today if maybe, just possibly, could I plug the PS2 back in for a bit. I couldn't bring myself to do it. If a ban on video games could produce this kind of behavior turnaround within a week, then I have just one idea where the system can go -- the garbage.
https://voices.yahoo.com/5-surprising-results-ban-video-games-11658952.html?cat=25
So last Christmas, I gave in. I found an old, 12-inch TV in our basement, hooked it up to the husband's old PS2, set some gaming limits, and let them have at it.
I thought I was on top of the video game's lure, I really did. But a few extremely hot weeks this summer, coupled with unbreatheable, smokey air from our local Colorado fires, kept the kids indoors. A lot. And their video game consumption increased. A lot.
My daughter, 11, really didn't seem much different, personality-wise, after playing her more-than-normal amount of "Star Wars." But my son, who is almost 9, reacted far differently. My once happy, go-with-flow, helpful guy had morphed into a surly, sarcastic pain in the you-know-where -- when he wasn't parked in front of his game. Was there a connection? I decided to find out.
Last week, I unplugged the PS2, hid it in my room, and said it wasn't coming back for a while. My daughter took it fine; my son, not so much. But after five days of the video game ban, here's what the experiment has revealed:
1. Less surly attitudes -- Like I mentioned, my son's negative attitude was just through the roof prior to the ban. He was sarcastic, argumentative and really pushing my buttons. Besides that, he was constantly asking me if he could play his games; that, or I'd just catch him playing them. A few days after losing his system, he was back to his old, pleasant self. Coincidence? Hmm.
2. More time spent reading -- My son was awfully quiet yesterday up in his room, so I peeked in. He was reading. A book. It had been a good hour, and he was perfectly content. In the past, he would probably be on Level Gazillion on Planet X or whatever at this point, but instead, he was exercising his brain. I quietly closed the door.
3. Interest in hanging with the family -- Olympic Fever hit our house hard these past two weeks, and all of us were parked in front of the TV, including my son. But even when the TV wasn't on, he was in the den, chatting with his grandpa or just lingering about, not holed up in his room. And it was pleasant having him around.
4. Increased exercise -- My son and his neighborhood buddy are known as the skateboarding kids on the block, because that's what you normally can find them doing. But the PS2 was starting to take a huge chunk of their time -- and causing my son to turn into a huge chunk. Today, he spent two hours playing in the pool and is probably on his board right now, where he should be.
5. Lots of helpful behavior -- OK, initially, I took this as a ploy to get back in my good graces and re-plug in the video game system. But after making me my third cup of coffee in as many mornings, with no strings attached, I'm thinking my son is actually just being nice, for the sake of being nice.
My daughter asked today if maybe, just possibly, could I plug the PS2 back in for a bit. I couldn't bring myself to do it. If a ban on video games could produce this kind of behavior turnaround within a week, then I have just one idea where the system can go -- the garbage.
https://voices.yahoo.com/5-surprising-results-ban-video-games-11658952.html?cat=25
