Video games are good for children

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Sporting_Lisbon
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Video games are good for children

Post by Sporting_Lisbon »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/20 ... s-eu-study


If you have kids, the first thing you have to do after he/she knows how to read is to teach him/her how to play age of empires!
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36drew
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by 36drew »

So long as your kid isn't fat and plump with no physical activity and little social involvement.... game away!
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by GeneralMichael »

Ahh my inevitable weakness. I was skinny till they removed my tounsils which made me not be sick every week. Which was then followed by my discovery of my sweet tooth and while I was still in the hospital the beginning of my addiction to video games.

Also they forgot about the Wii. They could use it in gym class. :o The wii gives a mental and physical workout... Though only problem is class of 30 kids requires about 8 consoles
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by 36drew »

[quote=""GeneralMichael""]Ahh my inevitable weakness. I was skinny till they removed my tounsils which made me not be sick every week. Which was then followed by my discovery of my sweet tooth and while I was still in the hospital the beginning of my addiction to video games.

Also they forgot about the Wii. They could use it in gym class. :o The wii gives a mental and physical workout... Though only problem is class of 30 kids requires about 8 consoles[/quote]

I actually have one for my class. Great for students with special needs who have challenges with gross motor.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by RascalJones »

My 5 year old son is quickly becoming a Wii master. He has bowled a perfect 300 game in Wii sports, he whips me at Mario Kart, and has a rabid fascination with Lego Star Wars.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by Kaiser_von_Nuben »

I have gamed constantly since I was 5 years old (I am 31 now), I got straight As in school, I went to a top 10 college in the U.S., I graduated law school magna cum laude. Throughout that time, I have played games nonstop, sometimes for very long periods. Anyone who says, then, that "video games make you stupid" is an idiot :D In my case, they actually increased my intelligence and zeal for learning.

I actually learn a lot from video games. Whenever I really get into a game, I learn stuff relating to it. In AOE 3, you could have a field day learning about European history/colonization in the 16th-19th centuries. In my younger years, I learned everything there was to learn about European history, American history, military history and even science and technology. Games excited my interest in serious subjects... they have definitely been an important part of my life. They make knowledge and learning enjoyable, and they spark my enthusiasm.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by Soccerman771 »

[quote=""Kaiser_von_Nuben""]I have gamed constantly since I was 5 years old (I am 31 now), I got straight As in school, I went to a top 10 college in the U.S., I graduated law school magna cum laude. Throughout that time, I have played games nonstop, sometimes for very long periods. Anyone who says, then, that "video games make you stupid" is an idiot :D In my case, they actually increased my intelligence and zeal for learning.

I actually learn a lot from video games. Whenever I really get into a game, I learn stuff relating to it. In AOE 3, you could have a field day learning about European history/colonization in the 16th-19th centuries. In my younger years, I learned everything there was to learn about European history, American history, military history and even science and technology. Games excited my interest in serious subjects... they have definitely been an important part of my life. They make knowledge and learning enjoyable, and they spark my enthusiasm.[/quote]

I think you truly may be my long lost twin brother. I didn't go to a top 10 college but I did graduate magna with my MS in engineering...

I'll tell you about one of my papers regarding Age of Empires II. It was an actual term paper in graduate school centered around the game and strategy. Naturally, I got an A ;)
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by wicked_assassin »

dunno, lol,

it's just an alternative to tv... age of empires can't beat going out.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by TheRam »

[quote=""wicked_assassin""]dunno, lol,

it's just an alternative to tv... age of empires can't beat going out.[/quote]
No-one says don't go out, but playing games is far better than being idle watching crappy TV.
I mean, some TV is intellectual or captivating, but at least with a game like AoE you come out of it with improved hand eye-coordination, and a better vocabulary ;)
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by Highlander999 »

Bah, if it wasn't for Age of Empires I wouldn't have found history, wouldn't have gone on to study history at uni and wouldn't have met my gf who also studies history.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by blayzer13 »

I wouldn't know half the stuff I know about other countries if it wasn't for online gaming in general, back when I was younger all I did while playing was talk to people and learn about their cultures, I learned a good deal about England and its history that I wouldn't have had access to to begin with, the general knowledge of the world I got has really helped me in highschool.

Also, due to video games Ive become very good at multitasking, one bad side affect may be my dependence on listening to music inorder to function right but we don't worry about that. In my no-life summers I would be eating sometimes, playing some game on my comp, with music going and usually playing some console game with friends over all at the same time.

Kindof rambling on here but another thing Ive found that has helped is the teamwork I have gotten from my two main games, World of Warcraft and Aoe. the teamwork involved in both of these games is amazing when you step back and look at it. AOE has it on a more tactical scale with teamwork not being as big of a factor, but with WoW it takes a combined effort of 5, 10 or 25 people, all from different backgrounds, on the same page, working for a common goal to get a certain boss killed or something similar.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by Shizle »

Good topic. I let my 11 year old twin boys play pretty much as much video games as they want, as long as there's some breaks in between. They both are happy, well adjusted, skinny, do all their homework, score way above average in both english and math, and are top 5-10 players in all their sports. I'm not just saying that for effect. I've been monitoring their behavior etc wondering whether I've allowed them to go down the wrong path, ready to pull the plug on gaming, but they continue to thrive and do well. I'm having very little problems with it so far. One kid would rather shoot hoops in his bedroom. The other kid would rather play than eat. But, he's the one who just qualified as one out of 10 kids in his entire grade to participate in a spelling bee. We talk to them all the time, make them feel loved, make sure homework gets done, etc., and we get comments from people we don't know all the time about how good they are. I know it sounds like bragging, but that's not my intention. Raising kids is what I call The Big Experiment. You take a particular approach but don't really know how it'll turn out until later. Seems like it's going swell so far. My personal opinion is it has less to do with gaming and more about parenting. That's just my experience.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by GreenDude »

[quote=""Shizle""]Good topic. I let my 11 year old twin boys play pretty much as much video games as they want, as long as there's some breaks in between. They both are happy, well adjusted, skinny, do all their homework, score way above average in both english and math, and are top 5-10 players in all their sports. I'm not just saying that for effect. I've been monitoring their behavior etc wondering whether I've allowed them to go down the wrong path, ready to pull the plug on gaming, but they continue to thrive and do well. I'm having very little problems with it so far. One kid would rather shoot hoops in his bedroom. The other kid would rather play than eat. But, he's the one who just qualified as one out of 10 kids in his entire grade to participate in a spelling bee. We talk to them all the time, make them feel loved, make sure homework gets done, etc., and we get comments from people we don't know all the time about how good they are. I know it sounds like bragging, but that's not my intention. Raising kids is what I call The Big Experiment. You take a particular approach but don't really know how it'll turn out until later. Seems like it's going swell so far. My personal opinion is it has less to do with gaming and more about parenting. That's just my experience.[/quote]
Your kids sound like me (execpt I am 3 years older and my parents are more resistant to the Tech era) I still get As and Bs (though I guess I could work harder :-P ) and play Tennis, being one of the top long distance runners in my class. Video Games do not rotten your brain. Grand Theft Auto does :D
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by cheesehat »

That report you showed had 5 words on how video games are good for us then the rest was how violence made ppl stupid.
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Re: Video games are good for children

Post by Kaiser_von_Nuben »

+1 Shizle. You can never know whether your approach will pay off. I am glad to hear that gaming works for your kids. Personally, I think the TYPE of game involved has an influence. Strategy games that involve history, simulators that involve operating machines etc... those always sparked my keenest interest and inspired my desire to learn more about the subject matter in the games. First-person shooters did not come out until I was in my middle teens. I always enjoyed them (Wolf 3D, Doom and a few others), but I always kept things in perspective. I knew they didn't have the same educational value as strategy games or sims. No matter what game I played a particular moment, however, I never let them get the better of my responsibilities. That is a mental task; and not everyone's mind is strong enough to resist a really addictive game. The WOW phenomenon is an example. To me, that is the "wrong kind of game" for a kid anyway.
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