I know many of you have kids and they probably do have all of these, but should kids have a Playstation, PS2, XBOX, Nintendo Gamecube, Gameboy Advanced and the Gameboy Advanced SP and any of the older ones that they may have? I am talking about when they are like 5-10 years old.

I work in Electronics at Walmart and especially now right at Christmas time they are buying games and systems like crazy. They ask me for a game and I will ask them which system and they tell me that their child has all of them. And some of the kids that come in there looking for games look like they need to have their game systems taken from them and sent outside to play to lose some of that weight they have.

This is no lie, but there is one kid who comes in there all the time, he can't be older than 12. I know he must have all of the systems because he has gotten games for all of them before. But he must weigh about 160-170 pounds. I guarantee that he could not get my size 34 jeans around his waist. I gave my brothers stepson my old Sega Genesis for Christmas a few years ago and for the longest time, he would play those games for hours at a time and he would hardly ever leave his room.

I still have a super Nintendo that I play sometimes, and I am also getting a Gamecube for Christmas, but something just does not seem right for a small child to have that many different video game systems.

All of those systems really add up to big chunk of change too. Just the systems that I mentioned earlier at their current prices at my store come up to about $700 dollars and that is not including any games which many often cost around $50. To me that is a shame for a child that age to have well over a $1000 dollars worth of video games.

I didn't mean any way to offend anyone here who has all of those systems or any of those who have children that have those systems mentioned...

Any thoughts about this from other members here?

 

My son,who is 7, has a PS1 and a gameboy advanced, loves them but he is like me would rather be outside playing than in the house. Being in iowa tho when its so cold outside your nosehairs freeze it gives up something to do inside.
I have a PS2 and my puter

 

I can see how the gameboys could keep kids(or adults) occupied on trips or something.
and I think Game cube is prolly best for younger kids
X box and PS2 are more adult oriented
I think kids whose parents would buy them all three are just spoiled, when we were kids you had either Atari, or Intelivision, or colecovision if your parents let you have one.
I think alot of kids today are just spoiled, look at how many you see in new cars.

 

Just imagine the arthritis the kids will have some day. I had an original nintendo and about a year and a half ago I bought a PS2. Had a few games until I got robbed. Now I'm glad there gone. I wasted a lot of time playing it. Now I get on FTE or do something constructive.

Someday I'm sure my future kids will have one, but it will be regulated.

 

Electronic games ??
Remeber when kids had to get outside and get excercise and actually be creative and think and be able to do math without
a calculator and homework without a computer and do homework out of a book only.
Electronic games have sadly taken over and access to and time spent "playing" them should be limited

 

having 8 kids,i found the more they get the more they want.our kids had one system at a time.though they did have them all at first you couldn't keep them off the systems,but eventually they got bored and found something constructive to do. i believe as parents we should show our children that you cant always get what you want(never thought i'd quote the rolling stones ),thus teaching them to make the best of what they already have.I certainally had to growing up.

 

I always wanted an Atari as a kid but never got one due to my family's money situation. This year I got my daughter an Xbox for christmas and I don't know who is happier about it, her or me? I will regulate how much she plays with it though and it won't replace time spent with daddy and playing outside and educational activities.

I DO think that there are some parents that use it as an electronic babysitter for thier children though.

 

Times change. I remember my dad saying he had to make believe a stick was a gun and I could just goto the store and get a toy gun. It happens with every generation. Computers are not going to be a passing fad, so to be a productive adult, the kids now are going to have to be comfortable with electronic devices. I agree the time spent on it should be regulated to some extent though. I think they are fine if, as everything else, they are used in moderation.

 

I agree that kids need to be comfortable with electronic devices and believe me they are! I have worked in schools and the kids are much more technologically literate than adults in general. Kids are not afriad to try something for fear of failure like adults.

I do have a concern with kids spending to much time with electronic games and computers. Besides the obvious lack of physical excercise resulting in over-weight children, I am concerned that we will end up with a society of people who lack social skills. We are already beginning to see this in kids who spend excessive amounts of time with computers, etc. and do not play with other children to develop social skills.

There needs to be a balance and parents must regulate kids activities so they maintain that balance.

 

We have none of those things. I don't think that having those things is really that beneficial when there are other things they can do on the computer. We try to limit how much time the kids spend inside playing on the computer (they like to play with Paint) or watching TV. Under most circumstances, they get 1 hour total TV per day, less on the computer and we throw their heinies outside rain or shine. Any more time than that sitting on their butts and they get really feisty and start fighting with each other more than usual. On the weekends, my kids would rather go fishing.

 

Paulv107: You are a hippocrate. You play the games, but some kids shouldn't? It's not the kids fault, the parents use electronics as a baby sitter. The kid is mesmerized, and the parents get to spend much less time raising them. As if parents spend ANY time raising their kids these days. Fat kids? Where do you think they get their pork from? Nobody makes them get any exercise. How about some of the obese parents in this country? We are talking about some of the laziest people on earth. If aliens came down, they would think lots of people were pigs, just take a good look around you, it's disgusting.

 

FYI hippocrate=hypocrite

Did you read his post? I believe he is not saying it is right, it seems he doesn't like the obese kids any more than you do.

 

I disagree with your ideas on limiting TV and games.

My kids have been brought up to watch about all the TV they care to watch and play video games any time from the time of thier birth. My daughter is the teachers pet in kindergarten and everything- she is always quoting some interesting fact from some educational show or questioning why kangaroos have pouches or something.

You know something interesting- they would rather do anything else than watch TV or play video games. They view those activities as boring and something to do if you have nothing else.

I was raised by parents that limited TV.

Guess what- now I'm a real TV addict.

I know if you brought your kids up differently- you probably can't make the jump to my stradegy cause your already on a different path.

I just want to provide a 'think outside the box' kind of idea to you all.

 

Iwantatruck: I beg to differ with your spelling. Hippocrate; the root of the word comes from the greek philosopher/physican Hippocrates. Doctors used to be required to take the Hippocratic oath, provide care regardless of payment or some such stuff. Hypocrate; root of the word hypo is latin for "under" such as hypodermic (under the skin)

 

My two kids (11 and 9) have Play station 1 and 2, game cube, game boy, game boy advance and game boy advanced sp.

And they are my no means overweight. They are SKINNY

They both play sports and ill take them running a couple time a week, so they do get exercise.

Parents need to limit things and these are some of them.

Let them do whatever as long as it is in moderation.