At a dinner party last weekend I listened to a mother whinge about Medal of Honor for a quarter of an hour. I finally got up the courage to ask her why she lets such an inappropriate title into her home? Gobsmacked, she stared at me for a moment and then blurted out that the game is the hottest, newest game in the market and that everyone’s kids are playing it.
Listen up folks, “Not everyone’s kids are playing it.” Parents with the minimum amount of sanity and interest in their children’s wellbeing don’t let their sons or daughters play M-rated games. My son is all grown up now. He’s an MBA student in Australia. But when he was a kid, we didn’t have a gaming console at home. Once a week on Thursday afternoon, we’d go to an arcade and he could play to his heart’s content for one hour. That was it for the week. My son had a PC, but I strictly monitored the time he spent on it and there were no games allowed on the PC during the school year. The only television my son was allowed to watch was the news. I was a mean parent and I’m glad.
So what did my child do with his time after his schoolwork was finished? He read books, took all sorts of music and sports lessons, did chores, played with his pets, assembled engineering models, spent time with his family and so many other activities. On the weekend he was allowed to watch a few movies or TV shows from our large video collection. By the time he was 17, the young man in my life could recite extensive passages from Shakespeare and assemble his own PC.
Did my son encounter inappropriate video games while growing up? Of course he did. Some friends and relatives had them, but his exposure to them was minimal. Over the years, on many occasions we discussed why games and television were restricted at our home and sometimes the conversations were heated. When my son graduated from high school, we celebrated by purchasing a satellite receiver and later bought some gaming consoles. While writing this essay I phoned Australia and asked my son what games he’s played lately. He told me that he doesn’t have time for them. He’s too busy with his studies, friends and university activities.
For some strange reason, parents believe that when it comes to technology they have no control. Just because “everybody else” has it or is playing it doesn’t mean that your child should. Who pays the electric bill at your home? Where does your child get the money to buy those M-rated games? M is for Mature. Be an adult and ensure that your children are experiencing digital content appropriately.
