retired_g_stull

Hairy Coo
Yellow Card - Posting that bloody awful Rick Astley browser hijacker and drivel in GD forum. Expires 21.2.08

Could that be even funnier than it actually sounds?

retired_g_stull

Oh, and kids are illiterate. Shocked by that.

retired_dennis

I completely agree, gaming still has a stigma, whilst watching the tv seems to just be a part of normal life. For example a parent could say to a kid (i used to get this) ''you've been playing that for far too long come off it now'' the kid will turn the console off a go and watch tv, nothing else is said. The 'stigma' even present at my age, ie if there is a couple of things to be done and i'm watching the tv then i may get away without doing them, but if i'm playing on my ps3 then my gf will say hey you need to do so and so intsead of playing that, its daft ! Beacuse tv is so common these days people don't really register it in their minds as doing something. its quite crazy when you think that ten's of millions of people are just sitting staring at the box around the country every night.

I fail to see how a kid playing a game suitable for their age can have a more negative effect on them than watching tv. Infact i think some games can have a positive effect, i got my step daughter has ds and animal crossing, she has to read alot of text when communicating with the characters in game, far more than she would if she was watching the tv.

Ventil

I think it is fairly obvious that gaming has had a detrimental effect on "kids" per se as a group.
Not just in educational standards but health and, by degrees, social interaction.

Blaming illiteracy on the gaming though is rubbish.
All it does is absolve those that should be held to blame, and that is the parents who aren't strict enough (care enough?) to ensure that their child spends an adequate amount of time on their studies.
But rather than expose massive frailties in not just our education system, but a seemingly large amount of people's inability to raise their child properly (and this has a much wider social impact than just literacy rates), it is easier to point the finger of blame at the past times they take part in.

retired_navy0614

My nephew's teacher at school suggested to my (scall, council house) sister that she should get him a DS lite for Christmas. He's five years old.

I told her that she is going to get him a football and a set of good books. Hand-eye coordination? He can go outside and play some sport. He can learn to enjoy reading properly first, then he'll get the option of computer games.

Which is the root problem - young kids need help in reading, they don't to play games. It's all to easy for the parents to fob them off with a console so they have some time to themselves.

(I get away with ordering my sister about because she is useless with money and life in general, my parents acknowledge this and therefore I am to get everything in the will )

dejasade

i'm sure there are lots of illiterate kids who's family dont have enough money to buy computers/computer games.

which means that one of the linking factors is....SCHOOL.
school is making kids illiterate because they're not teaching properly.

retired_nini59

whose

retired_jshendel

Was listening to a gaming podcast other day and they were saying some MP has asked for stats on how many crimes are games related

He was told that those figures arent recorded

retired_Siwash

Actually they can, as Swedish test scores have dropped as well (Although this time I think it was 9th grade maths), and of course some are blaming it on computer games.

But I'm with you in your crusade against Switzerland.

retired_mauilisa

Why don't the parents make sure they're not neglecting their work?

Surely it's their responsibility?

A lot of times it's harsh blaming the parents for skiving kids etc, but in this case it's a bit different, surely?