Managing Your Family's High-Tech Habits by Arnie Cole

Author:Arnie Cole [Cole, Arnie; Ovwigho, Pam; Ross, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-63409-453-5
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2015-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

5

Managing Video Game Habits

Why Many Guys Are Hooked on Games (And How to Help Them Play Smart)

“I was tired and wanted to go to sleep, but my eyes were stuck to the screen. So I kept playing MySims. I was like a moth and it was the flame. Finally, I said “Enough!” I turned it off and went to bed. Then I kept dreaming about it. I don’t think I should play that game anymore.”

CHARIS, 11

We’re so conditioned to sink into our World Gone Bad beliefs and see the vast expanses of the online world as a dangerous—or, at least, wasteful—place. But as I watch my kids turn to YouTube to sharpen their skills in everything from Minecraft to restringing a lacrosse stick to learning new ukulele chords, I’m thrilled that YouTubers like Stampy exist. And I see signs of God’s common grace at work.

CARYN RIVADENEIRA,

“A PARENT’S PRAISE FOR STAMPYLONGHEAD”1

The days of Pong and Pac-Man are over. Space Invaders is history. Today’s interactive video games are faster, more realistic, and—some people would argue—more addictive.2

While video games trace their history back to the 1950s, they’ve become part of the mainstream culture in only the last two decades. Technological advances have expanded gaming options from consoles, computers, and arcades to social media platforms, mobile devices, and handheld games. Designers have greatly expanded the types of games available, providing entertainment options for everyone, from the ten-year-old boy who wants to kill aliens and save the world to the apartment-dwelling grandmother who relives her childhood by playing Farmville on Facebook.

Chances are you’re one of the 53 percent of American adults who plays video games. For young adults and teens, gaming is nearly universal. The video game landscape today differs radically from what most of us grew up with, almost to the point that the term video games feels inadequate. For Generation X-ers, the term video game player likely prompts the image of a socially awkward teen boy spending hours alone on his computer, blowing up space invaders in between bites of pizza and chugs of Mountain Dew.

An estimated half billion people worldwide spend at least an hour a day playing computer and video games. That’s about 3 billion hours a week—with the United States accounting for almost half of those hours. The computer and video game industry now garners an impressive $21 billion, not far behind the movie industry.

Whether you are a gamer yourself or the parent of one, it’s time to learn more about managing video game habits.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.