Video Games and the Church

[Vex]

I think this to be an interesting read:

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/02/on-the-brain-cuddle-hormone-not-always-positive/

http://healthland.time.com/2011/02/01/why-parents-should-play-video-games-with-their-daughters/#ixzz1CptNLICS

If you can't get the video-game controller out of your teenager's hands, just pick up the other one. According to a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health, gaming may be good for teen girls' mental health

[thesometimesaint]

Vex:

It's all Pong to me. But then my kids were little when video games first came out.

[Blossom]

My daughter was born in 1982 and we never had computer games or anything. I had a word processor (remember those?) because I was an Army photojournalist. I could turn our bathroom, wherever we were, into a temporary darkroom -- remember film?

Now my idea of a fun time with my daughter is when we get online and play backgammon and chess with each other. She's stationed in California (she's a Navy RN) and I'm here in North Carolina and we have a blast!

I think I would have liked to play video games with her when she was growing up but looking back now, I don't see where we would have the time. She had piano and tennis lessons, was in the Latin club in high school and ROTC, and everything was practice and homework.

But we did ride our bikes together, and we'd sing and play -- she on piano, me on guitar. We hiked and fished and in Germany for six years, we built an igloo every winter. We knitted and crocheted gifts for family.

Maybe games would have been fun too, if we had had the time.

Blessings,

Blossom

[nicolasconnault]

I think this to be an interesting read:

http://pagingdrgupta...lways-positive/

http://healthland.ti.../#ixzz1CptNLICS

Given previous statements from church leaders concerning video games and the production of this new study do you think we'll see a new plethora of games being made available for FHE activities in the not-to-distant future?

Seriously though; is this study more indicative of Mormon culture, or of the relationship dynamics without respect to religious or social persuasion?

I responded to this earlier on Google Buzz:

Interesting research, but the right conclusions must be reached: playing video games with your daughter is better than letting her play by herself, but it's not necessarily the best way to spend time with her.

This study didn't compare different father-daughter activities, it just compared one activity with none.

The study's concluding statement may be paraphrased:

"When parents play [...] games with their daughters, they may be sending a myriad of messages. First, parents may show that they are willing to engage in an activity that is important to daughters. Second, playing [...] games can represent quality time between a daughter and a parent, especially when such play involves conversation between parent

[Vex]

I responded to this earlier on Google Buzz:

Interesting research, but the right conclusions must be reached: playing video games with your daughter is better than letting her play by herself, but it's not necessarily the best way to spend time with her.

This study didn't compare different father-daughter activities, it just compared one activity with none.

The study's concluding statement may be paraphrased:

"When parents play [...] games with their daughters, they may be sending a myriad of messages. First, parents may show that they are willing to engage in an activity that is important to daughters. Second, playing [...] games can represent quality time between a daughter and a parent, especially when such play involves conversation between parent

[ElderDarionBevan]

video games can be a fun family activity. but more so than that we need to do family recreational activities

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

That is it!!! I am playing Super Mario Bros Wii tonight with my kids.

[Vex]

I think individuals have missed the questions I have posed:

is this study more indicative of Mormon culture, or of the relationship dynamics without respect to religious or social persuasion?

is this study indicative of the culture of the sample or is it a worst case scenario of parent-child interaction?

[Jason]

They think Mario Kart isn't competitive?

[nicolasconnault]

I think individuals have missed the questions I have posed:

Sorry, I saw the article and missed out your questions :s

The articles don't mention the sample characteristics, so I can't really answer that. I will assume, like you seem to, that the researchers used predominantly LDS families, or at least families heavily immersed in LDS culture. Even if that is the case, I'm not sure what differences in the measured variables you would expect from a different sample? A stronger or weaker effect?

[Vex]

Sorry, I saw the article and missed out your questions :s

The articles don't mention the sample characteristics, so I can't really answer that. I will assume, like you seem to, that the researchers used predominantly LDS families, or at least families heavily immersed in LDS culture. Even if that is the case, I'm not sure what differences in the measured variables you would expect from a different sample? A stronger or weaker effect?

I imagine it would heavily dependent upon age groups. The closer an individual is to adolescence the more likely the effects would be less effective. Though in all honesty this is just an engineers perspective on it.

[DarkScythe]

Video games are a good outlet and balancing it out with good role models are important to any video game genre.

[nicolasconnault]

Video games are a good outlet and balancing it out with good role models are important to any video game genre.

Unfortunately, few video games include "good role models"...

[TAO]

Unfortunately, few video games include "good role models"...

Hehe, I am going to change this *big grin*.

[nicolasconnault]

Hehe, I am going to change this *big grin*.

I'd like to know how you will do that!

I personally find more value in cooperative board games (Pandemic, Ghost stories, Forbidden Island) and other complex management board games (Agricola, Puerto Rico) than in video games. Just a personal preference.

[Jason]

There are many video games that have anti-hero protagonists who do horrible things to everyone else in the game. There are also many heroic protagonists who go around helping everyone they find who is in need, risking their lives for either trivial rewards or no reward at all.

It would be inaccurate, I think, to say that the bad role-models outnumber the good ones.

[nicolasconnault]

There are many video games that have anti-hero protagonists who do horrible things to everyone else in the game. There are also many heroic protagonists who go around helping everyone they find who is in need, risking their lives for either trivial rewards or no reward at all.

It would be inaccurate, I think, to say that the bad role-models outnumber the good ones.

I would like to challenge you on that I'll make a list of "bad hero" games, and you make a list of "good hero" games. Then, after comparing the length of the lists, we look at how popular each game is.

Note that I will include most first-person-shooters in the "bad hero" category, because they almost exclusively encourage solving problems through violence, usually by doing "horrible things to everyone else in the game".

Sounds like a fair challenge? Any ideas for improvement?

[Vex]

I would like to challenge you on that I'll make a list of "bad hero" games, and you make a list of "good hero" games. Then, after comparing the length of the lists, we look at how popular each game is.

Note that I will include most first-person-shooters in the "bad hero" category, because they almost exclusively encourage solving problems through violence, usually by doing "horrible things to everyone else in the game".

Sounds like a fair challenge? Any ideas for improvement?

Myself being an avid gamer I believe this type of endeavor is without merit. I for one do not hold any video game characters as role models, and I'm fairly certain that a majority of individuals who play video games do not as well. Thus it's investigating upon a false premise. If one were really interested in statics we first must look at potential connections with video games. May I suggest looking towards juvenile violent crime and producing a survey of individuals who played violent video games prior to committing the crime. Thus providing a potential connection between the two.

[caudicus]

The scope and nature of video games has far outpaced what many "older" people may perceive them to be. Wii opened up a whole new area with sports from bowling to volleyball to games designed to extend attention span and general knowledge.

It is to the point where lumping in all video games as "bad" is too much of a generalization. Personally, I think some of these improvements are a great step forward and video games can be a positive and productive endeavor. However, many games have content that would shock and horrify many LDS, so I would advise that you carefully screen what your children are playing. Avoid anything with bad content, or anything that is too repetitive. The right games will stimulate thought and creativity in a way many of use would not have dreamed of as children. Don't be afraid to give it a chance.

[DarkScythe]

Unfortunately, few video games include "good role models"...

i meant that, having good role models within the real world to interact with. Video games, regardless of genre, is a great way to blow off steam.

I am all for normal healthy human interaction

[Jason]

I would like to challenge you on that I'll make a list of "bad hero" games, and you make a list of "good hero" games. Then, after comparing the length of the lists, we look at how popular each game is.

Note that I will include most first-person-shooters in the "bad hero" category, because they almost exclusively encourage solving problems through violence, usually by doing "horrible things to everyone else in the game".

Sounds like a fair challenge? Any ideas for improvement?

A few problems:

1) I said that I think the number of good guy games vs. anti-hero games was about equal, not that the popularity of said games was equivelent. Good-guy games may indeed still be more popular, however.

2) Violence by itself doesn't make a video game character an anti-hero, in my opinion. It only does so if violence against innocent or inoffensive characters is rewarded or encouraged. If "everyone else in the game" is a horrible monstrous alien trying to eat your face off then violence is a valid response without making your protagonist a "bad hero." So the idea that most first-person shoorters are "bad hero" games is not one I would readily accept.

3) There is a third category of game - those that allow you to play either way. Many Star Wars games, for instance, allow the player to either be an upright, righteous Jedi helping those in need or a depraved Sith who enjoys the pain of others. These games can't really be counted in either column, since it's up to the player whether he/she is a good or bad hero.

Most sports games would fit under this category too. And game-show or board-game ports. And all the "Rockband" and "Guitar Hero" games.

[Jeff K.]

My son and I play Battlefield, Call of Duty and Halo together, as well as World of Warcraft (and of course Starcraft). We interact, we talk about school, what he is doing for the weekend and so on. Much of the isolation between parents and children produced by video games is (I believe ) generational with one generation not playing while the other is. Some of my son's friends (and members of the ward) are amazed I play with my son, but how can you not? Its a relatively even field and no one gets hurt. I would also note that I limit game playing to just a few hourse on weekends, my son has too much to do otherwise.

May daughter plays a distinct set (she likes avatar the last air bender)and while I don't play with her as much I do sit and watch and comment. The seem to like it.

[nicolasconnault]

You've all given very good responses to my post, thank you, I tend to agree with you. I don't agree that the only negative variable we should be worried about is the violent behaviour of children who grow up on violent games, though. That has received the majority of the psychological research attention, and hasn't yielded much useful information, because games are evolving too fast for longitudinal studies to be useful.

In my opinion, the major problem of video games can be extended to entertainment in general, although it seems like an easier pitfall with video games: you can very easily lose yourself in them, to the point that you forget the other good things in life. If you pick the right games, and use them in moderation (someone mentioned a few hours on the week-end and I think that's great!), then I'm all for them. However, I know many young men who spend ALL their "spare time" on them, who rarely ever get out of home, and who have nearly zero social skills as a result. They have no professional or life ambition, beyond being the best at any popular game (especially online ones). They get very easily bored, even with computer games. It's very difficult to engage in meaningful conversations with them, as it seems that their mind is constantly occupied with thoughts of gaming. That may not represent a majority of youths, but I still feel it's a concern that should be addressed.

I am not generally opposed to video games. I'm 32 and I grew up surrounded by computers. I've probably played in excess of 20,000 hours of video games in my life, most of it in my youth, and it has become an issue for me. I would never play sports, and quickly became very overweight, an issue that is still with me, although not to the same extent. I'm still very attracted to computer games, and whenever I indulge in them they become too great a distraction. I'm also a university student, and once I start playing my thoughts become so engrossed in the game that I have less inclination to study, less mental energy left for working on my assignments etc.

I've tried to play in moderation but it just doesn't work, I start neglecting my family duties and become irritable when I get interrupted, it's just not worth it. Because of that problem, I've had to take a negative stance towards video games, and I've probably taken an unjustified view that everyone else has the same problem as I do. I do recognise, however, the positive aspects of social games such as those on the Wii, as well as sport-oriented games like the Wii sport which are a fantastic use of computer games. I'm also beginning to see that games are here to stay, and that my children will grow up with them and will want to play them. I'm starting to see that they can be a good part of "wholesome family recreational activities". I suppose I will just refrain from playing them selfishly

[Jason]

In my opinion, the major problem of video games can be extended to entertainment in general, although it seems like an easier pitfall with video games: you can very easily lose yourself in them, to the point that you forget the other good things in life.

This is true of just about everything, really, that anyone does for entertainment. Moderation in all things is a pretty good ideal.

[Avatar4321]

I have no doubt that it's good bonding time.

However, There are many things much better that families can be doing together.