I was talking to Jenn earlier about some various issues of parenting and about how horribly we are going to end up embarrassing our kidssingle child. I was remarking about how I plan to make video games a big part of my kids life, and the (evidently) running joke "No dessert until you beat my high score!" . . .
Coincidentally Wil posted about the similar topic, and since he does it a lot more, he's a much better writing guy type thingy than I be. He goes on about lack of social interaction as a result of parents not understanding what parenting actually means when they have children. (You mean we have to pay attention to it?! ALL DAY?!)
Excerpt that made me snicker:
"When this generation of kids, who have never learned how to sit still or entertain themselves for more than a few minutes at a time, grow up and meet the creepy home schooled kids whose parents have substituted mythology for science and history, the shit is really going to hit the fan."
I predict home schooled kids are going to provide large amounts of entertainment to the general populace at some point. At least the ones I saw in Jesus Camp.
Anyway, back on topic. I think that video games and television are inevitably going to be a part of any modern child's life. Trying to avoid those influences is just going to alienate them from their peers. But, fooling yourself into thinking that you can raise a well adjusted child by just not doing what your parents did that fucked you up is just going to lead to a child who thinks the exact same thing when they go to have a child. In fact even if you do everything right you'll still probably do something to fuck up your kid.
Video games will be a part of my child's life, but so will I. That's the part that new parents forget. You need to be a part of your kids life. Having a kid is not like getting a house plant; "Water three times a day with mountain dew, place in direct cathode ray light for 6 hours" You actually need to pay attention and interact with them. Without input you're just going to raise your kids to be useless media drones. I plan on playing games and watching movies with my child, not parking the child in front of a TV so I don't get interrupted while I'm playing Warcraft 7. This is also one of the reasons why Jenn and I are not having kids until we are ready to give them a stable sane environment that we can raise them in.
Coincidentally Wil posted about the similar topic, and since he does it a lot more, he's a much better writing guy type thingy than I be. He goes on about lack of social interaction as a result of parents not understanding what parenting actually means when they have children. (You mean we have to pay attention to it?! ALL DAY?!)
Excerpt that made me snicker:
"When this generation of kids, who have never learned how to sit still or entertain themselves for more than a few minutes at a time, grow up and meet the creepy home schooled kids whose parents have substituted mythology for science and history, the shit is really going to hit the fan."
I predict home schooled kids are going to provide large amounts of entertainment to the general populace at some point. At least the ones I saw in Jesus Camp.
Anyway, back on topic. I think that video games and television are inevitably going to be a part of any modern child's life. Trying to avoid those influences is just going to alienate them from their peers. But, fooling yourself into thinking that you can raise a well adjusted child by just not doing what your parents did that fucked you up is just going to lead to a child who thinks the exact same thing when they go to have a child. In fact even if you do everything right you'll still probably do something to fuck up your kid.
Video games will be a part of my child's life, but so will I. That's the part that new parents forget. You need to be a part of your kids life. Having a kid is not like getting a house plant; "Water three times a day with mountain dew, place in direct cathode ray light for 6 hours" You actually need to pay attention and interact with them. Without input you're just going to raise your kids to be useless media drones. I plan on playing games and watching movies with my child, not parking the child in front of a TV so I don't get interrupted while I'm playing Warcraft 7. This is also one of the reasons why Jenn and I are not having kids until we are ready to give them a stable sane environment that we can raise them in.
