Are Dads Wrong to Play Video Games with Their Kids?
“I did so many things I never did intend to do.”–Bob Dylan, from “Million Miles”
The Associated Press has an interesting article about dads and video games–Dads and kids bond over video games 6/15/07). I had never played video games at all before I got married. When my son was young, I was opposed to video games and didn’t allow him to have a video game set. I eased up on this when he got a little older–all the other kids played video games, and I didn’t want him to be left out.
I regulate his video game time pretty closely, but over the past couple years video games have turned out–surprise–to be something he and I do a lot of together (see Bob Dylan quote above).
It’s good bonding time, and it’s something convenient we can do at night after the long, obligatory battle over/trudge through his homework. I’ve blogged about it on occasion–see An Amazing Achievement. One of our favorite games is Champions of Norrath (pictured).
The AP article gives the impression that this type of father-child video game bonding is mostly a positive thing. The article wouldn’t be complete, however, without the necessary female telling dads they’re parenting incorrectly, so Dr. Arminta Jacobson provides it.
Dads and kids bond over video games
By Matt Slagle, Associated Press
June 15, 2007
When Will Nickelson and his daughter want to spend some quality time together, they fire up Nintendo Co.’s Wii and play a few rounds of “Wii Sports” or “Mario Party 8.”
“It’s kind of difficult picking a game for a 7-year-old girl, but she really likes to beat her dad at bowling,” says Nickelson, 30, a stay-at-home dad from Huntsville, Ala.
He’s certainly not alone.
The generation that grew up with “Pac-Man” and “Pong” are now having children of their own. And across the nation, fathers and their kids are finding the virtual worlds of video games a popular place to bond.
Many fathers say the games bring them closer to their kids by providing a safe, convenient way to stay in touch and talk to their children on their own terms.
A national survey released last year by the Entertainment Software Association, a video game industry group, found that 35 percent of parents play video games, of which 80 percent play with their children. Mothers, too, were part of the study.
Though he considers himself a lifelong gamer, Nickelson said the time spent with his daughter, Sara, matters much more than the games themselves.
“It’s more of a chance to have time with her,” he said. “Being a divorced dad, I don’t get the time that I would like with her. It’s just fun to sit down together and try to have fun together.”
Sara says the friendly competition doesn’t hurt, either.
“I like the Wii baseball because it’s just so fun because I always beat him,” she said. “Sometimes I beat him at Wii bowling. He gets kind of mad.”
Read the full article here.
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Stumble It!
June 24th, 2007 at 5:23 am
If it weren’t for my daughter (then eight) I couldn’t have made it all the way through Half-Life 2. Heck I probably would’ve just quit. But she made it fun, and she most definitely had fun.
I wonder how hard the AP had to search to find this ‘typical stay-at-home dad’? I’m from Alabama, too and I’ve never met one. Much less a divorced ’stay-at-home dad’. A man who sits on his butt and has custody? Somebody at the AP is just making this crap up.