I’m getting pretty fucking tired of these indignant soccer mums having a go at vidya games. “Won’t somebody think of the children!?” they howl over their second stale biscotti at Dome.

The baby boomer mother argument about video games is that it encourages kids to be violent and disconnected from their community. Yet those same mothers are more than happy to let their children devour such garbage as The Hunger Games and Edgar Allen Poe, both of which have questionable morals and ethics evident in their themes.

Particularly “adult” games, such as GTA IV, have ratings – so, much like if you don’t want your child to smoke cigarettes, don’t fucking buy it for them. Simple. If the kid wants it bad enough, they will find a way to get it – however it’s highly improbable that a fourteen-year-old boy’s in-game experience of beating up a hooker with a pool cue is going to be such a rewarding experience that he’s going to go out of his way to repeat it in real life.

If you consider games from a logical standpoint, the majority of games on the market nowadays are actually a stellar way to develop problem-solving skills and co-ordination, and observational abilities. I don’t actually see the difference between a child reading a book and a child playing a puzzle-based game such as Uncharted for hours. Both children are learning, it’s just a different format. At the end of the day, the passive entertainment is probably the worst kind. If I had a kid, I’d much rather they were spending their time on an interactive pastime rather than one in which they are fed all the mindless jumble that network television has to offer (especially the ads – ads are fucked).

The world is in too much of a nanny state. If you don’t want your children to grow into evil people, put some effort into raising them better – it’s a simple enough concept. I say we take the warning labels off everything, let personal responsibility become the default, encourage ways for parents to proactively raise their kids better, and let natural selection take care of the rest.

Love Akika xoxoxoox