Last Monday morning, a 6 year old Virginia boy missed his school bus. So what did he do? He did what any 6 year old would do (not!) - he grabbed the keys to the family car and drove himself to school - or at least he attempted to drive himself to school. He successfully navigated the first 6 miles of the winding country road before crashing into a utility pole just a little over a mile from school. Now you might be wondering what I was wondering when I first read about this - just where did this 6 year old learn to drive? The boy told police he learned how to drive by playing Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam video games! Fortunately the boy suffered only minor injuries. The boy's parents have been charged with child endangerment.So for all those people out there who claim video games do not influence kids - here is proof positive that they are wrong. Now I am not an anti-video game crusader (I own a Wii - don't play it a lot, but enjoy it when I get the chance). However, video games like other things in life can become way too much a part of a person's routine. And when they do - good things rarely result! For example, when people get too into video games they become less active and therefore less fit and relationships get ignored and the person becomes more isolated. In addition, often the behavior displayed in many video games, especially the ones that feature (and even glorify) violence can often lead to more aggressive behavior in the individual who is continually immersing himself in these types of video games.
All this to say -- we must monitor how we are spending our "free" time (whether we are talking playing video games, watching tv or surfing the Internet). Life is too short to waste. So the next time you are tempted to pick up the video controls - ask yourself, "Is there something else more significant that I can be doing with my time?"
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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