Video Games x Kids: How Young Is Too Young?
I was visiting my nephews, again. Within seconds of seeing me fiddle with my iPhone, my older nephew, Jack, who is 8, asked me, again, if my iPhone had any videogames on it.
“Uh, no, sorry Jack,” was my reply, letting a white lie skip through my teeth. I knew his mother and father might be none too pleased to see the two of us hunched over the tiny screen playing “Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner” or “Lego Indiana Jones 2.”
What his parents are doing is difficult. They’ve chosen to keep Jack videogame-free for as long as possible.
Of course, Jack has gotten a taste of videogames. He gets to play on special occasions, and will probably play at friends’ houses where the rules are different.
I suspect his parents will persist until they can’t hold out any longer, until peer pressure from schoolmates, combined with the reality that kids of Jack’s generation will be inexorably bound to video technology like none before them, forces them to relent.
Perhaps it’s a lost cause. Still, key questions can be raised here, and they are good ones to consider.
What is the appropriate age to let kids loose in the digital playscape? Are videogames OK for 8-year-olds? Seven-year-olds? Six? How young is too young?
Some games are appropriate for certain age groups and some games aren’t; obviously, no one is allowing their 5-year-old to play “Grand Theft Auto.” (Jeezum, let’s hope.)
I’m no expert, but I’ve been reading up on some of the research. For one, the trend is that each year, younger and (more…)
