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How Are Our Children Being Entertained

15th January, 2011 - Posted by health news - No Comments

Kids can now play video games in a variety of ways. However, not all video games are suitable for kids. Some are educational, fun and extra entertaining for many kids to enjoy and because of the new motion gaming systems like the Nintendo Wii or the xbox 360 kinect, changes in the way children games have also transformed to a more realistic and virtual game playing with contents unacceptable for many kids to view and parents need to be aware of the potential dangers that their children will be confronted with when playing some of these games.

A long time ago when people just began to have a gaming platform in their home, there was little concern that the games would be too violent or unhealthy for children. There was no fear that the kids would be influenced in unhealthy ways by the games that were being sold. A game does not have to be violent or sexually explicit for a young child to pick it up and like it. Most kids will be just as happy playing a game with good messages as they would playing a game with the wrong messages. The problem is that the advances in the platforms have created a market for more of the violent images in the games. With high definition graphics and surround sound the ability to make games more lifelike is increasing. Parents are now concerned about the game system that they want their kids to have. All of the changes have required more action by the parents to ensure their children’s safety.

When video games were first introduced, the number of games was limited. Companies have made the availability of a wide variety of games more common. This has made it more difficult to be aware of all of the types of games that a child can choose from.

Game manufacturers have designed a rating system to help parents with this. The titles are giving a rank that shows what ages a game is suitable for . The platforms have also taken game play to a new level. The graphics are more realistic than ever. The line between the real world and the gaming world becomes harder for children to see. Parents should look past the rating of a game to find out more about it.

It is important to know that playing video games is not always cheap these days. While a person might not spend much more on the new xbox 360 kinect price than a person spent on an old PONG platform when it first appeared on the market, the cost of the games has gone way up and can be a significant investment for a child, and this makes the choice of the games even more important. There is little room for error when a person is on a tight budget and can not risk making the wrong choice.

Some of the gaming systems now have parental controls. This helps a parent to limit what types of games a child can play. But the ability of the parental controls varies from game to game. Children today are often savvy enough to bypass these systems. The use of controls is not a substitute for the parent’s themselves.

In the end the best way for a parent to control what their kids play is to be involved. Know what games your kids are playing by playing some of them with them. It gives a parent a chance to role model for their children. They can also discuss the things that their kids see while playing the games. Open lines of communication will never be replaced by technology.