AOG's Minister's Wife Killed By Son in Ohio

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

www.pluggedinonline.com is a great place to review games, videos, movies, etc., BEFORE you expose your kids to them.

Plugged In's review on Halo 3


I'm not ready to chalk this young man's violent actions up to the influence of a game, BUT we should be careful what we expose our children to. My oldest daughter is 13, but she still isn't allowed to watch PG-13 movies. None of them have been deemed appropriate enough to pass her parent's watchful eyes.

The point is, we are remiss in our parental obligations if we don't carefully filter what goes into the tender eyes and ears of our children, and worse, with interactive video games, they can actually role play and interact with the characters, which further ingrains it into their psyche. Anyone who teaches knows that the more senses you use to teach a lesson, the more likely the child is to retain it. Interactive video games use sound, sight, touch & feel. Can't get much more influential than that!

It would be stupid to assume media doesn't affect them. Scientific studies have proven that children are more susceptible and malleable than adults, which is probably why God saw fit to place them in the care of an ADULT until they can make good decisions on their own.

You're right. My boys know if they want to see violence they just have to take on the old man. Oddly, the youngest seems to do this a lot.

My daughter is weird. When she was about 12 or 13 she read a young teens novel about Jews escaping from the Nazi. She was instantly fascinated with the whole WW2 / Nazi bad guys vs. the good guys thing. She later wrote a story that won an award at school. When I read it I was concerned that the school counselors would call (it was THAT good!). Not graphic - just effectively manipulated your senses well. Her teacher sent me a post card.

Tension can heighten a young person's awareness to the real situations and dangers in life. No need to teach them to be paranoid - but life can be bad. Even though we've got it real good here in the States - life can still be pretty tough.

That's why I walked my oldest son through Columbine High School when they opened it up to the public. I wanted him to see and not be paralyzed with fear. The whole community mobbed the place and it was kind of healing.