Anti-Violence Video Game Group Conducts Study Getting Parents To Ask For Anti-Violent Video Game Law

from the not-exactly-unbiased dept

An anti-violence video game group has pulled the easiest trick in the book, hiring a polling firm to do a poll that claims that 72% of parents want an anti-violent video game law. Of course, with something like this, how you ask such questions is very, very important. And, of course, it's not hard to word questions about violent video games in a way that would easily make them say they supported a law. Of course, you could just as easily twist things around. I would imagine that if the questions were worded along the lines of:

Do you support a law that takes your freedom of choice as a parent over what sorts of media your child might consume?

the results might be quite different. Or, how about if it asked:

Despite no evidence of harm down by certain media products, the government is looking to set up barriers to having your children take part in certain cultural events. Do you support such a law?

Obviously, both questions are highly biased, but it shows what a waste this kind of survey is, when it's designed to elicit a particular response, and almost certainly does not put the issues into context for people.

Filed Under: parents, video games

Are Kids Not Going Into Computer Science Because Their Parents Want Them To Be Sports Stars?

from the really? dept

There's been some talk lately about how come not as many students are taking computer science in school, and someone over at Information Management online is suggesting that it's all your parents fault for encouraging you to be a baseball star or a CEO or the next American Idol. This seems to be based on nothing more than a hunch, and the whole thing makes no sense to me. My guess is that most people who don't go into computer science don't do it because they're not interested in it. I don't think the answer is to tell your little slugger to put down the baseball bat and spend more time learning BASIC.

Filed Under: computer science, parents

Are Parents Making Facebook Uncool?

from the it's-always-something dept

My parents recently joined Facebook (a few months after joining Twitter), and I actually thought that was pretty cool -- but I'm no longer at the age where everything my parents do embarrasses me. For kids who are at that point in their lives, having parents join Facebook is quite a conundrum. The latest study out of the UK is suggesting that, with parents suddenly joining Facebook en masse, it's becoming uncool for kids to be there. I have no idea how accurate the study is, but if it's true, it raises an interesting question: is there a way to avoid such an "uncoolness" factor as a site like Facebook expands? I would think that you'd need to build in certain features to separate out groups easily, so that you could quickly dunk parents into a certain bucket, and friends into a different one, to make sure that lives are "kept separate."

Filed Under: parents, social networks, uncool

Can Someone Explain How Video Games Are Worse For Kids Than Plain TV?

from the demonizing-video-games dept

For years, video games have been a convenient bogeyman/scapegoat for politicians to use in complaining about the sort of thing "kids these days" do on a daily basis. In the past, it's been other things -- from TV to music to comic books. But, these days, video games pop up an awful lot. So I guess it should come as no surprise at all that a recent study in Canada found that parents put much greater limits on how much time kids can spend playing video games than they do on TV or movies. Of course, this seems entirely backwards. Not that parents should let young kids just randomly play any video game, but if they're playing age-appropriate video games, you would think that would be a lot better than just sitting there watching TV with no interactivity whatsoever. Plenty of studies have shown that the interactivity of video games helps kids have better hand-eye coordination and (in some studies) problem solving skills. So why not encourage that? It's not examined in the study, but I'd guess that the constant complaining about these "awful video games" has an impact on a busy parent.

Filed Under: canada, movies, parents, tv, video games

Shocker: Parents Don't Have A Good Idea Of What Their Kids Do Online

from the attention-gap dept

A new study from the UK says that parents underestimate by half the amount of time their kids spend online, while 81% of those parents surveyed said they had a good idea of what their kids look at online, but just 31% of kids agreed. All this happens in spite of more than half of British parents saying they put filters or other sorts of controls on the PCs their kids use, suggesting that -- surprise, surprise -- those controls aren't particularly effective. Furthermore, the survey would seem to indicate that what's lacking here aren't technological controls on kids' online behavior, but rather a lot of parental attention. Trying to outsource parental responsibility to some technological solution isn't going to work -- but the responsibility shouldn't be to fully or accurately monitor kids' online behavior (which is largely impossible anyway), it should be to educate kids to protect themselves and behave responsibly on the internet.

Filed Under: kids, online activity, parents

NZ Censor Threatens To Jail Parents Who Buy Violent Video Games For Kids

from the shock-value dept

Tony Eaton points us to the rather disturbing news that New Zealand's "chief censor" (quite a title, there...), Bill Hastings, is interested in prosecuting parents who have bought their kids violent video games. Apparently parenting is no longer for parents, but for Bill Hastings to determine what is, and what is not appropriate:

"There would certainly be some shock value to prosecuting a parent who gives their under-18 child access to a restricted game. It would send out a message that the enforcement agency means business."

Based on the law, parents prosecuted could face $10,000 fines or be put in jail for three months. Which do you think would do more harm to a child? Playing GTA or having their parent dragged through a show trial, for "shock value," and dumped in jail for three months?

Filed Under: censor, jail, new zealand, parents, violent video games

Parents Think The Internet Is More Dangerous Than Drugs Or Drunk Driving?

from the that's-what-the-press-taught-them dept

We've discussed repeatedly how the press has freaked people out over the greatly overhyped threats of online risks to children. And, not surprisingly, those stories have had an impact. Adam Thierer points us to a Larry Magid column where he's discussing a recent survey that shows many parents are more worried about online threats to their kids than they are about the threat of drunk driving or drugs. Magid points out how silly this is, and how low the real risk is to kids surfing the internet. He's the latest mainstream press columnist to realize how much the mainstream press has overplayed this threat for years. It's just too bad that it's taken this long for everyone to realize the threat online isn't nearly as big as it has been made out to be.

Filed Under: dangers, drunk driving, internet, parents

Parents Are Never Going To Be Able To Monitor All Kids Online Activities

from the but-think-of-the-children! dept

Over the past few years, the "but think of the children!" crowd constantly talks up the importance of having parents monitor their kids' online activities, and often puts out studies like the following one, bemoaning the fact that not enough parents are monitoring their kids enough. Of course, the simple fact is that parents are never going to be able to fully monitor what their kids do online (at least without seriously pissing off their kids). If kids want to chat online, they're going to find a way to be able to do so. Perhaps rather than focusing so much on spying on everything that kids do, the focus should be more on educating them to the dangers that are out there, the laws that they should be aware of and the risks of not obeying them. We have this tendency in our society to overprotect kids, which often has the opposite effect: not preparing them properly to face the real world. Kids who understand the risks tend to make better choices online. As for those who are constantly spied on and overly protective? We'll again quote Richard Posner in one of his legal rulings:

"Violence has always been and remains a central interest of humankind and a recurrent, even obsessive theme of culture both high and low ... It engages the interest of children from an early age, as anyone familiar with the classic fairy tales collected by Grimm, Andersen, and Perrault are aware. To shield children right up to the age of 18 from exposure to violent descriptions and images would not only be quixotic, but deforming; it would leave them unequipped to cope with the world as we know it."

Parents should be aware of what their kids are doing online by talking to them about it, and helping to educate their kids on the risks they face, but that doesn't mean spying on their every move. That will only backfire.

Filed Under: education, internet usage, kids, monitoring, parents

Fewer And Fewer Parents Freaking Out About Kids Chatting Online

from the good-things dept

If you look at the history of pop culture, there's a pretty clear pattern that emerges: parents fear whatever "new" thing their kids are into, whether it's "rock n roll" or video games or social networking. The fear boils up, even to the point of politicians pushing for laws to stop this horrible thing. But then, after a little while, parents realize the "new thing" they feared really isn't so bad. So while we're still seeing fear mongering reports about social networking, it appears that parents are increasingly comfortable with their kids chatting online using social networks or chat applications. That's good, too, because studies have shown these things really are not particularly dangerous, and most kids are perfectly able to handle whatever minor dangers they might face. Have no fear, though, I'm sure parents will soon find some other new terrible thing that needs to be regulated... and politicians will happily oblige. And, in the meantime, since politicians are a bit slow on these things, don't expect the laws against social networks to die down just yet either. There's still plenty of grandstanding to be squeezed out of that lemon.

Filed Under: kids, parents, social networks

Adults Encroach Upon Youth Turf Online

from the your-mom-poked-me dept

As technology starts to develop at a quicker and quicker pace, a generational digital divide has started to form between the children, who are growing up amidst all of this new technology, and their parents, who are left to play catch up. So, though most adults are now familiar with technologies like email (which has been around for decades now), more are starting to use instant messaging and social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook. We're not referring to the so-called "online predators" that have been the subject of numerous tv specials. As mom and dad embrace these technologies, today's youths complain that grown-ups are encroaching upon their "turf" and would prefer that they stay on their side of the generational digital divide. Online youths have been quick to embrace the sites like Facebook as somewhat of a social theater where they where they publicly canoodle with crushes, post pictures of the previous night's escapades, and comment openly on each others' profiles. Now, as adults get hip to the internet, these once private worlds are now at risk of being invaded. Back when these adults were kids, there was never really a fear of their parents invading their parties, or crashing their proms, so now some youths feel it necessary to keep a "grown-up friendly" online presence, thereby ruining the appeal of such sites. It might behoove Facebook to introduce more selective sharing levels, lest their most avid users start to lose interest in actually using the site. That said, this problem of over-sharing is not unique to youths -- for quite some time now, adults have been getting into trouble over their online profiles as well.

Filed Under: culture, kids, parents, social networks