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I've read more than a few editorials by people (who haven't mentioned their ages) who write that they feel that their parents "just don't understand" them and their RPG hobbies. I'd like to write in defence of parents. I've read several recent editorials about how parents and other adults don't understand kids, how they're hopelessly and irrevocably biased against video games, and the like. I sincerely doubt, however, that any parent tells his or her son or daughter not to play video games out of sheer malice. First, I'd like to defend good old-fashioned wholesome outdoor activity. Sure, computer role-playing games are involving and have decent plots, and I won't contend the point that they're better than other computer games, but there is something to be said for actually going outdoors or doing a non-sedentary activity once in a while. When your parents nag at you to put down your controller and go and get a breath of fresh air, it is rather unlikely that they take malicious pleasure out of it. I personally think it quite a lot more probable that they don't want to see their progeny grow up to have hunched backs, withered skin and a fear of natural light. Everyone has different parents, of course, and some are more understanding than others. Some are more biased against video games than others. Instead of making the conclusion "they just don't understand," though, you should really keep in mind that (a) they think they're doing the best thing for you and (b) calm and rational discussion with well-thought out, prepared arguments does work wonders. Making compromises helps too. I don't want to imply that people who have had problems with their parents' disapproval of their hobbies don't try to talk to their parents; still, there are more constructive ways of thinking about the issue than "they just don't understand." A couple of specific points to counter The Freelancer's scientific study: no offence, but I would say that the problem wasn't that the the judges were out to get you on that one. There may have been two problems with the experiment (from what you described): first, scientific experiments of this nature always have a control group. In this case, the control group would have taken both test without playing the video games. By comparing the test results of those who played games and the control group (who did not), you could have more insight into what made the test scores go up, the games or the practice at taking the tests. Second, 6 people is a rather small test group to use for a scientific experiment. To anyone who feels that all parents and grandparents are inflexible and don't understand their children/grandchildren, I'd say: try to understand their point of view. Then try dialogue. I'm afraid I just can't agree with The Freelancer's claim that they won't pay attention to "cold, hard, facts." As I explained above, I don't think that it's entirely fair to blame the reaction the experiment got on the inflexibility and bias of adults... or that anyone's parents hate their kids.  |
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