Taking Thoughts on Video Games to the Next Level

I took the older boys to an indoor amusement center recently. As soon as you walked into the building there was no doubt where the arcade area was. The flashing lights, music, loud sounds, and colorful consoles practically screamed, “the fun is HERE!”

Well, that’s what kids hear. To me, it’s inarticulate noise, headache inducing lights, and an overwhelming wave of stimuli. It’s kind of like our house if all the kids are excited about something, except with flashing lights and Pac-Man.

There’s no doubt this midway-esque array of games appeals to kids. As I sat on the outskirts of the arcade area and filtered through the sights and sounds I started to think about the nature of entertainment today and in eras past.

We live in a culture where entertainment is entirely without effort. It’s passive. There was a time when, to listen to music, someone had to actually be playing music live. You couldn’t just press a button (or command a speaker) to turn on the radio or streaming service and cruise through 10 genres in three minutes.

We, parents of kids in 2024, would do well to consider the nature of our children’s entertainment and at least consider the possibility that all entertainment isn’t created equal. Maybe more importantly, we should recognize that entertainment as a category isn’t neutral.

Playing Grand Theft auto isn’t the same thing as playing Pac-Man. But when it comes to playing video games in general, do I really believe it has no impact on my kids?

I get the appeal of video games. They’re designed to keep you engaged and don’t require much in the way of physical effort. Most kids will be entertained by video games for a long time and with only a few basic components you can have an arcade’s worth of games on your TV at a relatively low cost. Convenient.  

But just because the kids like something, does that make it good? Has the question, “is this a good thing?” become assumed? Irrelevant?

Am I saying all entertainment for kids needs to be educational? No. I think info-tainment is likely even worse for training minds to think deeply than vapid entertainment. But I am saying all entertainment is educational. It teaches something. Hand eye coordination, to sit still in front of a screen, to interact with friends, to interact with no one. To solve puzzles, to imagine yourself a hero, to encourage you to be a villain.

If you’ve been a parent for almost any length of time you know kids are always learning from what they see. That doesn’t stop when they’re 10 or teenagers. At a minimum this means we should consider what their experience is and whether it aligns with what we want for them.

A few weeks later I took the older boys back to the arcade as a reward for something (see, I’m torn on this stuff too). This time, I brought a book and was reading on the outskirts of the arcade as the boys raced virtual cars and hunted virtual dinosaurs.

While I was reading a guy came over and said he had to give me “props” for reading in a place as hectic and loud as this. I told him I have a lot of kids so I’ve learned to block out the distractions and interruptions. Like this. (Just kidding, I didn’t say the last part. Out loud.)

What I realized later was reading in a busy environment is an acquired skill. I’ve heard many people say if they need to make themselves tired they start to read something. Well, I feel exhausted coming out of an arcade, even if I don’t play a single game.

The kids, on the other hand, have become desensitized to the wave of technicolor lights and blasting sounds and even begin to seek out new thrills going from one flashing machine to the next. It’s an acquired skill and one kids acquire quickly.

I guess a good analogy for what I’m seeing is fast food. It’s intentionally overly salty and surgery because that appeals to our tastebuds. Kids in particular regularly determine what food is good or bad by what they like.

However, regardless of how appealing those bacon double cheeseburgers may be to us too, parents know you can’t weigh nutrition quality by taste alone. Entertainment is the same: some forms of entertainment are more “nutritious” than others. A little bit of junk food every now and then isn’t that big of a deal. But raising kids on junk food certainly increases the likelihood of unhealthy kids and of them feeding the same junk to their kids. Rasing kids on junk entertainment can have similarly negative outcomes.

I’m still weighing a lot of this in my mind. But for now, I think I’ve landed on this classic aphorism: Everything in moderation. Especially video games.