Where Politics And Video Games Collide

I forgot to add this, but I'd like to share a story that I think is an argument that can be used in terms of whats good about video games and how families can use video games to bring them together instead of alienating their children and making them out to be violent murderers.

I was flying Battlefield 2 one day and I was running to get to a plan (Kubra Dam US side in case you're wondering) and there were two guys there with a similar name with the same clan tag. The only difference in their names was Sr and Jr..but because the names were weird to begin with I didn't figure out what it meant. But to make things easier lets call them JohnnyJR and JohnnySR

Anyways I go to grab the plan [I'm in the same squad as them so we have voice contact], but the JohnnySR gets in and I stop to allow JohnnyJR to get in because they are clan mates and whatnot.

He tells me on voice chat its ok I can get and asks do I want to pilot or co-pilot and I say how come hes called me to get in the plan and he says "My son is afk, hes eating dinner."

I finally figure out what the JR and SR meant and I'm just flabbergasted....and I astonishingly ask "You play games with your son" and he answers "Yea my daughter plays with us too shes just not on" ...I'm still in shock of course because since I discovered gaming as a kid I wanted nothing more then my dad to play with me.

Of course he developed a disdain or even hate for all things gaming and computer because he saw me spending so much time on it instead of "socializing" or playing some sport and him playing games would be impossible.

Then of course I tell the guy in the plane that I'm really jeleous and that his kids are very lucky. He tells me that he's divorced and games allow him to bond with his children. So even though he's not the primary caregiver the bonds with his children and him are stronger then them with their mother. They even started a family clan.

I ask how old he is because I'm thinking hes like a young father, 25 and he says 40.




The point of the story is that games can do a lot more good then you'd expect, and if some parents were wiling to put their own prejudices aside and taking interest in what their kids are interested in, and take interest in their kids lives they could be a lot closer to their children then you could ever expect. Kids/Teens would communicate with their parents easily and would confide in them if they shared and experienced some common interests on a regular basis.

But in todays world parents often look for the easy answer, a scapegoat, something convenient to explain why their children are so distant from them and why they can't relate with their children and politicians abuse that and only end up drawing lines in the sand that further separate parents from their children, instead of bringing them together.