Put down games; Pick up books

Demon_Skeith

Demon_Skeith

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President Obama doesn't seem to like video games much. In his father's day message to the nation's dads, Mr. Obama decided to take a cheap shot at video games, suggesting that America's dads should encourage reading over gaming! The nerve!

Here's the quote:

"We know that every father has a personal responsibility to do right by their kids – to encourage them to turn off the video games and pick up a book; to teach them the difference between right and wrong; to show them through our own example the value in treating one another as we wish to be treated. And most of all, to play an active and engaged role in their lives."

As a father, I take personal offense at this message. My four year old son and I spend a lot of time playing co-op video games, specifically, Haunted House, Lego Star Wars and G-Rated L.A. Noire. (That's where you just drive around Los Angeles, obeying traffic laws, and looking at different things.) We also read books together, and ride skateboards. If I were president, I'd come out against bad video games, because more than anything else, I want my son to grow up with good taste in entertainment products.

source

screw you obama, playing video games is more active than book reading. and I know any RPG (final fantasy, persona, dragon quest, ect.) is equal if not more in text in a normal book.

hell, encourage kids to put down the games and go outside than anything else.
 
Hm, just another reason for me not to like him. I find this irrelevant. How about have both? I read and play games. Be like that, not school 24/7. Have some fun, don't be a !500's Calvinist, seriously.
 
Considering how connected to technology he is personally, and it had been said that he has an addiction to his Blackberry, I can't help but wonder if he is saying this because the Republicans in his cabinet have been riding him to do so, much like they have been riding him about other things since his inauguration.

Even still, sitting on the couch and playing video games with someone doesn't really count as spending time with someone.. You just happen to be doing the same thing they were doing at the same time, as they were in tandem. If the fathers were offended, then it is likely that they are guilty of this behavior themselves.

I am not saying that video games and technology are bad, I am just saying that people have used it to isolate themselves from the people they care about. When I say this; the married couple in bed with their iPads, iPhones, or where on has the remote for the TV and the other a device, instead of talking to each other about their day, or having sex, comes to mind as vividly as the families who don't share meals together because, everybody is more focused on what they want, rather than what's most important.

For example, in the Jones family, they don't spend as much time together or share meals anymore because, Jimmy is playing Halo Reach, trying to get that Achievement that is so close, but yet so far away, that he is trying for just so he can be "popular" amongst his friends. Jill is on Facebook uploading provocative pics she took of her self in the bathroom for total strangers to see on her account, Mom has her Nook Color, catching up on the reading she meant to do, but couldn't because she is a busy mom and Dad is on his iPad playing Angry Birds.
 
funny how a liberal president speaks and everyone says "must be the republicans talking through him"

correct me if im wrong but isnt it the DEMOCRATS that are trying to restrict internet freedoms?

seems like this post is starting out by having a real slant so i just wanted to insert some reality,

:turned:
 
I meant to add to my earlier post that Books are active in the fact that after you read them, especially when you made a social occasion out of it such as, a book club, etc.. with your partner or a family gathering, you can also discuss what you thought of the book and also your interpretation of it. I have seen people do the same with video games, such as the genre DS mentioned. But I just wanted to point out that books can be as intellectually engaging as RPG games can be as well. You can do this with your family or partner and that would count toward spending time with them as well.

Anyway, it's funny how some see the word republicans and immediately think that I am attacking that party while possibly missing the remainder of my post, thinking that there is a "slant." Personally, I don't care about either party. I think that both can have as many good ideas, as both can be full of shit. I am not a hardcore anything with respect to politics, and if I see that the person running for office best represents what I feel personally on the issues that are important to me, at that point in my life, then I will vote for that person. That said, I would agree with Bush, McCain, or Sarah Palin if they said the exact same thing Obama did, so for me, it really isn't about party affiliation or politics.

The reality here is that both parties have had their hands in the Internet bill especially where those who had something to gain from their special interest groups. Some may have a lot of Stock in the ISPs that would have a lot to gain if the ISPs had more control over the Internet.

I know republicans that play games too, the same goes for democrats and independents, but that is hardly the point here. My point is that he is right for saying what he did because it is not just gaming that has fueled isolation in families and couples, it is technology in general.

I think I mentioned that much already when I mentioned the actions of the married couples' bedtime routine or the Jones' dinner routine. So the reality here, is that if people weren't so caught up in their uses for technology, and instead spent some time with their families talking, and going out and doing things with them, then perhaps they wouldn't be so pissed off because the president stated the OBVIOUS.

That would be like the black community being offended because there are more programs being set up to avoid the many Black men who abandon their families and children, and more money being spent on sex Ed programs so that the women can protect themselves from men who may be on the DL before or after long term imprisonment or are being unfaithful, and condom distribution in prisons so that when inmate are released they have a better chance of being disease free despite the activities they took part in on the inside.

AIDS, (for the reasons I mentioned) and Black men (it is not always them, but there is a much higher instance) abandoning their families, has unfortunately plagued the Black Community, like Technology in general has become a plague to families and couples, and also the people themselves.

Remember the teen girls who updated their FB statuses after they had wandered into a storm drain, instead of calling 911? What about the teen who killed his mother because she took away his video games? The mother who killed her baby because it wouldnt stop crying while she was playing a video game?

Like the former, it has gone on long enough and something had to be said about it. In either case, people are offended because they know that deep down, what he said, applies to them on a personal level. It is exactly like this old saying that my late great-grandmother used to say, "you can throw stones at a dog, but he won't holler unless you hit him."

Obama threw stones when he said what he did, but only you had something to say because you were offended. I wasn't offended at all because it didn't apply to me, and I knew exactly what he meant by his words and I agreed with what he had to say.

And for the record, please don't think for a second that I am against technology and the innovation of it. I am not, and if my posts on this forum haven't reflected it, I LOVE technology and gaming as well. It is something that excites me and makes things exciting to me.

However, as much as I love my gadgets and consoles, I don't allow it to affect my relationships with my family, friends and my husband.. I still make time for them because they are what is most important to me, and I am not going to allow anything to interfere with that. If it does, then I will gladly give up the gadgets and consoles, and without thinking twice about it, because they don't mean as much to me as my family does.

There are many others who prefer it the other way around, (I've heard many say that they prefer their Blackberry over their spouses or S/O's and then go on to list the reasons why) some that I know personally, and so that is why I agree with what the President has to say.
 
dont assume that im coming from a "repub" angle, because im not, i stand in the middle and want both sides to be shared and seen, thats all

yes both sides negotiate with unions
yes both sides have special interests and do not uphold our Consitution
yes both sides play the race card and exploit habits of people to change their thinking,

i agree with you on most of what you pointed out,
so great work at being able to identify these issues because most cant even do that, which is why the world is in disarray.

there really ARE two sides to each story, sometimes more.


Black Angel said:
Obama threw stones when he said what he did, but only you had something to say because you were offended. I wasn't offended at all because it didn't apply to me, and I knew exactly what he meant by his words and I agreed with what he had to say
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who was offended? were you talking about the post in general?

and yes it is VERY sad when mankind is so blind by gadgets that they ignore LIFE and the people in it,

well put BA
 
Yes, and I agree with you.. and don't worry, I got where you were coming from and that was why I stated that I wasn't hardcore for either side.

Truth be told, I have been nauseated by the Liberal this, and the Republican that push pull and finger pointing b.s. for the longest time.. I mean, you'd think that if they really shared the common ground of people's best interests, that they'd try to compromise instead of playing the game of who can control most of the House and Senate, and running interference until they get their way.. etc. I always knew earlier on that Politics had more to do with power than the people who gave them that power. This is why I haven't as much to do with politics in general.

And yeah, I was talking in general like the father who said that he plays games with his 4 year old, so the "you" in my post was innocuous. Just because you are doing something at the same time as a person but that doesn't mean you are spending time with them. (Hence the married couple, and Jones' family examples in my first post.) Perhaps if the father also, played catch with him, or took him to a park etc. as opposed to just gaming (not saying that he doesn't but I am going by his words in the article) then perhaps, he might not have been as offended, and felt the need to justify himself.

You'd have to also wonder about what is the child learning from that you know? 4 is a very impressionable age, and so, it would make you wonder about what that child would be learning from his dad and the world around him when he is sitting there and playing a video game.

At 4, I learned that my father loved to travel, loved 80's music and both of my parents loved Smooth Jazz.

Even though I learned more from my mother and great-grandmother as they raised me and my brother, from my father, I learned that when I am old enough, I can have adventures of my own by doing the same. That is about the only positive thing I learned where my father was concerned, (well that, and as I said the 80's music and Smooth Jazz and that is why my collection is as large as it is today) because he was never around when my brother and I were growing up.

Today, I have a love for travel and I owe that to him. Well that, and the fact that my husband and I are on his flight list, since he works for American Airlines, and so we can fly free or at very little cost, regardless of flight class. So that is why I say that you'd have to wonder what that child would also be learning about when he is sitting there and playing games with his father.
 
GracefulAssassin said:
That wouldn't make much sense since they are on the left side, Liberal, meaning more freedom.
Click to expand...

dude stop saying stuff like this,
PLEASE just go read about what a liberal is..(not what it stood for in the 1920's, but what it actually means today)
....and dont just reply to this post by calling names, claiming you know, etc. because you dont.
I have spent THOUSANDS of hours reading news and current events over the last 15-20 years...
I have also been through years of college specializing in government policy and psychology so PLEASE dont just tell me im wrong without doing YOUR homework..


you are obviously confused.
the people that are trying to crumble this country by ways of taxation and laws are people like harry reid and nancy pelosi....BOTH HUGE LIBERALS

those are just 2 examples of hundreds that have taken up this "liberal" name and now even have people like you acting like its a good thing,

all i can say is their brainwash is working on you,
so educate yourself each and every day you can,

remember: LIBERAL = LESS FREEDOM,
(and please note: not all DEMOCRATS are LIBERALS, there is a major difference. Democrats you can work with and meet half way,
liberals are extremists that will not budge and its "their way or the highway")


my 2 cents
 
I think that that it is all about interpretation, and not limiting yourself to any particular group, as all of them have their extremists. I think it is all about finding some middle ground and sticking to what you personally believe, because when you limit yourself to one side versus the other, it doesn't leave much room for a middle. Just look at Evolutionists vs. Creationists.

Both sides, believe that there is no way you can see points in both sides and believe that they can go hand in hand. You have to pick a side and it has to be either Black or White. Both sides are so adamant in being right and trying to prove the other side wrong that they completely overlook their similarities and where they could go hand in hand.

Personally I think that there is a scale, and in the middle there is Democrats, Moderates and Republicans that lie between the extremes which are Conservatives and Liberals. I just think that they are the more extreme versions of the ones closer to the middle.

You can find some interesting answers to the question here.
 
President Obama doesn't seem to like video games much. In his father's day message to the nation's dads, Mr. Obama decided to take a cheap shot at video games, ...

Continue reading Obama: Kids Should Pick Up Books, Put Down Games
 
Errr....Obama's sort of right if you take a look at it from my angle.

I mean, books are way better than video-games. Video-games are good when 'consumed'(:D) in small quantities.

I definitely have a better time reading than playing Killzone.
 
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