"Wow. I'm thinking a lot of commenters aren't parents. I have two kids, 8 and 10, who play video games, but I can tell you that in those first years we didn't play video games at all and in fact limited TV as much as possible. Kids that age need a different kind of stimulation as their brains develop.
You said your son seemed to calm down after you explained the difference between fantasy and reality. My guess is you explained it and assumed that was all he needed. Kids aren't capable of separating fantasy and reality typically until age 7, some even further out. That's a fact, not some anti-TV, anti-video game hyperbole. You cannot reason or argue logically with a child that age. Their brains are incapable of comprehending it.
I'm not saying you're a bad father. I'm saying it's not the best stimulation for a kid that age, by far. The best stimulation is face-to-face interaction with adults, reading together, playing with friends, going OUTSIDE. Being creative ... and not in the limited venue of a video game's world, particularly one as violent as GTA."
Home
You said your son seemed to calm down after you explained the difference between fantasy and reality. My guess is you explained it and assumed that was all he needed. Kids aren't capable of separating fantasy and reality typically until age 7, some even further out. That's a fact, not some anti-TV, anti-video game hyperbole. You cannot reason or argue logically with a child that age. Their brains are incapable of comprehending it.
I'm not saying you're a bad father. I'm saying it's not the best stimulation for a kid that age, by far. The best stimulation is face-to-face interaction with adults, reading together, playing with friends, going OUTSIDE. Being creative ... and not in the limited venue of a video game's world, particularly one as violent as GTA."