It seems that video games consoles like the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, Nintendo DS and XBox 360 are really popular requests this Christmas (from the many wishlists we have on Santa’s Rules).

Please keep in mind the content rating of games when buying for nieces, nephews and children in general this Christmas. I am constantly amazed at the number of parents out there who will buy games like Grand Theft Auto or Spiderman etc, that are rated for over 13 year olds and then hand them to a 6 year old not understanding that the content contained within the game is high in violence, language and adult themes.

The majority of ‘trouble’ children on TV’s Supernanny, display outburst of violence, bad language and more. That is not to say that they got this exclusively from video games, however keep in mind that if they receive a gift that shows them how to behave violently, then it is conceivable that this will have some negative effect on their behavior either now or in the future.

Keep in mind that sometimes it is not the sole fault of the parent, just last week I was in a video games store and I ‘overheard’ a parent buying a Nintendo Wii console for their child. There was an extreme rush on and a long queue, the parent then asked the shop assistant what game they should get for their child - a 5 year old boy. The shop assistant (probably no more than 19 herself), recommended Simpsons Hit and Run! I could not believe what I heard, the parent bought the game and happily left the shop. Now what kind of message will that send to the child? go ahead and run people over any chance you get - it’s fun?

In that case, the shop assistant was in the wrong, but the parent should have checked the rating and made the proper decision. So keep it safe this Christmas and if you are faced with a tricky decision over what game to buy, just ask yourself the question ‘What game would Santa Claus give?’

Tags: christmas, nintendo wii, playstation 3, santa claus, supernanny, xbox 360

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 7:18 am and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.