Education Expert Slams Video Games as Gifts for Boys

Let's see... i'm 21 now... if they call a 5'10" person who's 150 pounds fat, somebody's standards need a good looking at... I'm pretty much known for being quiet rather than angry... and i got a Dean's Scholarship for the four years i've been in college. And i've been playing video games since i was three and getting at least a couple among other stuff every christmas since.

One of these are not like the other....

Maybe it's the fact theres a lot more food about nowadays, and most of it is high-fat and processed beyond recognition?

Why reach for Video Games to blame when there's already a wealth of scientific evidence proving that processed food has phsychological, as well as physical detriments to it?

I won't deny that a sedentary life plays a role, and quite a big one, but the same thing could easily be said about sitting round watching the TV all day, which is standard practice for Christmas day, so why is little Billy upstairs playing his Nintendo a problem, whereas Mum and Dad slumped in front of the Telly watching Mary Poppins for the 16th time perfectly alright?

The problem isn't the technology being used, it's the lifestyle that promotes it, and that goes far deeper than finger-pointing Video Games, it burrows down to nature of life in countries such as the US and UK.

Still he is entitled to his opinion, in a way he is right in his advice, but his scope is far too narrow and biased to be taken particuarly seriously.

"Boys are spending more than thirteen hours a week playing video games. As a result, they're spending less time outdoors playing and exercising. Perhaps this is partially why they are four times more likely to be obese than they were thirty years ago."

the first part of this is a problem with the paranting ability of said boys, if their children are spending too much time inside playing games, maybe they should turn off the TV and send their kids out to play.  as for the second part, i find it highly more likely that they are 4 times more likely to be obese due to americans growing diet of fatty foods and increasingly sedatory lifestyle

"Research consistently confirms that the more time boys spend playing video games, the more likely they are to do poorly in school—regardless of age. At a time when boys are already underperforming in school, video games only make the situation worse."

the same can be said about anything, if your child spends 13 hours a day playing baseball they miss just as much study time as if they played video games for 13 hours a day.  removing video games from the equation doesn't change this increased study time, which again better parenting could account for, would make the situation better

Many recent studies suggest that playing video games saps the motivation of boys and disconnects them from the real world... Violent video games are especially harmful. A definite link has been established between violent video games and antisocial behavior. Games like Grand Theft Auto and Halo can make your son more aggressive.

there is also a definite link between the increase in ice cream sales and shark attacks, that does not mean selling ice cream causes people to get attacked by sharks.  what you link means is that children who have antisocial behavior are drawn to video games, not that the games created said behavior.  increased agressiveness is not necesarily a bad thing, and this also undermines the first point made in the paragraph.  agression is a motivator, you can not simultaniously sap motavation and increase agression.