CHILDREN'S TOYS ANG GAMES

Technological advances have brought into our living room many high tech toys that could be harmful and unhealthy for the children. The number one entertainment today for children are the violent electronic gadgets in the guise of action plays. The screens portraying the violence are so real that children find them so realistic and had difficulties erasing them from the mind. At their tender age, their minds are already being molded by the violence surrounding these games.

Some of the simulated games are similar to those used by the military for training soldiers. If left alone, the children would have played more hours than the soldiers in the actual training and without the discipline found in the military training. The American Academy of Pediatrics survey of nearly 1,000 studies found a correlation between aggressive behavior of children and media violence. The vast majority of the studies conclude a cause- effect relationship between media and real life violence. (Naisbitt, 96-97)

The effects of these toys are brought to bear on the children as they grow into adulthood. Adult toys soon take over that could profoundly affect their future for better or worst. Many made use of their time in the pursuit of leisure instead of doing the more urgent and more important things in life.

Many toys such as guns and high tech military hardware are so real, children find them fascinating to play. Most of these toys are spin offs from violent movies seen in the theaters and targeted the children. Even before reaching adulthood, some schoolchildren have been conditioned to handle the weapons and even kill their classmates. News of high school students who never handle firearms taking over campuses and causing havoc have become a reality of life.
(Ibid)

The electronic game industry tried to justify the production of these violent games as providing cathartic outlet for children with violent tendencies. It is however disputed by media scholars and psychologists. In fact, numerous studies have shown that gratuitous violence stimulates aggressive thoughts rather than purges them. It has been well documented that aggression is a learned behavior and not a primal urge that seeks an outlet. (Ibid, 99)

Some of the movies meant for children or even under parental guidance are just as violent as movies for adults only. The movie, Small Soldiers, made in 1998 was meant for children. It was a very violent movie marketed as action- packed and rated as PG- 13.) Many movies and even TV shows are so realistic that the images of violence and aggression are influencing the children in their behavior. Psychologists have always advised parents to restrain children from watching many cartoons that are seemingly innocent but psychologically devastating.


(Armondo Ang, Author of Greed and Scams Inc, copyright 2005)