Obama: “games are raising our kids”

Parents need to control what their kids play and watch, don't blame the game. I really love the game Mass Effect, but I wouldn't let my kids play it, hell I don't even let my kids watch most PG-13 movies, my oldest son is only 7 and I really don't think the majority of those films are appropriate for him, just my two cents.

I was raised on video games.

I _promise_ you, it was far more beneficial than being raised by television.

Don't demonize games, they're far more intelligent than 90% of media.

Politicians telling us how to raise our children. That's rich.

well now, if parents didn't have to work 3 jobs, then maybe they would be able to make time for their children.

It's all a socio-economic problem. Your the politician -- you're supposed to solve it!

There is a rating system for a reason and it's clear as day. If a video game is raising your kid, then this reflects on your PARENTING not the VIDEO GAME.

I kind of agree with him. Here's the part of the quote that wasn't clipped:

"but these video games are raising our kids... Across the board, middle-class, upper-class, working-class kids, they’re spending a huge amount of their time not on their studies, but on entertainment.

And so part of our job is going to have to be to inspire the entire country to say, ‘How are we giving our kids a thirst for knowledge?’ And turning off the TV set, and getting them to be engaged and interested, like their future really does matter on how well they do in school.”

wow Jan. wow.

"but these video games are raising our kids... Across the board, middle-class, upper-class, working-class kids, they’re spending a huge amount of their time not on their studies, but on entertainment"

they are only raising our kids if we let them raise them, Parents need to wake up and pay attention to what their kids play/watch/read, blame the parent, not the games.

First of all, let me start off by saying I don't have children and probably know nothing about parenting.

That said, kids should not be playing games like this. Not until said parent is satisfied with the level of maturity in thier child and is assured that said child has the ability to seperate fantasy and reality.

Second of all, Games like GTA are geared towards the adult gamer, a percentage of people who dramatically increased about the time kids who played Atari 2600 grew up. There are plenty of alteratives to the ultra-violence of GTA. There are even educational video games available for many systems.

That said, I don't think we should be blaming the games themselves. The ESRB has been doing a good job of providing parents with information to make proper gaming choices. The parents aren't at fault either. Sure, there are some bad apples out there, but for the most part the system of self-regulation has been working just fine because parents have been using it.

I agree with Binarysunset that when video games are raising children it's more often a socio-economical problem and not a bad parenting one. This is epscially true in single parent, single income situations. The direct answer to this is raising the minimum wage rates so that the middle to lower middle class can afford to be parents. However that is an issue for another story...

I certainly didn't expect my children to be raised by their teachers or the government, that was my responsibility - no one elses. But having said that, I was open to any reasonable suggestion or reminder like the one Obama just gave because it's just common sense. Children don't come with a set of instructions but it can be easy for parents up at 5:30am and not home until 6:30pm to get comfortable when we get home by letting the uninterrupted silence grow into an hour or two while our kids are watching tv or playing video games. This is especially true when for parents there are still chores to do and a meal to prepare and clean up. It can be easy to occasionally to get caught up and lose site of the fact that the child is the priority - taking time to communicate, homework to complete, etc. And again, there's no reason to take offense at this if it doesn't apply to you. It's just that for most parents the reality is that we do sometimes.

Look, kids are hard work. There's no denying this. But most people chose to have that child and, sorry, but the responsibility comes with it. There may not be a manual, but there sure as hell is tons of literature to know what to expect.

There are clear ratings, it is illegal for a store to sell a child a mature rated game, statistics show that 9 out of 10 kids buy a video game with a parent at the store and there are hundreds of media outlets in which the parent can research what they're purchasing their child.

If this child is playing video games to the point that he/she's being "raised" by it, then again I will state this is a parent's issue, not a video games issue. I don't care how rich or poor you are, there is an obligation to taking care of your kid.

Can you be a perfect parent all the time? Most certainly not. Do the barriers in place guarantee a child won't get their hands on a mature game? That's laughable. But is it impossible for a parent to take control and make sure they know what their child is up to? Absolutely not. I don't know how many times I can say this: if your child is playing so much that they're being raised by the game, then there is a larger issue with parenting, and not video games.

Chique,

Not that I am trying to tell you how to raise your kids or anything, I'm sure you do a fine job as a parent.

I do have a suggestion:
If your kids are old enough to game, they should also be old enough to help out around the house as well. It would do them good to stop for 10-20 minutes and do a chore or two, it will give them a bit of responsibility.

That's something I know from personal experience. It worked for me(for the most part anyway).

Wow what? He voted to fund a war that killed peoples' children. Does he care what the military teaches our children? The military he wants to expand? Does he care enough about our children to push for urgent climate change plans? Does he care enough to make sure all children have the healthcare they need? You can wow all you want without giving a substantive response. I have a child and have raised him to be a decent good young man. I didn't need any poltician telling me how to do it.

I think there is a good point here. Parents should be stressing education more than sitting like zombies in front of the television, whether it's watching the non-educational programs that are on TV or playing video games.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH A LEADER ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO PARENT. JAN, as a parent I expect you to have some sort of respect for his fathering. I worked in the primary and went to Chicago their daughters are awesome, respectful, behaved, intelligent , well-mannered kids. I hope that he can inspire parents to raise children the same . You probably do an awesome job raising your child. But, im sure you know as well as I that there are a lot of parents who could get some advice on rearing their children properly.

lifestudentno83: Thanks, I agree. My children did help out around the house with various responsibilities in different stages all through their lives - with both parents working and raising children its absolutely essential - not only for the household to function but so they learn how to function in the real world. It's teaching them to be givers - not takers. Incidentally, they're now productive adults and loving members of a big family. ;-)

What I'm saying is that both parents in a household working and raising children isn't easy as Vsiskos says. There's all kinds of literature, there's knowing your child, there's talking with family and friends, there's giving them love and accountability and all of that - but there are also outside influences or suggestions that we need to be open minded about and then either accept or reject. If what Obama said doesn't apply in someone's household so what. But if it woke up just one family who wasn't then it hurt no one - and maybe helped a child or two in an overwhelmed household - and there's no reason to take offense.

WOW. whoaaa. whooaaaaaaaaa. wah-wah-wah... wow.

( dont count on it, amir )

when i look back and think about how excited i was when "Pong" first came out , i envy kids these days - they're spoiled to even have a hand me down N64 and a few Mario games . buying my boys a 360 or a PS3 is going to be a coming of age ritual - i'm gonna hold off until they're strong enough to actually beat me at arm wrestling , or ollie higher than me - and then they will be worthy of playing GTA - now that's what i call proper parenting .

obama is right video games is raising kids not parents why because parents don't wanna raise their kids yes there are parents who work and try to make their kids life easy but there are parents who don't work but instead want to party and bullshit and leave their kids with their parents instead of teaching kids how to do the right thing instead teaching their kids how to be disrecpectful,racist and everything in the book and you wonder why american kids are messed up

I don't think his remarks were out of line at all. He is pointing out a nation-wide problem. Too many parents are letting their kids play video games to the extent where homework and family inter-action is often neglected. He wants parents to get more involved with their kids' lives. He wants kids to be more eager to learn new things. What is wrong with that?
Is this any different than presidents in the past pushing for kids to do more physical activity?

Video games only raise children in the absence of responsible parents, and I'm positive that Obama is aware of this fact. Don't nitpick everything out of context.

american children deserve to learn urban combat.what better way then through video games.welcome to america where violence is okay for kids to see and nudity is wrong.

kingtsohg: You and Jack Thompson would get along.

preach on pastor obama!

too many jack shmomposons . only one kingtsohg.so everything is how it"s supposed to be.the will of the gods ma'at and isfet.

Mom: You're going to miss the bus, dear.
Kid: Yeah, yeah. Okay. I just need to run over one more guy.
Mom: What?

Why does nobody hold parents responsible for the games their kids play?

GTA is not for kids - plain and simple.

There's always been violence in childrens entertainment (or entertainment adored by children). Granted it was never as violent as GTA but I'm pretty sure (to no ones chagrin) kids saw Arnold Schwarzenegger movies and how violent are those?

Anywho, i think our boy Obama is turning into a politician more and more. . . using scape goats and what not. This might win him elections, but it's not the guy we knew. . . god damn it. F***k the system.

I think that most people are missing the point. I believe that he is entirely right. As a nation at large, and as a 22 year old who grew up through this technological revolution, I have seen first hand the effects of gaming on children and teens.

15 years ago, when I was seven, the main activity I spent doing was riding my bike or playing baseball outside my back yard. I would come home from school and right away get on my bike and hang out with friends until dinner time. Then I would spend the rest of the night on HW and if time allowed watch some TV. This lifestyle followed me through high school where rollerblading took baseballs place.

The main point I would like to make is that all this technology is directly affecting our livelihood. We are raising our children in such sedentary lifestyles.

How many of you know many 7-18 year olds who play 3 hours of video games a day?

How many of you know many 7-18 year olds who spend at least 3 hours a day outside riding their bikes or playing pick-up sports?

I think that as a whole everyone needs to get off their Computers, TV's, and Video Games and get outside more. We all need to read more, interact with others more, get outside more and really start to appreciate the tangible.

I myself can be caught on the computer for many hours each day and have been steadily weaning myself away with my new passion for riding my bike...

The outside is a wonderful place to be and we really need to pass this love on to our children.

Your future really depends on doing well in school. Now that's rich.

Class, who's the greatest civilization ever? We are. Class dismissed.

I really am sorry for giving my opinions here about what I believe to be hypocrisy by politicians in general. I will remember next time here to just not become involved. Far be it for me with the fact that our rights under the Constitution being abrogated and a war with Iran more than likely on the horizon that I should dare think these candidates continuing to play it safe when campaigning isn't right.

The real issue is that a lot of parents are children themselves.

Things always have 2 sides.
Don't demonize it,or quite glorify it.

If it's not video games it will be something else. It's easy to slide into it. When I was raising my first batch (two) of kids I knew TV was a waste of their time. So at the start of summer when the TV went out I didn't get it repaired. They spent the summer playing outside swimming, climbing trees, building tree forts, playing ball. My son always looked back on it as the best summer. The next summer by choice they went out to play.

I dont see what the fuss is about. All the man said was lets get our kids engaged in something more worthwhile them video games. He was simply using GTA as spring board to that point. Its wasnt some tyrade about the moral decay of America. He wasn't advocating censorship.

I think the statement that Obama made was very general. He wasn't really saying it was the video games' fault or the parents fault but that kids need to focus more on education than entertainment. I'll admit I had to read it a couple of times before I see where he was really getting at. But it is kind of scary knowing that a video game that represents violence, sex, and drug is the most wanted game out there.

I personally don't see the big deal in people expressing an opinion on the other side either. it is people here themselves who make everything into something more than it is because they take it too personally as if they know Obama personally. I don't like politicians telling me how to raise my child. Simple opinion. When they learn how to run this country maybe then they can pass judgement on others. It reminds me of Bush's "personal responsibility" crap when he was running in 2000.

Politicians in general also seem to take the easy way when campaigning by always mentioning "video games" during campaigns ( Clinton has done it too) but never any other time. Has Obama ever stated this while a state senator? Perhaps had he remained a Senator long enough to finish one term instead of his ego leading him to wanting it all so fast he could have helped pass some helpful legislation on the subject that also holds corporations accountable for how they market their games to children in the first place.

There is more to it than the black and white broadbrush comment that it is just the parent's fault when it is shared by more than one party. Does he have any data as well to back up what he says? What is the proportion of children in this country who play video games over a certain amount of hours and what is the corrolation between that and grades, social problems, etc. on a countrywide basis? People want to discuss it then let's discuss it..