3 ms·
My mother specialized in early childhood learning and developmental psychology. She never once blinked when my brother and I played Doom or Wolfenstein, some of
by MisterTea 6y ago
My mother specialized in early childhood learning and developmental psychology. She never once blinked when my brother and I played Doom or Wolfenstein, some of the most violent games of their times. We were allowed to play with toy guns and listen to whatever music we wanted including heavy metal (which my father despised.)
I asked her about this later in life and her answer was and she laughingly told me "I knew you two were well aware of the fact that it was a fantasy. I never saw it influence any unhealthy behaviour. Plus its a good aggression outlet for young boys."
- elboru 6y agoI live in a Mexican city near to the border with the US, the violence got really bad 10 years ago (some cartels were fighting for the border, now it is a lot calmer). Anyways “Narco culture” has influenced a lot of people (mostly on poor neighborhoods) and therefore it has influenced kids, it’s really sad to see boys playing with guns pretending to be narcos. The government has tried to ban those kinds of toys, I don’t know, does that really help? I guess I don’t have a strong opinion since that doesn’t look like a solution, but in the other hand it’s sad to see those boys aspiring to be narcos.
- raztogt21 6y agoI'm from Mexico too. Kids (males mostly) playing with toys guns or swords is normal. Almost all games/sports are microcosms for wars, football, basketball, tag, hide n seek. Both kids and adults love these microcosms of war. They don't pretend to be narcos because they like toy guns. They do it because they aspire to a quality of life they will never get via a normal working job.
- wwtrv 6y agoThe third paragraph kind of contradicts the second one one. I mean why don’t they pretend to be businessmen, politicians or investment bankers then?
- LocalH 6y agoWhich sounds more exciting to you?
- raztogt21 6y agoIronically in Mexico, they have the same reputation. But yes, a small minority of smart kids play to be astronauts or businessmen in their free time. What looks more exciting for a kid? Seeing your narco uncle on your birthday with a PS4 gift? Or your banker 8am-8pm uncle with a hot wheels as a gift? If you are not from Mexico it will be hard for you to understand this issue.
- saba2008 6y agoBecause there are no successful businessman, politicians or investment bankers in their social circle.
- hombre_fatal 6y agoYou also don't see banda music where the guy with the big house and women and drugs and cars is singing about how he just oversaw a successful corporate merger. Everyone likes some intrigue and mystique. James Bond will always have more of it than a claims adjustor.
- adamredwoods 6y agoI wonder if there is correlation between children who frequently play with toy guns to those who grow up and own guns?
- raztogt21 6y agoHard to track. At least on my family circle the people that own hunting rifles and shoot frequently since young age are way more responsible around guns than people who only want a gun for self-defense or as decoration.
- scotty79 6y agoI don't think it's any different from playing soldiers or cops and robbers. Little kids just aspire to what they see as local physical violent power. It's just fantasy of power when you have none because you are little kid.
- Nowado 6y ago> Plus its a good aggression outlet for young boys. Post-freudian hydraulic metaphor of emotions. That one's about as outdated as psychological views get. We have experimental data that punching things when you are mad doesn't make you less mad, to give the most straight forward example.
- Izkata 6y ago> Doom or Wolfenstein, some of the most violent games of their times > Plus its a good aggression outlet for young boys. This is one of the standing theories why the influx of those types of games in the 90s coincided so perfectly with a drop in crime. A closely related one is games in general, as "gives them something to do instead of go out and cause trouble". http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/oversaturated/2r6ns4y-1.jpg http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii45/oversaturated/2r6ns4...
- vietvu 6y agoI love your mother opinion, what important is telling the difference between real life and not.