Reply to Anyone forbidding Minecraft for their 9 year old?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I realized that the boys/men who played video games all day were pathetic - ultimately it helped me weed out the kind of man I wanted to marry.[/quote]

A little condescending aren't we?

I grew up in the Atari, Intellivision, and Nintendo and early PC gaming era.  Playing games encouraged my interest in computers which has carried over to my professional life.  I remember buying a Sound Blaster sound card for my parent's computer so I could have decent sound for my games.  I saved my money, bought it, and installed it all on my own.  When I was old enough I joined the USAF and spent 9 years in the service doing computer work.  Now I do computer work for a govt contractor and make a very nice living to provide for my family.  There is not a doubt in my mind that the interest in computers came from that first Atari 2600 that my grandparents bought for me and the Commodore VIC 20 that I'd spend a whole afternoon typing in code just to see a `O' fly around the screen.  Interest in games if handled properly can be guided to become an interest in how computers work.  My 9 year old LOVES Minecraft so much that we've decorated his room with that theme.  However, I've guided his interest into creating his own games using SCRATCH, a programming language created by MIT to teach kids to understand programming logic.  Kids that don't have that exposure to how computers work are going to be at a disadvantage to kids who do.  It is up to parents to guide an interest in video games into something constructive rather than outright denying it.

[url]http://scratch.mit.edu/[/url]
[/quote]

No, it's not condescending.  I would imagine you are the exception and not the rule.  For every 100 guys who sat and played video games through their college and young adult years, maybe there are one or two who wound up getting creatively/intelligently involved with computers like you have.

And, of course, the situation we have today is much much worse because a child has to be motivated (or have deeply motivated parents) to take "screen time" to the next level (ie, coding or developing).  Everything revolves around screens, communication, leisure time, etc., and our kids are going to be challenged to get their noses out of their devices and have real relationships and interests.  Obviously your kid sounds like he is going to be an exception, too.  I guess you get a pass.[/quote]

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