computers suck!

[j-ro]

im getting very sick of seeing younger and younger kids staying inside 24/7 to play computer games. This is seriously damaging their social skills plus having severe consiquences on their health and wellbeing. All too often i hear and see kids chucking tantrums and hissy fits over things that are way outta perspective. I indirectly relate this to the effects that computers in general have on their social skills.

Computer games and the like entice and entrance youths to live a fantasy, an existance in a world that is somewhat realistic but yet consequence free, for example, a world that you can mow down pedestrians in stunning graphic reality or a game where running round shooting people in the norm.

I am not saying that computer games trick kids into thinking these behavioural standards are ethically or morally acceptable in todays society, but i an saying that it is becoming alarmingly common to see youths failing to deal with simple social situation, like getting rejected by a girl and still remain friends with her, let alone remaining calm and collected. If this is the case, wich i personally belive it is, then how are these youthes going to cope with a complex social situation, for example a close friends suicide or morally-corrupt peer pressure (like the kings school male-male rape)

But the prevailing world industry of information technology and its huge technological advance has masked these catastrophical social injustices to developing youths. Kids think its ok to spend your entire day insed playing games and the like because, and i quote a local grom , "its the way of the future"



Thoughts? comments?

remember this is just an opinion, and of a notorious ludite at that.

 

[Squidly Didly]

I'll fully agree with ya there matey, but look at it this way...
If they're infront of the computer, there's less chance of them causing trouble on the streets, and getting fu**ed over by drugs, alcohol, gangs, etc!

 

[Simo]

I dont play amny games at all, maybe 30 mins a week TOPS.
I've had a close friend commit suicide and I don't see how playing a computer game would/could have hindered my dealing with the situation, when you have to ID a body I don't care what game you've been playing for how long I don't see how it would change anyones reactions.

 

[j-ro]

the reason i chose that example was becauase it is my most painful memory. computer games hinder yuor experience in the "real" world, thus nulling your ability to be trusting and or active socially enough to create an environment for yourself and those around you so you can deal with the situation and its consequences.

 

[Adi]

It's a very complex situation and computers can't be 'blamed' for it, at least it keeps people inside and perhaps stops them from doing drugs etc like sqidly didly said.

I don't really see how it can be stopped. Allthough I'd rather a world of fat and lazy non socialising computer geeks than a world of druggies.

There are too many factors that influence people to behave these ways so I really do not think it can be eleminated.

 

[chucK]

i wrote a big fatttt assed english thingy a while back about this sorta thing. The worlds really starting to piss me off.
First off, any people who think they have a weight problem this isn't a shot at you, you ride a bike so your a champ in my books already.

But this is what I keep seeing. Kids are being restricted in what they can do outside. The parents won't let them do anything out there and having the kids on the computers/playstations is much easier for them to look after, eg: not at all.
Now that children obesity is becoming concidered an epidemic it really bugs me when people try and kick me out of where i am riding, generally in areas where i wont injure anyone, or damage the property.

Bah, angry. lol, screwed two exams today.

Anyway, to the computer and social interaction etc.

I used too play a lot of games etc when i was younger, only really got weened off them when i got my bike. Now its maybe an hour a week. I've always been concidered the level headed freind to a lot of people and do a lot of peer councelling to mates and freinds etc. So i dont think i've neccesarily been heavily affected. While not experiencing a freind commiting suicide, i have experienced running out my house at 10pm to look after a freind who is about to attempt it and stay with them for a few hours. I'm pretty sure i handled that pretty well and i dont think many people with bad social skills could put up with it (more the moments afterwards then during the incident).

As i've already done i think i'll go off topic once more. I recently got my UMAT scores back and got 34% for my interaction skills. While another person who'll go nameless got 80+%. This other person has the interaction skills of a robot, the sensitivity of a charles manson. This moron (this is before the UMAT) thought the best way to tell a patient they have cancer is straight out eg: "yeh hey, you have cancer, you'll die in 2months"

GAH fuck the umat

 

[Sandman1]

Dude, I used to be the image computer geek. I am naturally skinny and had heaps of pimples etc..
I spent all of my money and time playing games, and only minimal amounts of time riding..
I finally woke up to myself, sold off my gaming computer, and now I spend all of my time riding
Started working out, so now I'm slowly bulking up, (Damn you naturally skinny build)..
I pity the people who are still stuck in their little computer world

 

[Adi]

And then there are those parents who let their kids do whatever they want and do not mind if they come home at 1am.

 

[zen_rider]

i think it has a lot to do with 'stranger danger' - how many parents let their kids play by themselves these days. when i grew up (in the country) i'd go out and ride for hours on my own with my parents not caring about me gettin fucked up/kidnapped whatever....i think they loved me heh.

i guess parents are really busy these days, dont have time to watch their kids outside, so they're encouraged to stay inside where mum or dad can keep an eye on them. well thats whats happening to my little cousins. i went for a ride with my cousin and i was doin wheelies and he was like "WHOAaAH" - i was thinking - man, at your age i could do wheelies for ages....thats all i did -rode my bike.

computer games also fark your vision, and then theres the whole obesity thing, social skills - well i think thats a symptom of society itself. we seem to think strangers are guilty until proven innocent, when in fact i guess bad people constitute <1%

anyways, thats my rant

 

[mr whippy]

i guess you could say it is society that tells kids to stay home and play games. it's a pretty crap existence when all you have to look forward to is playing ps2 all the time.

People don't wanna see kids out and about doing something positive. spose it is out of sight out of mind.
Example: am going through the process of trying to convince manningham council and local residents to let me build jumps. I feel like i've been bangin my head against a wall.
"yeah, it's a good idea, ahh, just put them somewhere else".
"the kids will start using this area to do drugs".
"they will hang around in gangs and intimidate the local community".

me thinks the community and society would rather not deal with these problems.youth:20% of the population, 100% of the future!
oh well, sorry about the speel.

 

[wombat]

so now I'm slowly bulking up, (Damn you naturally skinny build)..

Mate I know how you feel, but it's easier than having to burn off the fat as well.
I am very worried by child obeisity, and I think the constantly growing protectiveness in parents, natural I understand but heightened by our society, has a big part to play in it. It's not healthy to wrap your kids in cotton wool.

I am however struck by the irony that we are discussing the detrimental effects of computer based activities in an online forum.

 

[bazza]

its better than them being gun weilding ganster wanna bes or whatever that post was called. im serious, most gamers i know are alright, we have kinda the social 'king' of our school playing counter strike all the time. but oh well. i hate social structure bull shit at high school, 6 weeks left!! yahhh.

 

[peachy]

so now I'm slowly bulking up, (Damn you naturally skinny build)..

Mate I know how you feel, but it's easier than having to burn off the fat as well.

yes i'd rather be skinny than fat.. cough cough "I'M A BIG FAT NARD" cough cough "AND ITS HARD TO LOSE WEIGHT, CHOCOLATE AND PIZZA IS SO YUMMY" cough cough

i beg to differ on the fact that parents force the kids to stay at home and play computer games. After all it is the childs own choice if they'd like to play computer games or go outside and do some physical activity. A big factor that effects people to play computer games is the people they hang around right? Peer-pressure is a huge thing, in school we all know the image factor is a HUGE thing, geeks are geeks, jocks are jocks. If someone is rejected from the jock group and accepted into a so called "nerd" group, they are more inclinded to play computer games. In my opinion its the people who you hang around that influence whether you play sport, or play computer games.
I don't see how computer games effects (affects effects, which one do i use) peoples ability to socilaize? Someone who plays computer games will hang around people who play computer games, they will be at the same "communication" level..
Also how are parents becoming more protective? C'mon dudes, the majority of the teenage population are allowed to go out and drink, go to parties, bring boyfriends/girlfriends home. 20 years ago parents would have prohibited their children going to schoolies. Now about 90% (just an estimate) of the teenage population are permitted to go to schoolies, and trust me the parents do know that they'll be drinking, sexing and what may.
just my dolla dolla bling bling azn opinion

 

[chucK]

funny boy peachy

An Sandman im in the same boat, Skinny genes from dad, pale complexion from mum... "never out outside casper?" "Never lost weight porky?"

Eh, my parents have always been a bit over protective in comparison too most parents, most bullshit thing is that now that i've showed them this they're letting my younger brother do more things that im currently allowed to do. Ah well.

I used to love (still do) baseball and played for the local club, mum being the clever one she was banned me for it due to my skin complexion and the fear of cancer etc. About then i really got into computer games, bleh boring tripe now that i look back at it.

Even though my mum hates me riding the bike (specially after the 5 gashes in my shins over the year an a half) and the tacoed wheels etc, she prefers it over me sitting in front of the computer all day all night. She limited my social life a shitload before i was 16, so only had the computer to turn to.

Ahh life is so tip top with the bike

 

[kitakishi]

what do you think those computer geeks would say about a guy that hucks himself off a 29 foot gap at lizard rock? Death wish maybe?

If they enjoy themselves then so be it.

Everything is perspective.

KK

 

[peachy]

kitakishi - agreed

 

[kalem]

did you see the simpson's episode the other day where marge got itchy and scratchy banned so all the kids went outside and had some real fun? Kids and their parents are just freakin lazy i guess, it's a big problem and it's only getting worse...

 

[j-ro]

true that things are in perspective, but if you got to the beach and you see a kid playing in the shallows right near a shore dump and a rip do you say that well at least hes having fun, who cares if its dangerous to his health...

 

[kitakishi]

comparing the dangers of playing near a rip to a computer game?

bit of a stretch don't you think. But then again taking my own advice, thats your perspective.

KK

Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics. Even if you win your still retarded.

 

[Grip]

Damn this being a serious thread... when I saw the title of it all I wanted to write was

"They DO! Where do I find the button for that?"

But that would be inappropriate.

I too have a HUGE problem with the way many kids seem to have trouble A/... dealing with the realities of the world in general and B/... TAKING responsibility and BEING responsible.

Now whether or not computers have more than a smidge of responsibility here or not I'll leave to those who know better than I... but I will quote an old saying (and I really believe that these old saying have a bloody good grounding in truth)

"A little bit of everything is good... a lot of anything is not"

Could probably do with a LITTLE work... but I'm sure you all know what I mean.

Cheers