Father Teaches Son Gaming History the Hard Way: Playing It

[Darknacht]

This is little more than having a kid read classic literature to help them have an appreciation for reading beyond Harry Potter and Twilight.

schools force kids to read "classic" literature. see how well that turned out to be.

Its fine to tell thier kids classic literature exits. its fine to show them. its not fine to force them to read it though.

Yes lets also just tell young children that math and language exist and they are free to study them if they wish. The job of the parent of a 4 year old is to teach them things, doing so does not make you a bad parent. Leaving it up to your 4 year old to decide what they want to do and what they want to learn, does.

 

[AetherWolf]

Stuff like this is why I actually appreciate growing up in a fairly low-income household a little. I really started playing video games around 1999, when the brand-spanking new PS2 was the hot topic, but I was only able to afford stuff from the previous console generations. My first console was hand-me-down Genesis. Constantly played Super Mario World on a buddy's SNES. I obsessed over all the old PS1 games I could come across in pawn shops. In 2005, I bought my first Pokemon cartridge (Yellow) off some kid at school for a couple of bucks. Hell, even today I'm always way behind on the times by a couple of years, and I guess as a result of the low income, I refuse to ever pay more than $35 for a video game, $40 at the absolute tops. Understandably, it sometimes takes a while to get my hands on the newest acclaimed AAA title.

Whoops, I'm getting way too introspective here. Anyway, I guess the gist of what I'm saying is that the kid will very likely look back at this when he's older and look back on it fondly, 'cause like, growing up on older games really makes you appreciate having played that stuff.

 

[beastro]

There's a huge difference between raising a kid to carry on the traditions and values of your ancestors and shoe horning them into living the next stage of your life for you like many seem to be trying to do pushing their kids into things they could never do as kids themselves like sports, et al.

And what, pray tell, is this difference? Because from where I'm standing we end up in the same place. Kids valuing things because they were taught to, and not because they value them themselves.

One is beneficial to the child and their relationship with their parents the other is not.

The key issue here is if the kid shows interest in the games or not and doesn't have it shoved down their throats.

 

[Kajin]

There's a huge difference between raising a kid to carry on the traditions and values of your ancestors and shoe horning them into living the next stage of your life for you like many seem to be trying to do pushing their kids into things they could never do as kids themselves like sports, et al.

And what, pray tell, is this difference? Because from where I'm standing we end up in the same place. Kids valuing things because they were taught to, and not because they value them themselves.

One is beneficial to the child and their relationship with their parents the other is not.

The key issue here is if the kid shows interest in the games or not and doesn't have it shoved down their throats.

But the kid DID take interest in the games. He took to them like a duck to water and had a great time overall.

 

[st0pnsw0p]

This is little more than having a kid read classic literature to help them have an appreciation for reading beyond Harry Potter and Twilight.

schools force kids to read "classic" literature. see how well that turned out to be.

Its fine to tell thier kids classic literature exits. its fine to show them. its not fine to force them to read it though.

Yes lets also just tell young children that math and language exist and they are free to study them if they wish. The job of the parent of a 4 year old is to teach them things, doing so does not make you a bad parent. Leaving it up to your 4 year old to decide what they want to do and what they want to learn, does.

Except that going to school is obligatory in a good number of countries and learning to read, write and do basic math objectively helps you out in life in almost every conceivable situation, whereas getting a better understanding of the games medium does not. If history classes weren't required in schools, I'd make an effort to introduce my kids to History, but I wouldn't force them into it because it won't help them out in life except for a handful of situations, like if they choose to work in foreign relations or if they get on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

But if math wasn't required, you bet your ass I'd teach them at least all 4 basic equations, possibly geometry and statistics, and make sure they know how to use them, because that shit's very important.

 

[Strazdas]

There is a difference between showing your child older games and forcing him to play only these before he is allowed to play others

I'm still not seeing what the big deal is. It's the parent's job to determine what is and is not suitable for their child. Are you saying that a four year old HAS to be brought up on current games instead of old ones? That, because the father wanted his child to play some of the same games he did when he was younger, that he's somehow the worst father in the world? The kid enjoyed playing the games regardless so what does it matter that they're older games over newer ones?

The guy isn't forcing his kid to sit in a corner and play nothing but Pac-Man or Dig Dug while laughing maniacally and playing PS4. He gave the kid a wide selection of games and the kid had fun. That's not bad parenting. That's awesome parenting.

Its the abuse of the trust ensured in a parent to know what is suitable thats the problem. a child does not have to be brought up on current games, but he has to have a choice there.

Thats funny, because the article made it sound like he forced his kid to play old games before he was allowed to play new ones.

This is little more than having a kid read classic literature to help them have an appreciation for reading beyond Harry Potter and Twilight.

schools force kids to read "classic" literature. see how well that turned out to be.

Its fine to tell thier kids classic literature exits. its fine to show them. its not fine to force them to read it though.

Yes lets also just tell young children that math and language exist and they are free to study them if they wish. The job of the parent of a 4 year old is to teach them things, doing so does not make you a bad parent. Leaving it up to your 4 year old to decide what they want to do and what they want to learn, does.

yes, teaching things does not make you a bad parent. intentionally teaching only certain things and hiding others does. for an obviuos example of that see the "my child can only be taught creationism" families.

 

[Thyunda]

Well this is news. PARENT RAISES CHILD IN PARTICULAR FASHION! BETTER TELL THE INTERNET!

I actually unplugged my charger so that I might fuel my laptop on the fucks I do not give. That's why I came to comment - I felt it would be ungrateful otherwise.

 

[Charli]

Wasn't aware this was newsworthy because my brother was born when I was 14 and I did this with him

I played Sonic and Mario's older titles with him as a child and we worked our way out from those.

 

[beastro]

But the kid DID take interest in the games. He took to them like a duck to water and had a great time overall.

Hence why half the thread's sitting dumb faced at the other half who look on this as bad parenting.

 

[FalloutJack]

Those of us with a working Atari 2600 can be rare these days. Still, the Retron system would be able to help this man out, and any other old-schooler there. Technology aimed towards backwards-compatibility is always cool.

 

[lord.jeff]

This is a cool idea though I have to ask if he is gonna make the same amount of effort into teaching his kid something useful. At least when my mom forced something on me it was peewee sports and got me some exercise.

 

[Darknacht]

This is little more than having a kid read classic literature to help them have an appreciation for reading beyond Harry Potter and Twilight.

schools force kids to read "classic" literature. see how well that turned out to be.

Its fine to tell thier kids classic literature exits. its fine to show them. its not fine to force them to read it though.

Yes lets also just tell young children that math and language exist and they are free to study them if they wish. The job of the parent of a 4 year old is to teach them things, doing so does not make you a bad parent. Leaving it up to your 4 year old to decide what they want to do and what they want to learn, does.

yes, teaching things does not make you a bad parent. intentionally teaching only certain things and hiding others does. for an obviuos example of that see the "my child can only be taught creationism" families.

Well good thing that clearly is not whats going on, the original post stated that the kid plays modern games and no one is telling him that he can't. The father just introduced him to old games first and worked his way up to new games and the kid now choses what games he plays. Do people even read the damn article?

This is a cool idea though I have to ask if he is gonna make the same amount of effort into teaching his kid something useful. At least when my mom forced something on me it was peewee sports and got me some exercise.

It does not say that he spent any great amount of time on this it was just when the kid wanted to play a game he gave the kid some old games to play, as long as the kid does not sit around all day playing video games and nothing else I don't see the problem.

 

[beastro]

There's a huge difference between raising a kid to carry on the traditions and values of your ancestors and shoe horning them into living the next stage of your life for you like many seem to be trying to do pushing their kids into things they could never do as kids themselves like sports, et al.

And what, pray tell, is this difference? Because from where I'm standing we end up in the same place. Kids valuing things because they were taught to, and not because they value them themselves.

One is beneficial to the child and their relationship with their parents the other is not.

No evidence for this necessarily being the case whatsoever. My parent's attempts to ingrain their beliefs into me resulted in distance, not closeness.

Were they heavy handed about it?