{"id":1681,"date":"2015-06-16T08:59:56","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T15:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insideout.insidewp.test\/?p=1681"},"modified":"2015-06-16T08:59:56","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T15:59:56","slug":"why-i-make-my-daughters-play-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/2015\/06\/16\/why-i-make-my-daughters-play-video-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Make My Daughters Play Video Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest Blog Writer: Kevin Schut<\/strong><\/p>\n

I make sure my girls get their regular doses of video games.<\/p>\n

Hi, I\u2019m Kristin\u2019s husband, Kevin. Since it\u2019s crunch time for Kristin, I thought I would be a supportive spouse and write her blog post this month. It\u2019s an ideal opportunity for me to set the record straight about how I\u2019ve twisted my children with gaming\u2014and maybe persuade a few of you to do the same with your kids.<\/p>\n

In case you haven\u2019t read Kristin\u2019s October blog post<\/a>, I\u2019m a professor of Media & Communication at Trinity Western University, and believe it or not, I get paid to do research on video games and culture. I wrote a book a little while ago called,\u00a0Of Games & God: A Christian Exploration of Video Games<\/em>, which talks about faith and all kinds of things to do with games. It probably won\u2019t surprise you that I\u2019m a gaming nerd<\/strong><\/span>, and I\u2019m trying to pass on some of my enthusiasm to my three daughters.<\/p>\n

Have I lost it?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The girls are not what I\u2019d call hardcore gamers: no Halo<\/em>, no Call of Duty<\/em>, no Skyrim<\/em>, no Grand Theft Auto<\/em> (surprise!). But they do frequently play simpler, casual games by themselves, such as Minecraft<\/em><\/a>, Toontastic<\/em><\/a>, Plants vs. Zombies<\/em><\/a>, Dragon Box<\/em><\/a>, Cat Spanish<\/em><\/a>, Temple Run<\/em><\/a>, Threes<\/em><\/a>, Globs<\/em><\/a>, Rules<\/em><\/a>, and more (I asked them for suggestions). Sometimes they watch me play games like Hearthstone<\/em>. But the thing I enjoy most is playing games with<\/em> them\u2014stuff like Mario Kart 8<\/em>, and adventure puzzle games like Lumino City<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I think at this point, many parents might think I\u2019ve lost it. Why on earth do I think this is a good idea? Aren\u2019t we trying to reduce<\/em> the amount of games our kids play? I\u2019m sure sometimes we need to\u2014when your kids fall asleep in their cereal because they were up until 3 am, it may be time to cut back on League of Legends<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The making of a good scientist<\/span><\/h2>\n

But playing games can be good. Part of it is educational: games teach us to think in different ways than other media do. I love reading, and our girls do a lot<\/em> of that, but video games are really good at teaching things like reflexes, spatial perception, and the kind of puzzling skills that make for good scientists.<\/p>\n

I also think it\u2019s really important for girls<\/em> to play games. Video games are a good gateway to learning about technology. Kids who grow up playing games are often more comfortable with computers than non-gamers, and given the barriers to girls in technology industries, games can be very important for getting them in the front door.<\/p>\n

Imaginary places<\/span><\/h2>\n

The thing that I love most about games is their potential for sparking imagination. Many games give great opportunities for players to explore worlds<\/em>. We do this with great novels and films too, but games allow us to travel in and touch these fantasy places. My girls are just starting to get to the age where I\u2019ll be able to share some great imaginary places with them. Lumino City<\/em> is a great place to start.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean the girls have unlimited play time. You might be surprised at how infrequent their play sessions are\u2014maybe two or three times a week, and rarely for more than 30 or 40 minutes at a time. And right now, they\u2019re not ready for the sometimes toxic world of online multiplayer gaming<\/strong><\/span> (although if we\u2019re careful, that can be fine too). Still, those sessions are important to me. This may seem a little backward to you, but in addition to practicing piano, doing homework, going for walks, and reading, I want to make sure they get some gaming time in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest Blog Writer: Kevin Schut I make sure my girls get their regular doses of video games. Hi, I\u2019m Kristin\u2019s husband, Kevin. Since it\u2019s crunch time for Kristin, I thought I would be a supportive spouse and write her blog post this month. It\u2019s an ideal opportunity for me to set the record straight about […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":1714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,20],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-school","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1681"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abbotsfordchristian.com\/insideout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}