Portable video game consoles, and especially the Nintendo DS, which has a market share of 70%, which is sure to be higher among children, is one of the biggest entertainment for children.
In the CAP (Primary Care Center) where I work it is usual to see children in the waiting room playing with their console. I have also seen children with them in restaurants, on the street, shopping with their parents in a supermarket, etc.
The last child I saw with the console on "give it to you" (apart from my son at home) was one I vaccinated a few days ago. It was so complicated to make him separate the view of the console that I asked myself: the Nintendo DS everywhere?
The consoles are not the devil, far from it. Children love them and in principle, if they are able to manage time themselves or if playing video games does not take time to interact with other children, to play other things or simply to make family life, not There should be no problem with them, since both children and adults have to be able to play something just for fun, without seeking secondary learning, superior brain development or any of the objectives that come implicit in the educational games that both Parents like them today.
Now, where is the limit between the time we might consider optimal and excessive time that could affect relationships with others?
The child I just talked to entered the office accompanied by his mother to give him a hyposensitizing vaccine (allergy vaccine that is put on periodically and after which they have to wait half an hour in the waiting room to assess a possible anaphylactic reaction).
I greeted them upon entering and the mother answered me, but not the child, who entered playing her game. To say hello or not consider it superfluous, children are always accompanied by their mothers or fathers and as we are adults, we usually talk they usually do not.
They sat down, I started preparing the vaccine and the mother asked her to leave the console. The boy did not do it and only looked up when I went to vaccinate him, basically to close his eyes and endure the pain of the puncture.
He then continued playing as they left the office in the direction of the waiting room.
Half an hour later I approached to show me the arm and assess the possible reaction and said: "Let's see, show me the arm." I waited for him to lift his sleeve and show me the place where he had been punctured. He did not, although he did bring his arm towards me, without raising his hands from the controls of his Nintendo DS.
"Come on man, do I have to lift you up to my sleeve?" I asked with a sneer (which I don't get angry) while I lifted it. I noticed that there was no reaction and he replied: "Yes," without much conviction and perhaps not knowing whether or not to answer my question.
The fact is that valuing the whole scene, I wondered to what extent we should allow children to live crestfallen with their eyes on a screen.
As I said I have seen children in a restaurant, eating with their families, console in hand and I have always thought the same thing: with the little time that children spend with their parents (and vice versa), what do they do on a Saturday eating out with the console?
I think there are many moments throughout the day to play for a while with the Nintendo DS (and if one does not play anything happens either), as to lose the ways before others (if someone addresses you, look up and attend to him) and how to lose opportunities to learn to savor the surroundings with his eyes and to talk a little with the family.
A restaurant is an ideal time to talk to everyone, to explain and listen, to observe the behavior of other people, the waiters, the decoration of the restaurant, the taste of the dishes they serve, etc.
The visit with the nurse is a good time to spend thirty minutes talking with your mother about what you have done that day and listen to her tell you what she has done.
Nor is it that nothing happens to take the console, but I as a parent would put a brake if my son lost the ability to interact with other people and answered without looking up from the screen.
Perhaps part of the problem is in fathers and mothers, who do not help make moments in family instants of communication and happiness. Maybe they even get bored with their parents and that's why they take the console. I don't know, what do you think about it?
At the moment, in my house, there is an unwritten (or verbalized, for the moment) rule, which says that Nintendo DS, although it is portable, it does not go out.
Photos | Flickr (ffg), Flickr (Seth W.)
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