kids and video games

I read an interesting article in Wired today about kids and video games. The author is discussing the interesting change in family dynamics arising with our generation, since we grew up playing the sorts of violent video games our parents and Hillary Clinton were worried would turn us into sociopaths. How do we decide which games to let our kids play?

The general consensus is to view video games like movies. He also suggested applying the "lego rule" - no 20th century violence or weapons, so halo and medieval games are okay, but Grand Theft Auto isn't. I think this is a great way to judge it, but what I thought was really interesting wasn't the article, but something he said in passing, right here:

"I was playing a round of Gears of War, trying to redo a level on "insane" mode, and the walls were painted with guts. I slaughtered my way to the boss, revved up my chainsaw, and sliced into his chest -- releasing a fractal fountain of gore. Woo!

At that instant, I heard the front door to my apartment open, and in walked my nanny ... with my 15-month-old son, his eyes agog."

You were doing what? Playing video games, while you payed someone to watch your kid?

A lot of things could have happened here. Maybe he's just gotten home from work, and is either a single father or in a family where both parents work, and the child goes out with the nanny each day instead of heading to day care. I think that's great - I hate day care centers generally, and I like to pretend I'm open minded towards working while your kids are young. The weird thing to me is that this guy doesn't acknowledge that it's weird. It doesn't seem to occur to him that thousands of judgemental readers like me are going to wonder what's going on here, and whether or not he has the nanny just to free up enough time to whack some zombies.

I'm all for killing zombies. I'm completely in favor of spending hours on end finding creative ways to violently plot their demise. I'm just not okay with paying someone to watch my child while I do it - that's bizzare.

Someone should market this idea and build an arcade that has child care.

In other news, Chipotle's gift card scanner was broken today. Who has two thumbs and got a free burrito? This guy.