Mother Shares Why She Doesn’t See Anything Bad About Her Son Spending All Of His Free Time Online During The Quarantine
Many parents are worried about the impact of video games on their children. But not Tiffany Pitts. The mother has been watching her teenage boy sitting in front of the computer and she couldn’t be happier.
In fact, she even created a thread on Twitter to make “an argument in favor of video games” online. There, Pitts detailed a particular quarantine night when her son and his friends met a boy on Fortnite. It was the kid’s birthday, but with the pandemic ravaging, he couldn’t celebrate it. Pitts’ son and his pals threw the boy a party online, and the mom understood just how good video games can be for bonding.
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However, many would probably disagree with Tiffany. They say that kids mustn’t be subjected to blood and intense violence, sexual content, and substance abuse through video games, and some organizations share this opinion as well. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), for example, say that exposure to violent media (including video games) can contribute to real-life violent behavior and harm children in other ways.
But there are researchers who question these claims. Two psychologists, Dr. Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Dr. Charlotte Markey of Rutgers University, for example, have presented evidence that some children may become more aggressive as a result of watching and playing violent video games, but that most of them are not affected.
Interestingly, both sides of this debate do agree that it is possible for parents to take steps that limit the possible negative effects of video games.
People loved Tiffany’s thread
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One more comment: whoever condems gaming, does not understand gaming. It is "just" a normal pastime for many, and online gaming often has a strong sociel component. Many obviously play more for the interaction than for the game itself. And watching gaming, e.g. through Twitch, often is much more social than watching classical sports. Gaming can become excessivce, even addictive, but isn't it with nearly anything in life? The dosage makes the poison.
This is worded perfectly. There are people who have an obsession with games, but so are others with gambling, food, sports, shopping, etc. This does not define everyone, this is just a handful of people.
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The gaming community can be very accepting or very cruel. It's ok to let children online but do keep an eye on them. Just like in the real world there are bad actors and good role models, Great friends for life, and very nasty bullies.
Yeah, you wouldn't let your kid hang out with a bunch of older strangers IRL, why would you let them do that online?
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I absolutely IMPLORE all of you to read this! His parents didn't even know... "My disabled son’s amazing gaming life in the World of Warcraft" https://www.bbc.com/news/disability-47064773
I saw this! THIS is what people need to see, the positive impacts of games!
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I am not a gamer and do not fully understand gamer culture, but I have seen the positive impacts on my nephew who is cripplingly shy in person. This reinforces all of the good things that my nephew tells me about his gaming friends.
Gamers are some of the kindest people I know. I've met so many from all walks of life who will probably never meet in person but who just enjoy each other's company, learn about each other's lives while having fun in an online world. I'm a female in their late thirties who has friends from all religions and ages I'm glad to have. We all touch base periodically if some one hasn't been seen for a while just to make sure everyone is good and the list of people I'm meeting through Forza Horizon and COD is growing all the time.
Gaming can be very rewarding. I learnt most of my basic English words from Sims :D later online gaming improved my English even further once I found an international friend. Gaming also allowed me to meet people from across the world, learn about them and make friends. Nowdays I more play for good storyline. It is like reading a book, or watching a movie. The difference is that you interact with the world "directly" and can make choices! Other benefits are involved too. Such as surgeons who played computer games have higher accuracy and quicker reactions. https://www.medicalbag.com/home/lifestyle/gamers-make-good-surgeons/
I used to work at Nintendo of America a long time ago. I had parents that called me up yelling at me because their kids spent too much time on video games and not enough time outside socializing. Video games were never meant to be replacements for parenting. I sat there everyday and heard sad stories of 4-5 year old kids being left at home alone playing video games while mom and dad ran out for coffee, a jog, or to sleep off a hangover. Who's fault is it that the kids are hooked. But this story made me smile because this is one of the major benefits to online gaming..socialization. Just make sure to guide them towards responsible gaming. Sounds like this mother's got herself a great kid!
I think spending time playing games with your kids is also a great bonding moment and monitors their gaming time. I use to play Super Mario Sunshine with my dad. It was one of the few good memories I had with him.
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I'm 54. I DO play vid games quite a bit. Most of the people I come across are like this. Just a bunch of friends hanging out online while doing something - like roaming around beautiful scenery, or joining together in teamwork against a nasty boss. They share information, loot, jokes, they talk in chat and on mic. Most gamers are awesome people wanting to find other awesome people. Some of them don't have much of a family life, so strangers across the world become their tribe.
One of the most amazing moments I had was flying over England and taking a picture of the town my online friend lived in. I sent it to him when I landed and he thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Closest we ever were to each other. I have friends that I see every day, but I also have an amazing group of friends online that I wouldn't give up for anything in the world. I love them to death.
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Big data says that gamers are LESS likely to commit real-life violence, if for no other reason than instead of doing crime and violence they are at home playing video games.
The people I met online are some of the best people I've ever known in my life. We stay connected through discord (a chatting app for gamers to those who do not know) and genuinely build a relationship with them. I am 22 and occasionally play online (Apex, Warframe, Valorant now that Beta is a thing, etc.) I have an amazing time with my college friends and it feels like none of us separated after college. Only problem is parents. I'm not saying all of them, but a lot really do not know the benefits of gaming only the negatives. I have learned about history, construction, finance, creativity, friendship, what mayo is made of (I found out from Stardew Valley because apperantly the ingredients of mayonnaise never came up in my life). DO YOU KNOW HOW NICE THE COMMUNITY IS IN SHOOTING GAMES?!?! Hear me out in the reply below before anyone panics
There are people in-game who will apologize to their teams for playing badly and literally everyone will go "Don't worry about it!" "We got your back!" We did extremely well against another team and they messaged us saying that was an amazing game and we did really good. Everytime a game finishes the players say gg (good game) out of respect for one another... YOU THINK I GET THAT LEVEL OF RESPECT AT WALMART???? I was told by a woman to "f**k off" after trying to help her pick up her fallen groceries, but I killed a man in a game and he told me that was a "good kill." Like wtf??? I blew up my teammate by accident and he told me "It was okay" because it made him laugh too hard at such a mistake. I told my teammates to leave me behind because I had to go afk (away from keyboard) only to come back and find out they stayed behind just for me. There are some people who are rude online, but a majority are extremely respectful and nice. Don't judge games unless you experience it yourself.
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Good on them. They have been brought up well. Most teenagers would probably bully the younger kid.
My lovely friend is trying to help his more extroverted friend by convincing her to try gaming. There is a strong sense of community and teamwork there. People can always lose their identities in different platforms/environments, but I believe good people don’t suddenly forget themselves in that world. My friend thinks video games have emerged as an art form, one that merges and requires the collaboration of multiple disciplines to create those worlds and cohesive story lines. Check out the Currier Museum of Art in NH; it’s a small museum with an upcoming exhibit on this subject.
I have played video games at various points in my life and I can say that they are a fun outlet for anyone. My 12 year old brother plays video games all the time and I find absolutely nothing wrong with that. He is a very social young man and has friends that are interested in the same games that he is into. People who complain about kids playing games too much don't understand the gaming community.
My best friend is someone I met about 7 years ago playing online video games. I live in the US and he lives in Canada. We have never met in real life but we are like family to each other! Video games are awesome!
sounds like me and my girlfriend! she's in canada, i'm in the US, we met through video games and other online stuff. she got some inheritance money last year and was finally able to come visit me for the first time; we've known each other for twelve years! the rest of our friend group is the same, we're all pretty far-flung geographically, but we chat every single day and play games together.
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I don't play things like WoW and things like that but I have many friends online I met through games online. My son keeps in contact with school friends and has met others online through gaming
I got into online gaming through my then boyfriend. We were both in our 50s. We played after my workday and supper were done, logging on at 8:00 and off just before midnight. I usually "hosted" and my room always filled quickly. One night "Tank," joined us and we realized quickly that he was not driving as well as he usually did. We gently pried out of him that he had indeed consumed 26 ounces of alcohol and 16 pills of unknown substances. Why? Because it was his 16th birthday and he was all alone. You can imagine that we were horror-struck. He passed out several times during play. We shouted, literally SCREAMED in his ears to wake him up. We tried to get help to find out who and where he was through the X-box help line, while simultaneously keeping the game alive. Privacy policies at that time would not allow the agent to reveal anything. What we were able to get out of Tank eventually was his phone number, and thus reach 911 in his city.
We tried desperately to get an ambulance to him. Nada! I had no idea that pranksters had done stuff like that so nobody in this gigantic American city would respond. We tried phoning "Tank" over and over again. No answer! It was still dark when my phone rang. "Who are you and why were you calling this number?" It was Tank's mother. "Please, please, please check on your son." "At this hour? He's in bed asleep" "Please, as one mother to another, please just go & look." She came back: "He's fallen asleep in front of his computer." I begged her to try & wake him up, but she couldn't. That's when I begged her to get him into her car by any means possible & take him to the nearest E/R with the explanation of what had happened. By this time it was 5:00 a.m. All I knew was that he was still breathing. Some time between 11 & 12, she did call me back. He had had his stomach pumped & was still alive. She was very grateful. To this day I wonder how he's doing.
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If only this woman could talk to my parents, lol. I'm not allowed to have ANY social medias or games that allow me to be able to talk to people online, but they don't understand it. THIS is why I like online games, where I can connect with people and be social for once. No, dad, not everyone on the internet is a 65 year old man looking to groom me and fool me to meet up with him in the middle of the night so he can kidnap me and take me away to rape me, and not everyone online is a hacker. Most everyone on the game is a kid, like me, just wanting to play a game and make friends. I'm basically not allowed to be social in the real world, plus I'm a lonely introvert, but online I'm extremely social and happy, because I can make friends without even hesitating. If I were to do that in real life, I'd be really uncomfortable, but especially now the gaming world is really important to me, and a lot of other kids and people like me. Like c'mon, gaming online is the only outlet for some of us.
Ofc, them not allowing it doesn't mean I'm not "sneaky" and do it anyways, but still. Have faith and trust that your kid isn't as dense as a rock, please. It lowers our confidence, in ourselves AND you, and keeps us from trusting you. ESPECIALLY if you make your wife, my step mom, gain my trust so she can report all our conversations back to you, and then just go into my room when I'm not at your house and snoop EVERYTHING, because you "won't know what's going on" with me because I won't tell you, and then yell at me for not trusting you. Please don't do that, and please don't put an app on their phone so you know exactly where they are and you can read all their messages. Just freaking ask them if you think they're going out at night and sneaking around and doing drugs and s**t, cus chances are they're not the best liars yet.
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When my son was a really little guy we took him trick or treating. He was dressed as Indian Jones and a group of high school aged guys started following him humming the Indian Jones theme song. It was such a thrill for him... he still remembers it and talks about it to this day. It was an awesome thing your son and his friends did. I'm sure this boy will remember it fondly for many years.
Reminds me of when I visited my sister and she let me use her son's old laptop to check my email. The browser history was 90% PORNHUB.
Somehow a kid playing videogames is a weird psychopath while a kid that goes hunting with his dad to learn how to kill animals for fun is a good honest healthy all American boy. SMH
This is super adorable, and also I'm pretty sure the Mom spelled Fortnite wrong lol
It's a nice gesture, however it would be awesome if these teens spent time in the real world, especially outside, as well as the virtual world. Especially now, with a lot less vehicle and foot traffic, there's a lot of nature to enjoy. For example, all the varieties of birds singing.
the two things are not mutually exclusive. most people have windows around them, and even with headphones on i can hear birds and other noises from outside, and often go look them up online to try and identify them.
Load More Replies... Very nice gesture from the teenagers nonetheless, but I would rather have my kids play outside any day instead of being stuck in front of a computer.
not everyone can play outside, plus there are times to consider. if they stayed up until midnight to sing happy birthday to this kid, there's not much to do outside at that hour.
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just what i'd expect from someone named brett connor
Load More Replies... One more comment: whoever condems gaming, does not understand gaming. It is "just" a normal pastime for many, and online gaming often has a strong sociel component. Many obviously play more for the interaction than for the game itself. And watching gaming, e.g. through Twitch, often is much more social than watching classical sports. Gaming can become excessivce, even addictive, but isn't it with nearly anything in life? The dosage makes the poison.
This is worded perfectly. There are people who have an obsession with games, but so are others with gambling, food, sports, shopping, etc. This does not define everyone, this is just a handful of people.
Load More Replies... The gaming community can be very accepting or very cruel. It's ok to let children online but do keep an eye on them. Just like in the real world there are bad actors and good role models, Great friends for life, and very nasty bullies.
Yeah, you wouldn't let your kid hang out with a bunch of older strangers IRL, why would you let them do that online?
Load More Replies... I absolutely IMPLORE all of you to read this! His parents didn't even know... "My disabled son’s amazing gaming life in the World of Warcraft" https://www.bbc.com/news/disability-47064773
I saw this! THIS is what people need to see, the positive impacts of games!
Load More Replies... I am not a gamer and do not fully understand gamer culture, but I have seen the positive impacts on my nephew who is cripplingly shy in person. This reinforces all of the good things that my nephew tells me about his gaming friends.
Gamers are some of the kindest people I know. I've met so many from all walks of life who will probably never meet in person but who just enjoy each other's company, learn about each other's lives while having fun in an online world. I'm a female in their late thirties who has friends from all religions and ages I'm glad to have. We all touch base periodically if some one hasn't been seen for a while just to make sure everyone is good and the list of people I'm meeting through Forza Horizon and COD is growing all the time.
Gaming can be very rewarding. I learnt most of my basic English words from Sims :D later online gaming improved my English even further once I found an international friend. Gaming also allowed me to meet people from across the world, learn about them and make friends. Nowdays I more play for good storyline. It is like reading a book, or watching a movie. The difference is that you interact with the world "directly" and can make choices! Other benefits are involved too. Such as surgeons who played computer games have higher accuracy and quicker reactions. https://www.medicalbag.com/home/lifestyle/gamers-make-good-surgeons/
I used to work at Nintendo of America a long time ago. I had parents that called me up yelling at me because their kids spent too much time on video games and not enough time outside socializing. Video games were never meant to be replacements for parenting. I sat there everyday and heard sad stories of 4-5 year old kids being left at home alone playing video games while mom and dad ran out for coffee, a jog, or to sleep off a hangover. Who's fault is it that the kids are hooked. But this story made me smile because this is one of the major benefits to online gaming..socialization. Just make sure to guide them towards responsible gaming. Sounds like this mother's got herself a great kid!
I think spending time playing games with your kids is also a great bonding moment and monitors their gaming time. I use to play Super Mario Sunshine with my dad. It was one of the few good memories I had with him.
Load More Replies... I'm 54. I DO play vid games quite a bit. Most of the people I come across are like this. Just a bunch of friends hanging out online while doing something - like roaming around beautiful scenery, or joining together in teamwork against a nasty boss. They share information, loot, jokes, they talk in chat and on mic. Most gamers are awesome people wanting to find other awesome people. Some of them don't have much of a family life, so strangers across the world become their tribe.
One of the most amazing moments I had was flying over England and taking a picture of the town my online friend lived in. I sent it to him when I landed and he thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Closest we ever were to each other. I have friends that I see every day, but I also have an amazing group of friends online that I wouldn't give up for anything in the world. I love them to death.
Load More Replies... Big data says that gamers are LESS likely to commit real-life violence, if for no other reason than instead of doing crime and violence they are at home playing video games.
The people I met online are some of the best people I've ever known in my life. We stay connected through discord (a chatting app for gamers to those who do not know) and genuinely build a relationship with them. I am 22 and occasionally play online (Apex, Warframe, Valorant now that Beta is a thing, etc.) I have an amazing time with my college friends and it feels like none of us separated after college. Only problem is parents. I'm not saying all of them, but a lot really do not know the benefits of gaming only the negatives. I have learned about history, construction, finance, creativity, friendship, what mayo is made of (I found out from Stardew Valley because apperantly the ingredients of mayonnaise never came up in my life). DO YOU KNOW HOW NICE THE COMMUNITY IS IN SHOOTING GAMES?!?! Hear me out in the reply below before anyone panics
There are people in-game who will apologize to their teams for playing badly and literally everyone will go "Don't worry about it!" "We got your back!" We did extremely well against another team and they messaged us saying that was an amazing game and we did really good. Everytime a game finishes the players say gg (good game) out of respect for one another... YOU THINK I GET THAT LEVEL OF RESPECT AT WALMART???? I was told by a woman to "f**k off" after trying to help her pick up her fallen groceries, but I killed a man in a game and he told me that was a "good kill." Like wtf??? I blew up my teammate by accident and he told me "It was okay" because it made him laugh too hard at such a mistake. I told my teammates to leave me behind because I had to go afk (away from keyboard) only to come back and find out they stayed behind just for me. There are some people who are rude online, but a majority are extremely respectful and nice. Don't judge games unless you experience it yourself.
Load More Replies... Good on them. They have been brought up well. Most teenagers would probably bully the younger kid.
My lovely friend is trying to help his more extroverted friend by convincing her to try gaming. There is a strong sense of community and teamwork there. People can always lose their identities in different platforms/environments, but I believe good people don’t suddenly forget themselves in that world. My friend thinks video games have emerged as an art form, one that merges and requires the collaboration of multiple disciplines to create those worlds and cohesive story lines. Check out the Currier Museum of Art in NH; it’s a small museum with an upcoming exhibit on this subject.
I have played video games at various points in my life and I can say that they are a fun outlet for anyone. My 12 year old brother plays video games all the time and I find absolutely nothing wrong with that. He is a very social young man and has friends that are interested in the same games that he is into. People who complain about kids playing games too much don't understand the gaming community.
My best friend is someone I met about 7 years ago playing online video games. I live in the US and he lives in Canada. We have never met in real life but we are like family to each other! Video games are awesome!
sounds like me and my girlfriend! she's in canada, i'm in the US, we met through video games and other online stuff. she got some inheritance money last year and was finally able to come visit me for the first time; we've known each other for twelve years! the rest of our friend group is the same, we're all pretty far-flung geographically, but we chat every single day and play games together.
Load More Replies... I don't play things like WoW and things like that but I have many friends online I met through games online. My son keeps in contact with school friends and has met others online through gaming
I got into online gaming through my then boyfriend. We were both in our 50s. We played after my workday and supper were done, logging on at 8:00 and off just before midnight. I usually "hosted" and my room always filled quickly. One night "Tank," joined us and we realized quickly that he was not driving as well as he usually did. We gently pried out of him that he had indeed consumed 26 ounces of alcohol and 16 pills of unknown substances. Why? Because it was his 16th birthday and he was all alone. You can imagine that we were horror-struck. He passed out several times during play. We shouted, literally SCREAMED in his ears to wake him up. We tried to get help to find out who and where he was through the X-box help line, while simultaneously keeping the game alive. Privacy policies at that time would not allow the agent to reveal anything. What we were able to get out of Tank eventually was his phone number, and thus reach 911 in his city.
We tried desperately to get an ambulance to him. Nada! I had no idea that pranksters had done stuff like that so nobody in this gigantic American city would respond. We tried phoning "Tank" over and over again. No answer! It was still dark when my phone rang. "Who are you and why were you calling this number?" It was Tank's mother. "Please, please, please check on your son." "At this hour? He's in bed asleep" "Please, as one mother to another, please just go & look." She came back: "He's fallen asleep in front of his computer." I begged her to try & wake him up, but she couldn't. That's when I begged her to get him into her car by any means possible & take him to the nearest E/R with the explanation of what had happened. By this time it was 5:00 a.m. All I knew was that he was still breathing. Some time between 11 & 12, she did call me back. He had had his stomach pumped & was still alive. She was very grateful. To this day I wonder how he's doing.
Load More Replies... If only this woman could talk to my parents, lol. I'm not allowed to have ANY social medias or games that allow me to be able to talk to people online, but they don't understand it. THIS is why I like online games, where I can connect with people and be social for once. No, dad, not everyone on the internet is a 65 year old man looking to groom me and fool me to meet up with him in the middle of the night so he can kidnap me and take me away to rape me, and not everyone online is a hacker. Most everyone on the game is a kid, like me, just wanting to play a game and make friends. I'm basically not allowed to be social in the real world, plus I'm a lonely introvert, but online I'm extremely social and happy, because I can make friends without even hesitating. If I were to do that in real life, I'd be really uncomfortable, but especially now the gaming world is really important to me, and a lot of other kids and people like me. Like c'mon, gaming online is the only outlet for some of us.
Ofc, them not allowing it doesn't mean I'm not "sneaky" and do it anyways, but still. Have faith and trust that your kid isn't as dense as a rock, please. It lowers our confidence, in ourselves AND you, and keeps us from trusting you. ESPECIALLY if you make your wife, my step mom, gain my trust so she can report all our conversations back to you, and then just go into my room when I'm not at your house and snoop EVERYTHING, because you "won't know what's going on" with me because I won't tell you, and then yell at me for not trusting you. Please don't do that, and please don't put an app on their phone so you know exactly where they are and you can read all their messages. Just freaking ask them if you think they're going out at night and sneaking around and doing drugs and s**t, cus chances are they're not the best liars yet.
Load More Replies... When my son was a really little guy we took him trick or treating. He was dressed as Indian Jones and a group of high school aged guys started following him humming the Indian Jones theme song. It was such a thrill for him... he still remembers it and talks about it to this day. It was an awesome thing your son and his friends did. I'm sure this boy will remember it fondly for many years.
Reminds me of when I visited my sister and she let me use her son's old laptop to check my email. The browser history was 90% PORNHUB.
Somehow a kid playing videogames is a weird psychopath while a kid that goes hunting with his dad to learn how to kill animals for fun is a good honest healthy all American boy. SMH
This is super adorable, and also I'm pretty sure the Mom spelled Fortnite wrong lol
It's a nice gesture, however it would be awesome if these teens spent time in the real world, especially outside, as well as the virtual world. Especially now, with a lot less vehicle and foot traffic, there's a lot of nature to enjoy. For example, all the varieties of birds singing.
the two things are not mutually exclusive. most people have windows around them, and even with headphones on i can hear birds and other noises from outside, and often go look them up online to try and identify them.
Load More Replies... Very nice gesture from the teenagers nonetheless, but I would rather have my kids play outside any day instead of being stuck in front of a computer.
not everyone can play outside, plus there are times to consider. if they stayed up until midnight to sing happy birthday to this kid, there's not much to do outside at that hour.
Load More Replies... just what i'd expect from someone named brett connor
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