Yesterday, the New York Times published a story that focused on how children are spending a lot of time playing video games and using their phones during the covid-19 pandemic. Today, that story was on the front page of the newspaper. This seems strange, considering how the world is falling apart and democracy dying in front of our eyes, but yes, of course, let’s consider that children may be playing a lot Roblox.
The article, that worked on January 16th, quoted some experts and presented many “scary” numbers about watch time. But it also covered up the fact that video games and the internet have helped many people, children and adults, to stay connected and healthy during this terrible time.
The entire post is also curiously bound by a small random family that is currently struggling during the pandemic. Their son plays many video games as a way to connect with friends. His father and mother are concerned about how much time he spends in front of the screen, but they also know that it is one of the few ways he has to socialize safely while covid-19 runs wild around the world. This is a difficult situation that I imagine that many parents around the world are going through now. But highlighting only children and how much screen time they are using ignores that all of us, not just children and teenagers, are dealing with increased screen time and a lack of real human interaction. Instead, the article continues and talks about how all of this viewing time can be potentially harmful to health and dangerous to children. As children need to disconnect more. As the kids are playing a lot Roblox.
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“What are you going to do when you’re married and stressed? Tell your wife that you need to play Xbox? ”This is a quote included in the story, from the mother, as the son explains that after the dog died on the eve of the new year, he used games to take the sadness out of his head. It is shown as negative. Still, I can list it countless times when I and others use video games as a way to relieve stress or escape from a terrible day. It’s not me trying to throw this mother under the bus. I can understand the frustration that she and so many others are going through.
The real question is why this frustration needed to be on the front page of the New York Times, presented in an article that frames video games and the internet as dangerous and addictive things that are ruining our children and keeping them in captivity. The article literally begins with a quote from the father about how he feels as if he “failed” with his son, because he plays video games and uses the phone. It’s like something I would have seen in the 90s on some local news, with clips of kids playing NES in the background.
This is not the first time we’ve seen Larger and older stores focus only on children playing and try to use frightening numbers and foment fear to build a narrative that completely ignores reality.
Are there reasons to worry about the time we all spend online? Probably. Spending 12 hours glued to Twitter and rolling over the misfortune of the last tragedy is probably hurting me in ways I don’t fully understand. However, now, things are different. The world is battling a global pandemic that kills thousands of people every day. Many of us are trapped inside, dealing with all the stress and boredom it entails. With all this, we continue to work, go to school, raise children and deal with hundreds of other problems. Needless to say, how difficult life became for many of us last year (check the calendar)? (Holy shit …)
So, if you or your kids need to escape and want to play some Minecraft and you might end up playing a few hours more than normal, don’t worry about it. We all rely on digital apps and services to stay connected and happy. Eat a little of Netflix. Have a Zoom hangout session with family and friends. Or throw some Call of Duty war zone with his long distance brothers.
Life is difficult enough now. Don’t blame yourself for taking care of yourself or letting your kids have fun with friends.
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