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Obama On Health: Step Away From The Games
by Kris Graft [PC, Console/PC]
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June 16, 2009
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With health care a major issue in the U.S., President Barack Obama said during a speech to the American Medical Association that quitting smoking, regular cancer screenings, and encouraging youngsters to play fewer video games are important keys health.
As reported on by the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog: "...We can all [can] agree ... to invest more in preventive care so that we can avoid illness and disease in the first place."
"That starts with each of us taking more responsibility for our health and the health of our children. It means quitting smoking, going in for that mammogram or colon cancer screening."
"It means going for a run or hitting the gym, and raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside."
President Obama is no stranger to the subject of video games. During his presidential campaign, he had ads in games such as Madden NFL and Burnout Paradise. He also reportedly purchased a Nintendo Wii for his daughters last Christmas.
But he has also made multiple references to video games, pointing to them as a hindrance to kids' education and overall success as maturing adults.
Recently, ESA president Mike Gallagher cited Obama's game savviness as an important step for the industry, noting: "It's the first time we have a video game console in the White House -- we understand that the president has a Wii. Having a degree of exposure to the technology is very, very positive."
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It isn't true that anyone needs to stop gaming regardless of whether it's video games or physical sports (let's hear the president encourage people to stop playing sports since that certainly leads to plenty of injuries and health problems). What's important is precisely what people are playing: the content, not the act itself. Obama is also correct about preventive medical actions, but let's see healthy vegetarian food subsidies offered so that such food choices cost less than the unhealthy alternatives currently available. Let's see politicians state that people must stop smoking tobacco products and drinking alcoholic beverages. Let's see mass transit offered in every major urban center across America as well as between such population centers.
All of these suggestions would be good preventive medicine either directly or indirectly, but they're not politically popular.
Or maybe the real problem is the shit parents feed themselves and their children? Nah...
How is this news Gamasutra? Really?
And to the commentators, is this really something to get upset about? :/
That is a very valid point, but it's not finger pointing at the industry or what we create. The problem is inherently the parents. Specifically those who are not doing a good job of parenting their children and have a constant interaction into their lives to see them raised into upstanding individuals.
Parents these days are lazy. Really lazy. A lot of them appear to feel it is too much of a hassle or time consuming to intervene into their child's life constantly and make mature and intelligent decisions that will better them, even if they don't get what they want. So they flick a Parental Auto Pilot by giving them technology that will keep them entertained or busy with limited supervision.
I believe this because that is why I have a bit of a problem with playing games. I had a terrible childhood with young, unfit and unready parents. But I did have consoles. And while we moved around too much to really retain friendships for very long, most of my childhood was spent indoors playing games. Over 20 years later and I'm still playing too much... the sedentary lifestyle is really, really hard to kick. The low self esteem only makes it harder to change.
Obama is right on this one. The problem isn't games themselves, it is the lack of parental responsibility to ensure that children are not spending all of their time indoors. My father's generation used to play past 9pm outside. My generation would play until 9pm outside. I don't see any kids this generation playing outside at all anymore.
(Also, yes, this is a generalization. Kids still do play outside, but the amount is continually decreasing to a point where even when I look for them around my neighborhood, I just don't see any kids playing outside. And I live about 600ft away from an elementary school...)
If playing outside is actually playing a sport or physical activity instead of the virtual version, then by all means I'm with him. Game when the weather permits (too hot, too cold, too dark, raining...) and do the real thing when you can. But if he thinks that just telling kids to go play outside will somehow make them healthy then he's being ridiculous.
We can step away from the games and go outside but if we continue to still eat garbage it will not matter.
Like others have said, you need moderation, and I know a whole lot of people who spend their time playing video games at the expense of everything else. Study, work, physical exercise, socialising, etc. This is what the problem being discussed is, not the fact that in specific cases games are beneficial.