Weird 2010's gamer nationalism meets china bad.
"Oh no, kids won't be able to use games to escape reality now" — Good, have them play outside or read a book or something.
"Horrible, I couldn't live without games" — Yes, this law is attempting to help people before they become like you.
"New generations won't grow up to be gamers now" — How will society survive!
"It's about controlling freedom of thought" — Ah, yes, this will stop the great dialogue had by fourteen-year-olds in LoL game chats.
What the actual fuck, my parents would've never allowed such when I was a kid, and rightfully so
It's hard to judge from afar because it might be the best way for the kid to socialize, but I doubt that's going to be the usual case.
Kids gaming a lot is just like kids raised by Sesame Street. Circumstances where it's essentially necessary due to poverty as well as neglect as well as mental health. Only Sesame Street is a performance while gaming specifically builds in addictive processes and is usually not as personal of a social activity. Kids will watch shows together and laugh together. Modern games are not usually in-person collaborative, the screen is your only window to other people and its lack of social resolution is a big part of why online environments are toxic. And the games tend to be competitive.
Hoping my family member turns out okay. They used to be more social but they hide in their room basically all the time now and are using a screen to game when they're in social situations.
thanks for making me sad
t. raised by Sesame Street and gamed for 8 hours a day almost everyday until I was 17
Sorry comrade didn't mean to make you sad.
Reality is harsh. I think it's amusing running into reminders like that though because it reminds me how much poverty has fucked up my life. I think one of the reasons I was so ridiculously depressed and anxious as a child (to the point of suicidal ideation, which I know realize as a child doesn't always present itself to you as thinking about killing yourself but instead "not being here anymore") was because I was able to see that it was poverty that was fucking my shit up
I always felt bad when I worked fast food and I saw some employees keeping their kids in the lobby because no daycare and realizing they would experience a lot of the things I did but never make certain connections or realize why their life is so shit and fall into further dysfunction like soooo many people in my extended family did
Both a blessing and a curse to recognize that stuff. It's not totally incomprehensible for why these violences happen but even in understanding you're limited in being able to end them, so you have to watch. Did some after school outreach stuff for a while and man... sometimes it's obvious when kids just need some support or are trying to process real trauma like it's no thing.
Even more to have lived some of these things. I got off relatively easy but man... I have stories from other people. The worst are those with meth head parents...
Hope things are going a bit better for your now.