Video Games And Kids

Choose ones that help them grow and develop properly.

- Anshika Sharma

A generation ago in India, middle-class parents who routinely bought their children video games and PlayStation were considered freaks with more money than they knew what to do with. Today, parents who don't buy their children PlayStation and the latest video games are considered freaks!

Many parents, especially educated, upper-middle-class urban parents seem to think that they have to buy their children as many video games as they can - the more expensive the games, the better.

But, in the matter of video game buying, as in so many things, great variations are to be seen in our country.

For the majority of our children, video games and PlayStation are an undreamt-of luxury. At the other end of the spectrum are the affluent and, in the case of their children, it is usually a case of you name-it they've-got-it. And middle class children are usually somewhere in between.

The Right Toy

But are these latest technology video games and PlayStation important for a child? Or are they a mere luxury that parents give their children just to keep them occupied and out of their hair?

To answer this question, we must study the way children develop. When babies come into this world, they know nothing about either it or themselves. They have then to learn all about their surroundings and themselves and develop skills to help them deal with life. So, they benefit from anything that stimulates their curiosity and helps them to develop physically, mentally, or emotionally.

The right toy at the right time can do this. A toy can help a child learn about, manipulate and control his surroundings. Toys also socialise children as, when they play with others, they learn to behave well, to share, to win and lose gracefully, and to get along to make and keep friends.