What About the Violence?

From what I can tell, most peaceful parents are against all violence in life. So am I. But, as I've mentioned, Joey and I play a lot of video games. And, from what I can see, people in the peaceful parenting sphere would die if their children played games like these. I can't really understand why. I feel it's perfectly safe, acceptable, and even helpful to play games with a bit of violence.

Sure, people say exposing kids to violence normalizes it. You know what? I agree, and violence is normal. It's something that happens every day on this planet. Someone is killed, robbed, beaten, or raped every day, at the very least. That's not okay. And I don't think exposing kids to a violent T.V. show or video game okays violence. I think it's the surrounding parents and caregivers that make the violence okay or not. If you use video games as a babysitter, instead of talking and playing, or express approval for everything the character does, then yeah, your kids might think violence is okay. But the strongest tool you have for child raising is communication. I discuss with Joey what he's seeing. I've told him "I know you have fun playing with the game and killing the enemies with your sword, but in real life, violence is not okay" many different times in many different words. And guess what? Joey isn't a violent child. He's peacable, easygoing, even, and I've never seen him hit another person.

And violence in games, I think, can help diffuse violence in real life.  I know that when I feel angry and want to hurt someone, I feel a whole lot better when I can vent the frustration into killing things that are just pixels on a screen. I think it can be a useful tool in preventing violence, rather than an enabler of violence. And, whether you choose to allow your children to play violent games or not, you can relax about what they see. Children can know right from wrong and they don't think everything they see a lot is okay. Ask a child of a non-peaceful parent about spanking. I can almost guaruntee you they will say that this thing they see everyday, as normal, is wrong.