There’s been a lot of discussion about the Left 4 Aidan post… let me just clarify some things here:
My son knows the difference between good words and bad words… he corrects me when he hears me say one of them (which I normally avoid around him).
He also knows that violence isn’t good and that we shouldn’t do it. When my wife gives me a love tap (a soft punch in the arm for saying something she doesn’t like) he tells her to say sorry.
Additionally, Aidan is very aware of the difference between video games and reality. His interaction with people in games and people in real life are polar opposite.
You know how he knows these things? Because he’s AWARE of them and we teach him whats wrong and whats right.
You know what doesn’t teach kids? Making them naive by sheltering them from what you feel is wrong. Everyone will eventually encounter foul words and violence, whether it be in school or on TV. So you go about your business and try to hide your kids from all that you feel is evil and see how much they are shell-shocked when reality finally catches up to them and kicks them in their fucking face.
Anyone trying to come off saying I’m a “bad parent” for letting him watch me play is outright stupid. Video games don’t make bad children, the way they are raised makes bad children… example:
I read some comments about his GModigy video and I feel sorry for the people that bothered opening their stupid face. My son is extremely smart. He’s already counting and doing logic way above his age level. He’s also more computer savvy then most of you reading this… and most of the people commenting about how he’s being warped and all that bullshit. I feel sorry for your kids to be honest. If they aren’t spending quality time with you like my son is with me, then you’re just a terrible parent who probably touches their privates in the closet.
I love my children and do everything to raise them right. So get off your high horse.
Your kid is awesome, i think that you are making a good choice, showing him the difference between bad and wrong by letting him play pc games. IMO video games can’t harm a kid when the parent is there to explain some stuff.
Also, i wanted to comment the “GModigy”. I found it very difficult to exlpain the basics of FPS controls to my cousin, who’s 10. He pressed the keyboard with two hands and rapidly switched his right arm to mouse when there were some shooting, and I see Aidan has no problem with that.
That’s all from me, keep up posting Aidans first gameing steps, he is so adorable
I quite like your parenting style. I think it takes into account a more secular view, in some ways I wish I was raised more like you’re raising Aidan because I was very sheltered from “evil” things for a long time and am therefore very skittish about such.
Wow… Your kid is pretty impressive o_O I checked the Left 4 Dead video (thanks to the Left 4 Dead Group) and the Gmodigy one. My God-daughter’s two, but she’s only progressed as far as being able to tell the difference between a PS3’s exterior and an Xbox 360’s. Having a kid like that to talk to about videogames would strike me as a bit weird the first few times, but would be awesome. I mean, I can see some great opportunities for some father-son bonding over, of all things, Unreal Tournament.
dam
i wish my parents were more like that. they seem to think video games are the DEVILS WORK even when i have a 3.5 GPA…
hm… i hope i can be an understanding parent when i grow up
In my opinion, if you explain “Hey! Go play a game and shoot that guy….but only in video games, don’t shoot people in real life @_@” and you actually pay attention to your kid, he is fine. You have a great child teaching method brandon.
By the way, my first game to ever play was Resident Evil 2, when i was 5, and im fine…….kinda……
I think you’re a damn good parent and I think what you said is true, you can only protect and shelter your kid for so long, and it’s better to introduce them to it gradually then load it all off at once.
Lol, last post in wrong article XD.
But yeah, you are an epic parent with an awesome life.
Just hope your child don’t interact with retards on the internet at a young age. Can be quite hurtful.
I thought the video was fine to begin with; it just shows that some people are freaks and forgot that they, too, were once probably caught on tape around the age of six or seven doing Power Rangers moves on invisible bad guys. (I know I was.)
In my freshman year in high school, we were going to watch Meet the Fockers in Spanish class (with the DVD language set to “Spanish” and subtitles set to “English”). But then some bitchy little kid told his parents that we were watching an OMG PG-13 RATED MOVIE OMGOMGOMG SO BAD, when literally everyone in the room was either fourteen, fifteen, or even sixteen years old. It just goes to show that over-sheltering your children does absolutely nothing to help them in the real world; most kids learn the “major” swear words between kindergarten and first grade!
Also, I aspire to one day father a child in the same way as you. My own parents have basically always assumed that videogames are more or less “ENTIRELY EVIL DON’T PLAY THEM YOUR BRAIN WILL FRY GO WATCH A DVD MOVIE INSTEAD,” and I’ve always thought about how I will eventually raise my own children. It’s reassuring to see that someone is doing it right
http://www.left4dead411.com/news/2008/12/l4d-update-dec-4/
Mentioned in the Left 4 Dead blog!!
Your kid is awesome, I also agree with you that things like violent games are okay if you make your child aware that its just a game and that in real life they shouldn’t do things they would in a game. Its a much better approach then just trying to suppress your child when they’ll end up experiencing all these things anyway. So go you your a brilliant parent
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say. I don’t know how anyone can judge whether or not this is a good idea for you, unless they’re from the future. It’s your perogative as a parent and I’d be surprised if you didn’t stand by your decision.
Just make sure to give him gaming history lessons and instill a respect for Deus Ex and HL1 now, y’hear?
Man seriously, I don’t see anything wrong with the video. My son sits with me and helps me in a lot of cases. It’s about spending time with your children, which if you look at the people crying and throwing the “zOmG, bad parent” flag, they probably don’t even know where their kids are most of the time and don’t care as long as they’re not bothering them too much.
If ‘m playing games my son is usually with me either being my most feared opponent or playing the role as “navigator”. It’s what we as parents teach them in real life that’s going to impact them the most. Being involved in their lives and helping guide them is what’s going to matter, not the fact that they help daddy play a game.
I think this is great.
It is the quality of the time spent together and it looks to me like you are spending a lot of quality time with your son, and guiding him to think about the world around him.
Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson speaks a lot to how kids need to be brought up with a more realistic view of the world(that it’s not all gumdrops and sugar whatever). If you look at the old grim fairy tales, it shows a kind of… dark view of the world. But this teaches kids to rely on themselves and think for themselves. Most importantly to think for themselves.
I think the bigger problem is the repression of things that are a part of life, because some people or culture thinks its bad or inappropriate. Turns into crazy psychological problems later on.
It also looks like he is going to have some crazy high level tech skills…
High five.
Sadly, you are one of the rarest type of parents. The one who has not forgotten he was once a kid too. Kids are not pieces of pottery we have to shelter in a showcase, they are human beings like us and will become adults eventually and thus come into contact with violence, sex, drugs, slang, whatever… (I know that sounds dumb but I am regularly surprised that this is actually NOT common sense.) Most parents should ask themselves : “Do I want my kids to learn those things from me or from strangers?”
Sadder is the fact that most parent will choose the later to be able to blame someone else. This is the easy way out, blaming others for our own failures. That seems to be the spreading illness of this new century.
I think you are doing the right thing mate, reading and watching videos of little Aidan makes me wish my dad did those things with me, but I guess there wasn’t really any fun games when I was 2.
Your son sure is smart… and i really like your vids^^… but also if he gets the difference between real and videogames, i wouldn’t show him violent games… there are other games for little children where they can learn much… I’m not one of those who criticize FPS or sth… and it seems you’re a good father, but i think showing FPS to a two year old is way too early.
But hey… i guess your son is pretty much the first one to try this out… Maybe exactly that’s why realizes from beginning that rl!=vg …
GG anyway
Gratulations, you got a very smart son.
Hey, right when i watched the video of your son on http://www.left411dead.com or something like that, i knew those comments were coming. The one’s saying your a bad parent and all. I’m on your side 100%. I am a living example, or at least, that’s the way i look at it.
I too watched a played violent games, a little less realistic, but none the less, they were violent. I am extremely well behaved, respectful, and it is impossible to find one thing that violent video games could have caused me to act like. Except on thing. I am a little desensitized toward blood, and stuff like that. Which actually can be quite a good thing sometimes.
So yeah, that just somes up my point. The only kinds of games I think a kid shouldn’t play or watch is GTA, we all know why. I I’m sure you and I both agree, GTA is not for your son
That’s my two cents,
Kyle Sobus
THIS MAN DELETES COMMENTS TO HIDE THE TRUTH; HE OPPRESSES US! GET OUT BART IM PISS!
It’s scary how you can believe this as a father, I pray for your children.
It’s quite ironic your choice of language in trying to defend why you’re a good parent. You curse that much on your blog I can only wonder how much you curse in front of your child.
You should not be allowing your child to view this disgusting game which shows in graphic detail people being beheaded and shot. Any sane parent would agree.
we have a few day care centres over here in aus. and one of the main problems i find is with ppl automatically trying to “shield” their children from certain behaviours. The puzzling thing is if ones child was re-enacting such behaviours that one was trying to “shield” from said child, they would actully rather not know about it and have a tendency to get quite confrontaintional. “our child would never do that”
however in saying that we do also have a few incredible parents, ones that as were pointed out b4 relise that kids arnt a possesion but a human, one that will experience all sorts of things and in all probability experience things that we could never even comprehend. those parents children are quite intelligent and have a great “street” sense.
oh an also on another note, this game doesnt show “ppl being beheaded and shot in graphic detail” they’re zombies the distinction is quite clear from the start. even the run of the mill zombies that the player encounters are very very different from normal human beings “skins” or even behaviours( which a child will pick up on moreso than a visual cue). there is a very clear distinction between the two.
Really funny video man! I laughed pretty hard. Yeah children need to be taught the differences between real life and video games. He didn’t seemed freaked out or anything by it he seemed to think it was fun. In my opinion it is no different than watching a zombie movie or any sort of war movie.
Hey Ron… funny how you disapprove yet you watched the video. Same goes for Jimtimoth69. What, morbid curiosity? Hypocrisy? You had to make the choice to click on the link. Making that choice to satisfy your morbid curiosity of the flesh and then condemning and judging the person who posted it is not something our Father would condone. Way to set an example.
As a person who has grown up with parents similar to you i couldnt agree more with your parenting style.
My parents have been very open with me and my brothers with regards to Foul Language, violence, and other things
people see fit to call inappropriate for children.
I say rock on dude, keep doing what your doing and your kid will grow up brighter and more outgoing than any of the muppets that have critisized you. I hope my children have as much energy and the level of intelligence your son has at that age.
Du kranker Abschaum!
Hey, I like the way you teach your son. Your son is really cute and smart. It reminds me the way that my mom teach me. Unfortunately, my parents don’t like to play games(because they don’t know how to play). Just keep teaching your son like this.
Studies show that because you let your child play these games, he is 20% more likely to grow up as a murderer. Your son, is a murderer.
@Tbridge:
What’s your address? I’ll have him visit you first.
Tbridge, I can make up imaginary stats as well.
“Studies” show that 13% of people who comment on this blog are complete idiots, conservatives, or both.
I liked the video and I completely agree with Brandon. In addition, it’s been proven by repeated studies and surveys that videogames aren’t linked to violence at all. In fact, I’ve known a prison guard once, and they made an in-house survey as well. Do you know what criminals played the most? You’d be surprised to learn they were sports gamers, such as Madden (if they even played at all). I’d go as far as to say that people who play violent games are otherwise more sane than the rest.
Your son may or may not be very smart for his age, you aren’t and you also get awfully defensive and insulting towards people with a different opinion.
Fact is, not even a child psychologist could say what bad influence extremely violent media like that has on such an extremely young child, not that one would even dare to confront children with stuff like that. You’re not even a child psychologist, so you clearly have no clue about how much you could damage his mind.
You are not only a terrible parent, you show it to everyone and even defend your irresponsible behavior. Poor Aiden.
Well I must say I parent the same way, me and my wife both believe that there isn’t an issue with things like this as long as your teaching them right from wrong. I also feel like sheltering your kids from the world does nothing but make them weaker when they actually have to face the real world in the future….it’s unavoidable it will happen.
I make it very clear to my son the difference between these two. I started gaming very young on the PC myself and it has actually helped me in ways most wouldn’t imagine. I now type very fast for never taking a typing class ever. I actually tested out of it for college.
Unlike Aiden my son isn’t as catching on as fast as the other kids in school, but we are working on that. Funny thing is even though he struggles remembering the alphabet correctly. I let him play left 4 dead 1 time and he remembered every key I taught him and what each one does. So it helped me in realizing that he’s not behind in school because he isn’t smart. It’s just not interesting enough for him so it’s helping us make a different approach in helping him learn.
“brandon
December 7, 2008 at 12:11 pm
@Tbridge:
What’s your address? I’ll have him visit you first.”
Hahahaha.
Aidan is the video game equivalent of those 7 yearold guitar prodigies. Man if he was raised back in the days of quake and quake 2 he could have made some sweet deals with the Lan sponsors. He would have been the next fatal1ty. He can aim better with a mouse than most of my 20-something friends.
To all you elitist pricks that think you know how to raise Brandon’s kid better than him, you are obviously just jealous or envious of the way he can raise his child. If you weren’t so closed minded you could learn something from the way he is raising his child. You know you all wish your kid had the highly developed frontal lobe that Aidan has. His creativity is going to be through the roof. That kid is going to be an Engineer or Doctor some day making more than you or your kids ever will and you know that deep down.
You make me want to have a child of my own.
Let me set the first thing clear:
If you play Left4Dead and Aidan watches you,and he likes it somehow and likes to play a Left4Dead Game in the living room,i seriously dont think that is a problem. Its okay. He knows obviously knows that this is something unreal,a game,only fun.
Later ive watched your second Video Modigy,and hell i have to say that one concerned me my friend. No matter how smart you son is,two years is is not a fuckin age to play such games.that is just how it is.
Your arguement about the bad world,and early confrontation with violence in order to make him strong IS NOT convincing.
It looks like your training him to be a good killer in Garrys Mod,i mean i know your not,but have a clinical look at this scene. Do you really think your son is going to learn about moral values in a computer game. There is no learn effect,he is only getting less sensitive to violence and guns. But it doesnt mean that hes taught to condemn those things in his life. He is getting used to the sight of guns,blood,dead….how often will he be confronted in real life with such things? as long as he doesnt have to go to fuckin iraque it will mainly remain on TV or INternet.
Take care of your son,he is just not old enough for this,no matter how smart he is. He doesnt possess a stronmg character yet to have an own opinion about this things.
I’m surprised to see how many people (Which includes you, Lunatic) apparently believe that the only parenting Aidan is getting is being plopped in front of the computer and being told “HEY…..do that…..see ya in a few days.” I’m 100% positive that Brandon is telling him the difference between live and L4D, how guns are bad unless your a cop something, and Gmod is for fun, not “training”, and most importantly how Bart can’t weld.
On another note. I can’t agree with you more Mark, and the “highly developed frontal lobe” thing made me giggle a bit
All i just want to say is, everything you’ve done is right in my perspective; I’ve been playing all kinds of games ever since i was 5 and nothing is wrong with me and i believe the games i played helped me see what’s right and wrong
You and your kid are awesome! i believe he’ll be a good person and a great gamer
Hey dude i think it is awesome how you let your kid play video games,and besides what boy doesn’t like First Person Shotter games:D.
seya
Well im 13 and my parents always allow me to play violent games,lol except for my mom shes a little sensitive about blood and stuff;),
and you know some parents are always like ”oh my god he’s killing people in the video game!”
and hey hes probably gona be a great FPS player,maybe one of the best
me thinks the average child knows the difference between video games and reality, especially ones with zombies. me knows that the theory of represented violence in video games has been disproven.
I think it’s ok to let a kid play a game such as, L4D, TF2, Halo, etc. if you explain what’s happening in the game. My main concern, especially with L4D, RE, Silent Hill, etc. would be if they can handle the “horror” in the game or not. If I was 4 or 5, L4D would scare the crap out of me. Of course, I don’t like horror movies, and I’m not a big fan of survival horror games….
There’s nothing wrong with your parenting style or your son. As long as he knows that fantasy is fantasy and reality is reality, what’s the problem?
My parents let me play pretty much any game I wanted when I was a kid. Heck I had Mortal Kombat on my old Sega Master System when it first came out and I was like 6. And since then I’ve played ‘gangsta sims’, FPSes, hunting games, fighting games, action, adventures and who knows what else… and yet in 21 years I’ve never been in a fight, never murdered anyone and I don’t even have a criminal record. Which, at the age of 21, is a pretty big achievement.
Don’t let the parents who want to keep their children in a plastic bubble in a cot all their lives say anything to you. Violence is like dirt for children, expose them to it and they’ll resist more, hide them from it and it’ll shake them to the core.
Peace out, and don’t forget to tell Aidan that Witches… they don’t like the light.
Dude, I watched the video a while ago when it was put up on L4D411, and I just now showed it to my wife, who thought it was awesome. Aiden is cute as hell and I can’t believe he was that good in Gmod so young.
Maybe you could give me some advice? My son is about a year old. I want him to have skillz like Aiden when he’s older, what should I do?
I was sheltered and I always hated my parents for it. Always. My first three tries in college I ended up smoking pot all day every day and dropped out. That’s what sheltering does.
Keep it up.
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