Left 4 Aidan Discussion

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!