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if I was a child in the era of covid, I would simply throw out my video games, go outside, watch neighbors I cannot interact with pass by, reflect on the childhood I'm being deprived of by a society that does not care about me, and weep for several hours https://kotaku.com/the-new-york-times-is-worried-kids-are-playing-video-ga-1846077228
if I was an adult writing about this hypothetical kid, I *certainly* wouldn't consider the grim ramifications of social networks that pretend to foster human connection, but which are instead designed to keep adults scared and glued to their screens
and I DEFINITELY would not acknowledge my own role in perpetuating the sort of fearmongering these platforms thrive on by writing an article exactly like this one
certainly, the ways some games exploit kids and convince them to spend money are worth talking about, as are the sorts of communities kids wind up in as a result of poor moderation on the part of people running games and/or bad parenting
but concerns about games inhibiting socialization or keeping kids from learning how to solve problems are laughably archaic, as are fears around people using games to cope with challenging or impossible situations (like covid!)
this NYT piece is infuriating bc it pays lip service to a couple real problems while ultimately characterizing the good games can do for kids (and adults) as somehow bad and scary
