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Earlier this year, the Japan Lutheran Hour printed "Parents and Children Together--Enjoying the Internet", which targets children who are starting to use the Internet, "chatting", and using e-mail as well as their parents. As we were putting it together, I heard many concerns from parents asking how to deal with children's video games. Many parents who wrote us felt they could not handle video games, since they cannot play the games themselves. Today's games: Saga, Nintendo 64, and Play Station, demand such quick action that a novice doesn't have a chance.. We found that children, on the other hand, consume many hours a day playing video games. A survey of Japanese children showed they spend almost as much time playing video games as watching TV--only 20-30 min less. Within the last few months, we also have seen a growing number of crimes carried out by 17-year old teenagers. The media are pointing out that video games with

Sample questions How does the main character in the game solve the problems that arise? (Does he rely on violence, making it appear normal and right?) Make a note of the words that appear on the screen, as well as the words that the main characters say. What can you discover from the language you find? Where do you find speed required of children in the home and in school-- Make a list. Talk together about why each of those various things has to be done quickly.

excessive violence and TV programs are a common background of the young criminals. Scholars have not been able to come to any objective conclusions on the issue. I talked with Mrs. Inomata who has three children, and she is concerned about video games and the violence in the games. We couldn't find any educational tools to aid in understanding and using the games wisely, because the academic world have not yet come to any conclusions on the effects of these games.

The video game booklet is our answer to this family education challenge. Maintaining a critical attitude is our answer to using media wisely, especially those media which have a strong influence on children. Big brother is out there and he is controlling kids. When we wrote the 34 page booklet and showed it to several key organizations, including Sega and Sony software, production workers became angry regarding our views on the value systems video games present to children. They tend to feel that they are victims of undeserved criticism showered on them by the media. They cry "Prejudice!" when people look at them with a critical eye. Although we don't feel we have written from a prejudiced viewpoint, please see for yourself. Following are some excerpts from the booklet:

"Here we will look at video games not only as something to play with, but also as a media that can have a large psychological influence on children. We have to continually keep in mind that the intent and the values of all media producers, be it printed materials, TV, radio, movies, or video games, will always be reflected in the media they produce." One of the values represented in the video game world is speed. "In this information age, the keyword seen everywhere is, fast, high resolution. In other words, it's a value system based on the speed of the chips inside of the computers: if they're fast, they are good. If they're faster, they're better."

Strength Without Sympathy Consider the idea of sympathy. Strength, in the true sense of the word, demonstrates itself when it is combined with sympathy, and used in a society which has elderly people and persons with disabilities to look out for. Are there incidents and crimes involving youth in your country? Discuss what kinds of incidents these have been. What kind of violence was involved? Have you seen that sort of violence on TV or in magazines before? Was it portrayed as positive or negative? Do you have video games in your home which contain violence? What is necessary in order to stand in someone's place and understand how they feel?

What can parents do? "Parents should demonstrate to their children that taking time, going slow, is actually an important element in thinking analytically and considering a variety of viewpoints. In the real world we live in, there is no way that we can, like a reset button on a game or computer, clear away everything that we would like to get rid of and start again anywhere we want to. In fact, there are a great deal of skills and abilities that can only be mastered through a patient stick-with-it attitude that involves spending time rather than learning to do it fast. We can't forget to teach our children the importance of knowing about the real world we live in."

Given the high degree of realism in the graphics and sounds of today's games, the lines between reality and the game become thin. In this environment, it is much easier for the ideals and values lived out in the games to spill into a child's daily life."Many parents worry about the effects that violent scenes in video games might have on their children. However, in Japan, the voice of the games makers is overwhelmingly powerful, and we see few parents who will bravely stand up and say, 'Let's protect our children.' Parents have to be particularly careful that the idea of, 'Disagreements can always be solved by using violence,' is not planted in their children's psyche."

Video games tend to place value on the big, the strong, the incredible. The ordinary is not often seen. The weaker members of society, the elderly and the handicapped, seldom appear in video games. There is an imbalance in video games on the side of "strength", but in real life, isn't having empathy towards others, and learning to live with weakness a sign of true strength?

Finally, the ultimate goal of the game makers is not the well-being of the children playing the games, but money. "The ultimate goal is to sell video games, and through advertisements, the children are caught up, along with their parents, in the principles of the marketplace."

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