One frequently visited dinner conversation piece is of the looming threat of video games on child development. Parents bombard their kids with questions about its appeal and internally question whether it’s going to transform them into serial killers or slobs. I think most kids read this as their parents simply being over controlling or over dramatic, or maybe even as a play to suck the last bit of fun from their lives (I know that thought has crossed my mind). If we put aside our anger we can realize it’s actually far from all that.

Parents really just don’t get it. For a generation whose medium of “gaming” was watching a ball bounce from one side of the screen to the other, they really do perceive their 14 year old son’s shouting from another kill in Call of Duty as a cry for help. If I were in their shoes I probably would too.

Even in my own shoes as a Gen Z’er who grew up around tech, I don’t understand it all.

You see, I’m no certified “gamer girl.” I can’t relate to the kids living it up on Fortnite or Red Dead Redemption. However, I’m not totally out of the loop. I can proudly say that I’m an avid player of Animal Crossing. Still, though, Animal Crossing is as far away on the gaming spectrum from the bloody ones I mentioned before as you can get.

So yes, I can’t particularly relate with everyone on gaming preferences… what can I say, it’s a diverse population. I can, however, relate with any other kid who frequents the Nintendo or XBox or whatever. Regardless of where we come from or what we play, we suffer the same scrutiny.

It’s ridiculous at first glance. As I just stated we’re a diverse population. Parents don’t understand that, though. They group it all together simply because they lack understanding. My parents think that just because I’m “on that damn gaming thing” I must also be committing grand theft. No joke they really thought this. Yes, because one time they heard of the infamous Grand Theft Auto, Animal Crossing must be one in the same. To them, I’ve got it all at my fingertips because the internet is a vast and scary place and even after years of hearing cautionary tales, I too will fall victim. Yes, totally rational.

Again though I have to remind myself that for them, maybe it is. I guess it just took me this long to fully contemplate how daunting they must view the internet. I pray my mom never sees this, but to me, it seems she grew up in the prehistoric ages. She tells tales of how when she was a hatchling she would use the good ol’ dictionary to find words and whenever she wanted to “phone a friend” she would resort to the phone book. Then all of a sudden, the mid 90s came and she, like the rest of your parents, was thrown into the deep web (so they call it). 

This is evermore troubling now, when one of our only outlets is through a hunk of cable and wire. It’s infuriating when they try to disconnect us but if we don’t try to understand them, how can we get them to understand us?