IF IT'S FUN, THEN IT'S BAD FOR YOU

	I wondered when someone would get around to blaming video games for
inciting violence in children.
	So far the electronic screen has been blamed for loss of appetite,
tennis wrist, sexual transference and the seduction of a minor.
	Adults are like that. Everytime a kid is having a good time, eating
something that tastes good, or wearing something comfortable, there has to
be something wrong with it.
	Frankly, I don't see video games as being any more mind-controlling
than their fathers sitting spellbound before 86 football games a week or
their mothers mesmerized by four hours of soaps a day.
	You wanta talk violence? I can tell stories about games past that will
make your hair stand on end. In 1943, my mother grabbed a Chinese checkers
board with both hands, threw the marbles all over the kitchen and crashed
it over my father's head, claiming, "I will not play with thieves!"
	In 1954, my husband and I were playing Monopoly with a few friends.
Knowing full well that I was down to my last $50, he demanded $3,060 when I
landed on one of his utilities. When I tried to reason with him he just
snickered and said, "You're out! Why don't you just go out and get the chip
dip and snacks?"
	Had we not the children to consider, I don't like to think what would
have happened.
	There are so many things in our lives that have an effect on children,
I wouldn't know what to take away. If you don't want them to see violence,
you better hide Hansel and Gretel. If you don't want them to see sex, don't
let them see a pregnant woman. If you don't want them to know terror,
protect them from Halloween; or hypocrisy, tell them Santa Claus doesn't
exist.
	If you don't want them to be frightened by monsters and things that go
bump in the night, cut down the large tree in front of the house that makes
weird shadows on their walls when the lights are out and brushes against the
spouting. If you don't want them to see war and suffering, throw your body
in front of the TV set for the six o'clock news.
	The other day I saw two brothers fighting for control. One boy yelled,
"It's my turn!" The other one said, "Would you flake off?" THe first one
said "I'm telling Mom!" and gave him an elbow in the ribs. The second one
said, "Get out of my face," and ground his foot into his.
	A video game? Nope. A fight over a hymnal in church!

		                - Erma Bombeck