Mr. John Rosemond

So I was recently taking a bathroom break and uncharacteristically reached for some reading material , coming out with my local newspaper. An article caught my attention specifically- a short section written by John Rosemond that completely trashed video games and elaborated exstensively on how they had negative effects on the development of children. I disagree, and feel the need to ramble about it for a while.
Now, I want to make it clear that I have nothing against Mr. Rosemond and can at least see where he comes from on his stance. However, he is looking at all the negative ways that the technology can be used and completely ignoring the positive possibilities, which are equal if not more in quality. He cites a letter which he recieved from a mother that told a tale of how she and her husband bought their children an Xbox and the system basically wrecked their family relationships. I don't doubt the validity of the story- far from it.
What I do doubt is the parenting job in this story. The mother explains how she and her husband have always restricted their children to watching a few hours of tv a week and playing solely simple, constructive games like building with Lincoln logs and magnetic bricks. Sounds good, right? But these parents are shielding their kids from real technology in the form of human development- video games have become the Lincoln Logs of the new generation. I'm not talking about Halo. Or Duke Nukem. I'm talking about the way that computer and video games and tv can be used as a learning medium to more effectively reach the new generation.
Maybe I was upset by this article because I don't like it when people try to live in the past, shielding their children from the alleged 'evils' of the millenium. Maybe it was because I can't stand parents who obviously need to better govern their children better and instead of accepting this blame their troubles on the Xbox (seriously, with all this sheltering I wouldn't be suprised if these kids when beserk over Tetris). Maybe it's because I don't like Mr. Rosemond shutting away all of the good possibilities of video games because of what appears in the article to be almost a fierce prejudice. Speaking of which, I was a little offended by the style he wrote the article in- quite literally an 'I told you so' in every way. Not at all arrogant. Wjhatever the reason this unsettled me, I think it all comes back to how we should never generalize.

The one thing that we all have to share is the fact that we must all walk our chosen path alone.