Reading Is Good

1/12/2018

Why do children need books instead of mindless games?

I was watching a little girl playing a game on her iPad. She kept tapping the screen and as the game progressed, she became more and more tense. She clenched her jaw, tapped the floor with her feet and slid on her chair back and forth.

After a few minutes of anxious tapping, she cried out in frustration and threw her iPad which landed by the wall with a shattered screen.

Her mother yanked her arm angrily and shouted, "Now you've done it! That thing cost me a lot of money. What did you do that for?"

The little girl replied tapping her foot and wringing her fingers anxiously, "I was angry because couldn't get to the next level."

Playing mindless games

Although mindless video games such as shooting bubbles, pair up jewelry, or collect farm animals could be relaxing for adults, children who crave attention and want to achieve, feel about it differently.

In my experience, working as a nurse with children, playing games does not relax children. It occupies them and parents think their kids are entertained, but, instead, kids become obsessed, frustrated, and angry.

Read with your children

Read with your children when they're young and give them age appropriate books to read when they're older.

I've never seen a child throw a book in frustration and anger. When parents read with young children, the kids snuggle up to their parents and feel relaxed.

Stories trigger the imagination of children, widens their vocabulary, prompts them to be confident and compassionate, teaches them family values, and acceptance of others who are different or have disabilities.

Mindless video games can't do that.