we met with the youth pastor last night and had a quick but good conversation.  he let us know that he wished more parents would come to him with questions and concerns (isn't that kind of the norm for homeschooling parents, though?) and said that if we wanted Halo 2 removed from the church we could consider it done.

that wasn't our intention, though it was tempting ... and he told us that that particular room is supposed to be locked during service.  apparantly some smart (aleck) kids propped the door open and were, then, gainfully employed in the worship of the video game.

hmmm.  my mom told me that had I not explained to her the basic premise of Halo 2 she was content to believe it was a game about celestial beings.

right.  welcome to the youth group I never had growing up ...

(and, for the record, Halo 2 is also said to have been "over" rated to mature, not teen as it would be rated now.  It is not my intention to get into a debate or onto a soapbox, I just know that I was surprised to find my boys playing the game at church, once the service had started, and that they were not alone.)

Posted by rcelliott

I have gone back and forth on the whole Halo thing. I did not allow it in our home for quite some time, but then got into homeschool boy scouts. There I met many more "conservative" parents than I am, but they let their kids play.

I came to find out that they held to a lot of dominionist thought and found it okay. They were in to the man subduing the earth thing and felt that war type, first person shooter games gave their young men an understanding of protection and guarding.

I have since started to play the game. I am not sure that I get that feeling out of it. I do play four person with my kids, and we do have a lot of fun sneaking up on each other, but I must admit I am not convinced. If I play the game alone, the sound is off.

The kids know the jury is out on this one and it is not a game that will be played without supervision. They also know I am starting to lean more to my original feelings and that this game could become a frisbee at any minute.

On a different note, I guess there are good things about NOT having a youth room...

Posted by ClagettsFLStyle

to hear the youth director was so willing to talk and work with you. That's saying a lot.

I have girls so the Halo thing hasn't come up - though I looked at the trailer the other day when I read your entry. My issue is actually with Kingdom Hearts. We are a big Disney family, but for some reason the whole 'dark' side to that game and the kids being on their own bugs me. I'm not sure why but it does. As my girls get older I've let them play it when people bring it over, but it still bugs me sometimes. I guess when things like that happen it's the Holy Spirits way of making us aware of something that may be to tempting for our kids.

Glad to hear things worked out though.

Posted by thosecrazyandersons

Someone just gave our son a video game that we said was off-limits...hopefully we can exchange it for something better!

I'm glad that the youth group leader (minister? I don't remember what you said...LOL) was open to hearing what you had to say. If nothing else he knows to be on his toes now!

Praying for you guys in your search!

Posted by bestsister

We used to play games that taught the God given right to subdue the earth too. A little something called "Capture the Flag". Of course that involved actual running and hiding and seeking and being outside, and developing real relationships with other kids.

A lot of kids aren't willing to do that today. The major out cry of displeasure over the Wii game was that 'you might actually sweat' and 'you actually have to move'. Wow. My brother-in-law though has apparently figured out how to move the game piece with only his wrist while sitting down. Great.

One of my issues with video games is that it encourages kids to just sit....a lot, and to live vicariously through others. And as I have too much experience in both those areas, I hope to teach my children a whole other set of habits.

Posted by SteveWalden

A year or two ago, I had purchased Jedi Knight II, thinking it was a game based on the Star Wars movie. I soon learned it was a simple overlay of the Star Wars theme on Quake, a first-person shooter.

I played it, but only when the kids were in bed. Soon I found myself getting overly aggressive not just with the game but with things in real life "IRL." That's not saying everyone will experience the same, but I found the game was waking up some instincts and forming new paths in my brain that had no actual output IRL. I took the game and destroyed it in front of my kids, apologizing for letting it get into our family.

Video games train the mind. They are tools, not toys. Halo may not be as bad as other games, which is likely why some allow it, but it still trains young minds to shoot to kill, to react and destroy your opponent. If you hesitate in these games, they seldom give you a chance to survive.

Our house has banned all FPS games for the foreseeable future. I'll take my son out to the target range and for the price of one of the games, we can buy all the ammo he could possibly use in a season. I would rather see him use a gun as a tool to shoot at paper cups and plates (or even an elk!) than see him take down a simulated humanoid on the screen with a headshot. He's incredibly good at it, even at the age of eight. There's a difference between teaching a child to react with violence and teaching a child how to use a weapon judiciously and effectively. You can raise a killing machine or a skilled warrior with morals and integrity. What tools we use makes a lot of difference.