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Gaming Parents - Children are sore loser's

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jennifer:


--- Quote from: opt2not on November 28, 2012, 02:07:09 am ---You completely missed the mark. It's not teaching them to be losers, it's teaching them to understand the spirit of competition.

If you ever played on a sports team, you'd understand this.

--- End quote ---
   I do play on a team, Well coach T ball for 5yr olds... I am not sposed to keep score (parents rules) because it promotes competitiion.
(and makes jennifer quite angry), These kids are not stupid, they know there is a winning team and a losing team. They should be tought like you said "To understand the spirit of competition" To win and lose with grace... That calling Jen a boy thing worked before on me only because
it was said by someones whos veiws and opinions on arcade matters I trusted (You CoryBee dont fit that template)
I am ALL woman, I fight like a big girl...And Ill scratch your friggen eyes out.

jammin0:


--- Quote from: jennifer on November 28, 2012, 01:52:50 am ---     Am I hearing you guys right?...Teaching a kid its ok to be a loser?...OMG, This is NOT going to help her/him in life, they will only half
try, and grow up being pathetic adults.

--- End quote ---

My kid played 5-year-old T Ball last year.  Most of the games were spent watching someone in outfield pick their nose while the ball rolled by them.  They start keeping score with the 6-year-olds don't they?

I think it's more about teaching kids that there are going to be things that they're not good at but that's ok.  In the spirit of good competition or whatever other motivation they need to learn that hard work pays off in the end.  Just because you really want something doesn't mean you'll get it.  Rather, when you work really hard at something you are more likely to achieve.  Most poor sports give up because they can't stand losing, how many times have you heard a little kid lose and then say, "I'm not playing that ever again, I hate that game."

The world has become a pretty competitive place but too many people are taking the easy way out and trying to cheat, lie, and steal their way to success which in my opinion is a pretty low thing to do.  Why would you need to cheat if you were a real winner?  I take a  certain amount of pride at seeing my son beat his friends at anything, whether it is sports or academics, however, I always welcome the opportunity for him to be humbled and realize that not everything in life is easy.

opt2not:

One other thing I like to tell the nieces is that even if you lose, don't just give up. Keep at it!
I tell them about chameleons, and how they adapt to their environment. I try to teach them to think about how they lost, then adapt!  This is harder to teach the younger girls, because their recognition of the game-play isn't quite there, but the older ones get it and they surprise the heck out of you on how fast they adapt.

I find when you get them thinking, rather than knee-jerk reactions, they get very creative with how they play. Especially with the versus fighters.   I remember one of my nieces asking me what would be a good character to fight against Blanka (cause on of the girls like to mash the buttons for electricity all the time). I showed her the fireball for ryu, and she got it right away!  She can't fire it all the time, but she knows the concept, and makes a good competitive try at it now.  Pretty amazing for a 6 year old!

rCadeGaming:

Not a parent, but I'd agree with Badmouth's comments.

On the value of winning and losing, I don't entirely think you should teach them that the results don't matter.  They won't do well in adult life if they expect an "A for effort."  That won't effect them for many years, but attitudes are developed early.  How early to think about this... I don't know.

I guess you should let them know you're very proud when they win, but don't let them hold it over others.  If they lose, you can tell them you're still proud for their effort, but show them how to improve.  It's good to instill work ethic and demonstrate the benefits of practice early.  I guess it could be a fine line between a good coach and an overbearing one though.

The other thing is that it's hard to set up even matches between children of different ages.  In fighting games you could try getting into the service menu and handicapping one player's health to even things out.  Maybe where that's not possible you could give more tokens to the player that needs help; if you have a real coin mech.

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