3-year-old + Wii = Big Trouble
Fri May 25, 2007 7:50AM EDT
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If you've got a Nintendo Wii and a toddler in the same house, you'll want to read this. Wired reports on a 3-year-old who smashed a $2,000 Plasma TV screen with his Wii remote after his tennis game wasn't going so well.
His dad left to get him a drink. From the kitchen he heard "two big bangs" and when he returned to the room he found his son smashing the screen with the Wii remote.
Wired talked to the lad's dad, Brian McConnell, who seemed to handle the sitch pretty calmly. "I thought about how I could explain to a three-and-a-half year old what he had done wrong," McConnell told Wired. "I ended up asking him how he'd feel if I broke his Spiderman."His punishment: No Wii for two weeks. Two years would be more like it. I'm not sure the Wii is really made for toddlers.
Check out the LCD safety shield Gina Hughes writes about. It may become standard issue for any Wii players who don't want to risk a $2,000 TV screen for a little virtual fun.
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2 Posted by dolphins1817 on Wed May 30, 2007 10:43PM EDT Report Abuse
jnjenfield is right:It has nothing to do with the Wii being on not being for 3 year olds. It has everything to do with parenting!!! The dad says he's not sure how to tell a 3year old he did wrong? It's easy, spank his rear end till you hand stings. That works every time. I don't care what a kid is playing with, they have no business breaking it and a 3 year old can and should understand that. He should have not left the kid unsupervised around something as expensive as the TV anyway. In that situation, you pause the game and take the kid with you to the other room. Of course, if you consistantly punish the kid for breaking things in anger from the time they are first able to get to them, chances are, by the time they are 3, they won't be doing it much anymore. My cousin has a 4 year old, and he knows better than to break his toys and to leave the things of others alone unless they tell him he can play with it. My cousin spanks him when he does wrong and the kid's ego, personality, etc is just fine. Regarding the Wii, I'll bet the controller was just fine. Those things are virtually indistructible! Have you seen the Wii tests on 1UPshow.com? They run the Wii through torture tests to see how kid proof it is and it passed with flying colors. There are games that little kids can play just fine. Some are Marble Mania, Wii Play, Wii Sports (though maybe not baseball since that's hard for even adults) and Excite Truck. If the kid has any self controll at all, he/she can play video games at the age of 3 no problem. My cousin's 4 year old has been playing games on his Nintendo Gameboy Advance since he was 3 and hasn't broke his Gameboy yet. He's lost a few game carts, but not broke any. If I were to give a little kid a game system to play with unsupervised, I'd get him/her a Gameboy Advance (not the SP or DS version since the hinged lid can break) or a Gameboy Micro. Those are tough and there are a lot of kid friendly games for them. The cartridges are preferable to systems that use mini discs (hello, PSP) since you can handle them without worring about getting finger prints or scratches on the surface that mess the game up. You have to be trying to break a nintendo game cart.
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3 Posted by coco_mama2011 on Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:01PM EDT Report Abuse
Thank You!! Kids...until they get older like myself (a teen) need spankings, and then when they get older like myself punishment always teaches me.
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4 Posted by fire_princess_kate on Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:28PM EDT Report Abuse
I agree that the child should not have been left alone, but I disagree that you should 'spank him til your hand stings.' I do spank both of my children, who are two years old. However, using that kind of heavy-handed parenting skills will only make your child fear you. My children are well behaved, but they still have their moments where they are little hellions. Neither of them have broken something of mine, thiers or anyone elses. This father is punishing his child apropriately, not to mention the fact that the father has learned to always be with his child.
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5 Posted by dscott462006 on Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:52PM EDT Report Abuse
why would a grown man or woman play with a wii anyway. watch your kids, cook, clean, go to work and let the kids and teens play wii. grow up you are parents after all.
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1 Posted by jnjenfield on Fri May 25, 2007 10:58AM EDT Report Abuse
It has nothing to do with the Wii being on not being for 3 year olds. It has everything to do with parenting!!! The dad says he's not sure how to tell a 3year old he did wrong? It's easy, spank his rear end till you hand stings. That works every time. I don't care what a kid is playing with, they have no business breaking it and a 3 year old can and should understand that. He should have not left the kid unsupervised around something as expensive as the TV anyway. In that situation, you pause the game and take the kid with you to the other room. Of course, if you consistantly punish the kid for breaking things in anger from the time they are first able to get to them, chances are, by the time they are 3, they won't be doing it much anymore. My cousin has a 4 year old, and he knows better than to break his toys and to leave the things of others alone unless they tell him he can play with it. My cousin spanks him when he does wrong and the kid's ego, personality, etc is just fine. Regarding the Wii, I'll bet the controller was just fine. Those things are virtually indistructible! Have you seen the Wii tests on 1UPshow.com? They run the Wii through torture tests to see how kid proof it is and it passed with flying colors. There are games that little kids can play just fine. Some are Marble Mania, Wii Play, Wii Sports (though maybe not baseball since that's hard for even adults) and Excite Truck. If the kid has any self controll at all, he/she can play video games at the age of 3 no problem. My cousin's 4 year old has been playing games on his Nintendo Gameboy Advance since he was 3 and hasn't broke his Gameboy yet. He's lost a few game carts, but not broke any. If I were to give a little kid a game system to play with unsupervised, I'd get him/her a Gameboy Advance (not the SP or DS version since the hinged lid can break) or a Gameboy Micro. Those are tough and there are a lot of kid friendly games for them. The cartridges are preferable to systems that use mini discs (hello, PSP) since you can handle them without worring about getting finger prints or scratches on the surface that mess the game up. You have to be trying to break a nintendo game cart.