Should You Buy a Wii (or XBox 360, or PS3)?

Video games are a touchy subject for many parents—a source of conflicted emotions, ongoing arguments, even financial hardship.  Despite these negatives, most parents at least consider buying their children a gaming system, and many go to great lengths (and make considerable sacrifices) to do so.

Why?  Video games can have many positive benefits.  Some are genuinely educational or skill-building and successfully impart knowledge and skills in entertaining ways.  Video games are also a major social currency among today's kids—a child who doesn't know about, play, or have video games is, to a very real extent, "out of it" and, to other kids, even a less desirable playmate.  Finally, video games—particularly those designed for the Wii—can be active and family-friendly, providing new ways older and younger generations can bond by having fun together.  Even grandparents can get in on the action.

So what's the problem?  With all these benefits, why would any parent hesitate before buying a gaming system?  Because, as with many choices in life, there are significant downsides.  Most parents would rather see their kids reading a book, practicing the piano, or playing ball outside with friends than trying to come in first in Mario Kart.  But, given a choice, most kids would rather play video games—they're "more fun."

So activities that, objectively speaking, provide greater educational, social, and physical benefits lose much of their appeal when compared to the prospect of playing video games.  Moreover, even if one doesn't consider video games addictive in the strict sense of the word (though this is debatable), they are definitely habit-forming; to the extent that children use what little free time they have to play video games, they get out of the habit of pursuing other activities that, in the long run, are better for them.

As parents, we are charged with looking out for our children's best interests.  Yes, we want our kids to be happy, and yes, we want them to have friends.  But even if a Wii (or XBox 360, or Playstation 3) accomplishes that (at least temporarily), it does so at a cost.  Playing video games becomes much easier—and much more frequent—once kids have their own gaming systems, and using their spare time to play video games is not in children's best interests.

So, difficult as it may be, simply choosing to keep gaming systems out of the home is a better long-term decision for many parents.  Their kids will have more time available to pursue other interests (and be more inclined to do so), frequency of arguments about time spent on video games will decrease or even cease, "real world" interactions will increase, and parents will not have to worry that they contributed to any negative effects of a video game habit.