Is Angry Birds Making My Child Too ... Angry?
It was when I heard my 4-year-old daughter shout “You nasty pigs!” from the back seat of the car that I realized we might have a problem.
Only moments before, she had been happy and effusive with stories of play mates at preschool. But that was before she asked for my iPhone, so she could play our (yes, I said our) latest obsession: Angry Birds.
I became addicted to this app-based game from Rovio Mobile less than five seconds after I sent my first yellow tweeter flying through the air, colliding with an animated wall of glass, wood and pigs. What’s not to love? There’s that oversized slingshot that sends birds sailing. There are the fierce chirps of our feathered friends as they home in on one or more of their targets. There’s also the satisfying sound of glass breaking and wood splitting upon avian impact.
Then, of course, there are the pigs – targets because they made off with a nest full of birds’ eggs. Swine indeed!
My 4-year-old daughter has since adopted my addiction – after watching me play furiously one day – and I wonder if I made the right decision in letting her play, too.
Until now, all of the app-based games that my husband and I have introduced her to have been strictly educational, good-natured and fun. She’s a master of Monkey Preschool Lunchbox and has fun searching for letters on Super Why!
But sending kamikaze birds slamming head-first into a bunch of green pig heads? Am I a terrible parent?
While other moms and dads are questioning whether they should be introducing their young children to tech-heavy gadgets such as iPhones and iPads at all – or questioning how much time they should be spending in front of these small screens if they already are playing with them – I’m wondering if I’m creating some sort of pig-hating preschooler in my otherwise mild-mannered, ballet-dancing daughter.
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