Video Games Attacked Once Again!!

And this time, McDonald's is directing the bombardment. Though it slyly owns up to it's portion of the blame, the fast-food giant that's been expanding waistlines one Big Mac at a time since 1940 is trying to blame video games for the increasing child-obesity issue.

“Then there’s a lifestyle element: there’s fewer green spaces and kids are sat home playing computer games on the TV when in the past they’d have been burning off energy outside.”

Source

Hmm...ok, so what's really the issue here? It's the same issue we've been discussing lately.

Responsibility.

Mortal Kombat gets blamed for the death of a child, when we should be looking at the abhorrent home environment that produced these two murderous teens.
Dr. Phil makes history by having his first intelligent thought, and asking parents why they don't pay attention to the ways their children use or abuse entertainment media.
And now McDonald's says, "McNuggets aren't the only villain! Video games are fattening too!", in a statement that very strongly reminds me of the times when I would throw my younger brother under the bus by claiming that I shouldn't be punished because "he didn't eat his green beans either!"

Here's the deal, America. Video games do not make us fat. McDonald's does not make us fat. We make ourselves couch-wrecking lard-asses. We take things that are meant to entertain, and we abuse them. Ronald McDonald does not put a gun to your head and force you to Supersize. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo do not tie you to your couch and force you indulge in their digital wonderlands until your muscles atrophy. We make these decisions on our own.

What really gets me is that so many parents are jumping on the video-games-are-evil bandwagon. Here's a thought: Make your kids play outside. Stop letting entertainment media raise your family for you. When I was young, my dad bought an NES. When we played it, we played as a family. It was a treat, something we all did every other evening or so. That's the way it ought to be, folks. Something to do in between a few rounds of front-yard football and a home-cooked meal. But this is the generation with no parents. They're at work, they're on business trips, and the oven is used more frequently to re-heat last night's Domino's pizza than it is to cook a casserole. And if today's shining examples of parenting ARE home for the evening, they spend their quality time glued to the tube watching American Idol or Survivor or Dr. Phil, or some other such nonsense. Now, there's nothing wrong with television (in practice...I think there are a million things wrong with today's TV programs, but that's another rant entirely), there's nothing wrong with Netflix, and there's certainly nothing wrong with some good old Goomba smashing or alien blasting. I also believe that you can have a few alcoholic beverages, and even smoke a little of the green green grass, if that's your thing. But, remember what the good Lord taught us, kiddos.

All things in moderation.

There IS such a thing as "too much of a good thing". But here's what we must remember: it's up to us. Go ahead and blame video games if you want. Blame McDonald's. Every time you do that, you're giving up the responsibility that you have for your own life, and saying, "Here, video games/fast food/booze/sex/addiction of choice. I am going to allow you to run my life. I can't be held responsible for my own actions, so I'm going to allow you, no, I'm going to invite you to take over for me."

Take back your life, America. Take some freaking responsibility. Or take a flying leap, and let the rest of us live in peace already.

(As an aside, it has been shown that obesity may actually be a switch that gets thrown in the womb. In today's "thin-is-in" society, image-obsessed expecting mothers try to put on as little weight as possible whilst preggers in order to keep the dream of post-baby-smuggling single digit pants-sizes alive. This does have an effect on the baby, however. During the developemental stages, the baby figures that mommy is starving, and therefore the world must be in famine mode. When the baby is born, it has adapted to a foodless existence, and has mutated into a fat-storing prodigy. Its little body is programmed from conception to stock up any available nutrients, just in case famine strikes yet again. We're training mommies to be skinny, and babies to be fat. So, take heed, moms-to-be. Stuff your face! You can work it off later. But if you don't feed Junior enough in utero, he'll make up for it once he's eating on his own.)