No...

Seriously...

WEEP.

Can anybody honestly say that this is even the slightest bit surprising? That we have not already been warned? That we have not already witnessed the harm that we are allowing our children to come to?

Anybody who thinks that these highly immersive and ever more real gaming environments are, at the very least, anything other than extremely influential on our children's behaviour, is a fool, a bounder and a cad and should NEVER be allowed to bear the fruit of their loins.

Careful now...If Blair hears me saying that he will think I am joining his team!

But seriously folks, video games and TV have ALWAYS been looked at in terms of their ability to twist, modify, cajole, shape, call it want you wish, our children and their behaviour. Like adverts make us buy things that we do not want, how is the relatively blank, unassuming and, most importantly, unaware canvas of a child's mind supposed to filter out the dross and stop the change from occurring?

Children a re changing every single day. I have a two year old son who never ceases to amaze me. One day Mummy is working with him on the ABC's. They have a go at the ABC song and we seem to have mastered the first three and can stumble through the next three given a little help...

The next morning we can go to L without a mistake. Mummy and Daddy are so proud of their clever little boy but, as responsibly as we can be, we choose NOT to work on the same again today and "push" him because he is learning just fine at his own pace.

The next morning we can get to Z without so much as a pause!

The next day we can do "A is for Apple", "B is for Banana" and "C is for...Cabbage"!!!

Now we have a child that can not only teach itself the alphabet in under three days, he can also learn to apply those sounds to the beginnings of words AND learn words like cabbage (a vegetable that is seldom found on the island where we live) instead of using "cat" as he was offered...

So what is my point? Is my boy a genius? Probably not. Is he a little whiz-kid just waiting to explode? Probably not. Is he in some way special or advanced? Maybe a little...

Can he learn almost anything that he is shown whether we think that he is or not?

ABSOLUTELY...

Now, stop reading and go upstairs and unplug your child's console and take them for a walk to the park, a trip to the zoo, a swim in the pool...

Whatever you do, remember...

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HEALTH, LIFE AND EXPERIENCES OF YOUR CHILDREN...

Lose your grip of those DUTIES and you have not only let yourself and your children down but the very idea that mankind itself can evolve into something altogether better, more caring and compassionate and, above all, happier.

Start this revolution and maybe, just maybe, life really will start to get better.

Oh, and by the way, mobile phones probably cause tumours...

Are you going to wait for the study that proves it 100% conclusively BEFORE you try to take the phone away from your child who will be more than unwilling to let go of it?

Or are you going to use the age-old "it is for their protection...They can call me if they are in trouble" line?

Or are you going to act like somebody who realises that potentially allowing their child to to boil their own brains is probably a little more dangerous than the phenomenally small chance that they may actually ever be harmed in any way that owning a mobile phone could possibly have EVER protected them from?!

START BEHAVING LIKE PARENTS AND GIVE YOUR CHILDREN A CHANCE...

NOW!