Kids Don’t Want Cash Anymore
wsj.com
wsj.com
The current laws surrounding video games are naive and are akin to letting minors into casinos in vegas as long as the casinos put a couple of cute teddies here and there.
Yes Roblox looks like a game for kids, but it doesn't play like one, it's not even trying to hide the obvious gambling aspects, but because it's done using "funny tokens" suddenly kids of any ages are welcomed in with open arms.
And that's just one shady aspect of the game, then there's the child labor practices and the whole pedofile scandal.
Boomer hackers cut their programming teeth on DEC PDPs. Gen X did so on Unix workstations (or Commodore/Tandy/Apple/Sinclair 8-bit micros), Millennials on Mac and Windows machines... Gen Z and Alpha will be trained up on programmable walled gardens like Roblox. "General purpose computing" as we know it will be dead, and no one will care.
He doesn't try to sell and knows if he wants to make money his time is better spent elsewhere. He still loves writing and modifying scripts that he just shares with his friends exclusively. He spends nearly an equal time writing code and reading the Roblox programming book as he does playing the game which doesn't seem like a terrible trade-off for the time boxed gaming time. Kids aren't dumb, they can just be naive.
It shouldn't matter what it also is. There's plenty of illegal drugs that you could give to kids that might give them a high but would also help them stay focused in school, that doesn't mean we should be ok with drugdealers pedling drugs to children.
If someone can make a popular video game with the elements of Roblox without the gambling then all the power to them, but arguing that getting a whole generation started with their gambling additions at age 5 is ok because they also get a brief introduction to LUA is just madness.
"ABSTRACT: Blind boxes are novel, gambling-like physical products that consumers can buy to obtain randomized content. [...] The relevant provisions, which include consumer protection and harm minimization measures such as setting age limits; publishing probability disclosures; and implementing “pity mechanics” that guarantee that the consumer will receive the rarer content that they desire after making a predetermined number of purchases, are translated and commented upon."[0]
Parents aren't saving time, they are stealing it from their kids.
"Parental controls implemented in recent years mean out-of-control spending by children is less of a concern than it once was. By topping up virtual wallets with a little cash, parents save money and time compared with a trip to Target and don’t have to take out their wallets for every little purchase."
They proceed to list out different game currencies and what having them allow you to do, which you couldn't do with cash. Followed by providing directions and helpful tips to parents about how to do it, such as "Advocacy groups recommend that parents talk to children about the potential for disappointment when buying blind packs".
The history of the New York Times is one of being propaganda from the upper class aimed at pushing their perspective on the working class (and some may say that's still what they do now).
That's not what propaganda means. It's right in the name: propaganda — propagate. It's anything that causes one to participate in the spread of the idea. Outrage/indignation seems to work even better for this purpose than does advocacy.
Then we limited the area they were allowed to roam in from a few blocks to "where I can see you"
Then, we locked them up for two years (depending on locale) thanks to CoVID
What good is cash if you can not go to the local sweets/toys place to use it? Of course some weird game-currency is more appealing to them.
Provided that one lives in an area where there are "blocks". Most suburban housing developments don't really have them, and you need to drive for at least 15 minutes to get any store.
I live in a suburban housing development and I'm within 5-10 minutes of almost every type of store I usually need. I needed to go to Tractor Supply last week and that took 15 minutes since it's a little ways out in the country. But I do have to drive, which isn't really an option for kids.
Though the traffic is not bad where I live. I don't know if that's because it's not geographically constrained or because of the lower population density.
Worse, it's a put-you-in-jail crime in many places to do otherwise.
Many states also have shitty-parent registries that work like sex offender registries: if you are found to be not helicopter-parenting to state standards, it will go on your permanent record and you will be forbidden to raise your own or work around others' children, forever.
I grew up in a rural area, walking to the store was never an option. I could get my parents to take me to the store, but their I saw the things I really wanted cost more than I’d get from my small family during the holidays, which in turn taught me the power of saving and thrift. So usually cash gifts involved a trip to the bank.
Digital game currency is fundamentally the same as buying a toy, and comparing it to cash is a travesty.
now if kids were turning up their noses at a visa GC, that would be news.
But seriously even the Salvation army switched to QR codes cash is dead.