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Hello fellow liquidites! Are you ready to have your minds blown? Good. Then keep reading.
When I was a kid, I was not allowed to play any video games. Ever. Or watch any TV. I'll let you guys recover before I continue.
Okay, has everyone recovered? Good. Let's continue. The reason I wasn't allowed to play any video games or watch any TV was because I attended this weird private elementary school called a Waldorf School. You can read all about it here.
Anyway, Waldorf Schools are quite weird. They do things... differently, to say the least. For example, they believe that it's very important to incorporate lots of art into education, and they have their students drawing constantly right from the start. However, if a student were to draw any outlines on their drawings, they completely flip out. They also don't allow students to draw facial features on the people they draw (at least not until like 7th grade or something). Why no facial features? "Because it makes the drawing look silly and cartoonish". Well, I don't know about you, but in my opinion, nothing looks sillier than a person with no eyes, no nose, and no mouth. Oh yeah, and the same (almost) applies to all the waldorf dolls (and yes, there are special Waldorf Dolls. Lots of them. Everywhere. In every classroom for students below 3rd grade).
But anyway, back to my point. In addition to the weird, featureless faces and only slightly-less featureless dolls, Waldorf schools also have bunch of overly strict and oppressive policies. Whenever a student enrolls at a Waldorf School, the school asks their parents to restrict access to all electronic devices, and to completely eliminate all video-games from the child's life. Obviously they have no power to control what parents do with their kids outside of school, but alas, my parents decided to go along with this Tom-Foolery.
Luckily for me, I started at the young age of 6, so I hadn't really gotten into video games, and thus didn't miss them much. At first, anyway. That didn't last long.
You see, I had friends outside of my local Waldorf school, friends who had video games. So I quickly came to realize how much I was missing. Whenever I would hang out with my non-waldorf friends, I'd always be the odd one out, because I didn't have my own Gameboy Color (remember those?), so I'd have to hope someone was feeling generous that day.
Even when I did get a turn to play I obviously had zero experience so I absolutely sucked. This wouldn't normally have been a problem, except that often my friends would want to take turns via the "play until you die then it's the next guy's turn" format, a format that I'm pretty sure was invented by Rudolf Steiner himself to make sure that Waldorfian children got as little video-game time as possible.
Luckily however, when I was about (10? I think?) the kid who lived across the street felt sorry for me and gave me his old GBA, along with a handful of cartridges that he no longer used. Among the cartridges were Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Fire Red. At the time I had this old futon mattress that I had folded into a make-shift couch, and it afforded a very convenient hiding place for my first even gaming console. I could sit on the couch and play Pokemon, and when I heard my mom coming down the hall, I'd simply shove the GBA under the futon and grab a book from the immediately-adjacent bookshelf, pretending like I'd been reading the whole time.
Miraculously, my folks never found out about the GBA, at least not until I became old enough to the point where they weren't really enforcing the Waldorf jail sentence restrictions. By that point I was pretty much done with 8th grade and looking at local high-schools. I decided to attend my local public high-school, instead of making the 3 hour commute to the nearest Waldorf high-school (yes, those exist).
Usually, we hate doing things as kids, but look back on them as adults and realize that it really was for our own good. However, I've had kind of the opposite experience with my Waldorf education.
As a child, I found the Waldorf restrictions annoying, but deep down I felt that it was probably for my own good and that the education most likely was top-notch like my parents kept telling me it was. However, now when I look back at the Waldorf school as an adult, I'm not so sure.
One thing that the Waldorf school taught me was that video games are evil, and that movies and pop-culture in general are evil. And I believed it! I was only a little kid at the time. I internalized it. For several years after having graduated the Waldorf school, I would feel guilty whenever I'd play video games. Even if I wasn't procrastinating on doing homework or something. I'd feel that I was actually rotting my brain by playing video games. Nope, I'm not kidding; that's what they taught us to believe: that watching TV and playing video-games will rot your brain.
Looking back, the idea that you are rotting your brain by playing a video game as complicated, intricate, and challenging as Starcraft II is absolutely laughable. Hell, Starcraft II is the most intense mental workout I've ever experienced. Heck, I've actually stopped playing it because it's a bit too intense for my tastes. But Waldorf would have me believe that playing a game that is a larger mental workout than chess is rotting my brain. Oh, and actually building a working redstone computer in Minecraft? Rotting your brain.
 
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United States24720 Posts
I didn't have to go to any Waldorf school, but my parents didn't let me own a videogame system either (they did eventually cave and get me a handheld (game gear)). I believe the logic was, if I had videogames at home, I wouldn't 'go out to play' or 'do social things outside of the home.'
The solution to the problem was for my sister and I to eventually pool our money together and buy our own system (playstation 1).
I got a taste of what you went through and I sympathize. Still, the thought of people sending their kids to Waldorf schools kind of scares me more than forcing the kids to make due without any technology in a world where being tech-unsavvy is practically a death sentence.
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I can sympathize too! Although I had the advantage of not having neighbors or friends to show me what I was missing... I grew up in Africa... I didn't have electricity until I moved to the US at 11! I've been making up for the lack of video games ever since 
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My own family was pretty liberal about video games but man, your experience is scary to me. The fact that you manage to look critically on things you internalized as a child is pretty impressive btw.
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On March 16 2015 20:42 micronesia wrote:
I didn't have to go to any Waldorf school, but my parents didn't let me own a videogame system either (they did eventually cave and get me a handheld (game gear)). I believe the logic was, if I had videogames at home, I wouldn't 'go out to play' or 'do social things outside of the home.'
The solution to the problem was for my sister and I to eventually pool our money together and buy our own system (playstation 1).
I got a taste of what you went through and I sympathize. Still, the thought of people sending their kids to Waldorf schools kind of scares me more than forcing the kids to make due without any technology in a world where being tech-unsavvy is practically a death sentence.
Yeah man, the more I think about it, the sketchier I think Waldorf schools are. And the more issues I find with them. They present themselves as super-caring super-generous tight-knit communities, yet they don't even pay their teachers what public school teachers make (and public school teachers aren't even paid enough imo). Keep in mind that to become a Waldorf teacher, you have to go through a special training program that takes several years, so it's a significant time investment.
I also recall an incident in 5th grade where my teacher repeatedly made a female student wave her arms over her head to prove that her shirt was too short because it would show a bit of her belly when she waved her arms over her head (not when her arms were in a normal position), and then balled her out for having her shirt show when she waved her arms over her head. Looking back, I recognize that that incident was a case of slut-shaming; a teacher slut-shaming an 11 year-old girl. And that pisses me off.
Normally I'd look at that as an isolated incident, except that I've read other similar stories on the internet from former Waldorf families, which makes me think that sexism like that is possibly ingrained in Waldorf culture.
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On March 16 2015 21:22 OtherWorld wrote:
My own family was pretty liberal about video games but man, your experience is scary to me. The fact that you manage to look critically on things you internalized as a child is pretty impressive btw.
Thanks man. Pretty easy to look critically on my childhood when the alternative presented to me is much more pleasant though. I mean, I'd much rather believe that playing video games is a normal healthy activity than believe that this awesome fun activity will rot my brain XD
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On March 16 2015 21:38 codonbyte wrote:Show nested quote +On March 16 2015 21:22 OtherWorld wrote:
My own family was pretty liberal about video games but man, your experience is scary to me. The fact that you manage to look critically on things you internalized as a child is pretty impressive btw. Thanks man. Pretty easy to look critically on my childhood when the alternative presented to me is much more pleasant though. I mean, I'd much rather believe that playing video games is a normal healthy activity than believe that this awesome fun activity will rot my brain XD
True, but what you learn as a child is much harder to look critically on than what you learn later on. I'm not sure if you'd manage to do that if you didn't have non-Waldorf childs back then.
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No video games and no TV were rather common among my friends as well, but that's more of a side product of me growing up in the 90es and video games consoles / PCs being both expensive and not that wide spread in total. Aside from that, I really don't get what most people got from watching TV. I do remember watching it more or less on occasion, on rainy days, but not frequently. All of the public programme was catering to the eldery, with really ghastly music, cooking shows, talk shows and what not - in other words boring as hell. Crime shows and whatnot weren't that entertaining either.
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids. Whenever I look at my younger cousins, I feel as if they're a lot duller and less imaginative about playing / problem solving / socialising. They have all kind of electronic shit, e.g. Wii, Smart Phones, Tablets, eReaders and each one of them a lap top "for school" and are super invested in these devices at the age of 8 and 13 respectively. Yet, none of them knows how to actually navigate the internet properly, fix the easiest issues of these devices (e.g. either too stupid or too lazy to use google), they catch malware on a frequent basis and if they had no special kid contracts for their phones, they'd probably generate huge sums of bills. God knows, it's a bonus they're not so stupid to fall for micro payment shit. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they miss out on something or that they're the most stupid people on earth (on the contrary), it just feels odd that this is a generation growing up with things they just take for granted and know next to nothing about that kind of stuff - consume only, not a single thought on negative sides or more intersted in details. For god's sake, even my anti-tech-fanatic mother is fitter when it comes to any of those electronic things.
Hence, maybe it's not THAT super bad to have a somewhat critical mind about it. Over the long run you're probably appreciating these things a lot more now. Hopefully at least.
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+ Show Spoiler +Anyway, Waldorf Schools are quite weird. They do things... differently, to say the least. For example, they believe that it's very important to incorporate lots of art into education, and they have their students drawing constantly right from the start. However, if a student were to draw any outlines on their drawings, they completely flip out. They also don't allow students to draw facial features on the people they draw (at least not until like 7th grade or something). Why no facial features? "Because it makes the drawing look silly and cartoonish". Well, I don't know about you, but in my opinion, nothing looks sillier than a person with no eyes, no nose, and no mouth. Oh yeah, and the same (almost) applies to all the waldorf dolls (and yes, there are special Waldorf Dolls. Lots of them. Everywhere. In every classroom for students below 3rd grade).
Fun fact, this sounds exactly like art school, where the teachers really do despite outlining and heavily discourage drawing facial features, because when most people tend to draw faces and starting thinking, "okay, I'm gonna draw this eye, and then this nose, and then this other eye..." it does tend to look cartoonish and bad, instead you're supposed to kind of draw around the features, so for the eyes you'd emphasize the volume of the eye sockets to define a lot of the eye and how that connects into the bridge of the nose and what not.
I doubt their intentions were really that, but it sounds like what they were forcing me to do in my freshman/sophomore year in art school, lol.
I don't think I could have made it through elementary school without Pokemon, though I feel like I've kind of played enough video games that I'd rather swap out the time spent on them with becoming better at something since all of the people around me do nothing but draw-draw-draw-sketch-sketch-sketch and as a consequence they're far better artists than I am, so I kind of get the mentality. Always sucks to play video games and feel guilty about it after.
Glad you shared, this was an interesting experience to read about. :D
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On March 16 2015 22:15 GeckoXp wrote:
No video games and no TV were rather common among my friends as well, but that's more of a side product of me growing up in the 90es and video games consoles / PCs being both expensive and not that wide spread in total. Aside from that, I really don't get what most people got from watching TV. I do remember watching it more or less on occasion, on rainy days, but not frequently. All of the public programme was catering to the eldery, with really ghastly music, cooking shows, talk shows and what not - in other words boring as hell. Crime shows and whatnot weren't that entertaining either.
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids. Whenever I look at my younger cousins, I feel as if they're a lot duller and less imaginative about playing / problem solving / socialising. They have all kind of electronic shit, e.g. Wii, Smart Phones, Tablets, eReaders and each one of them a lap top "for school" and are super invested in these devices at the age of 8 and 13 respectively. Yet, none of them knows how to actually navigate the internet properly, fix the easiest issues of these devices (e.g. either too stupid or too lazy to use google), they catch malware on a frequent basis and if they had no special kid contracts for their phones, they'd probably generate huge sums of bills. God knows, it's a bonus they're not so stupid to fall for micro payment shit. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they miss out on something or that they're the most stupid people on earth (on the contrary), it just feels odd that this is a generation growing up with things they just take for granted and know next to nothing about that kind of stuff - consume only, not a single thought on negative sides or more intersted in details. For god's sake, even my anti-tech-fanatic mother is fitter when it comes to any of those electronic things.
Hence, maybe it's not THAT super bad to have a somewhat critical mind about it. Over the long run you're probably appreciating these things a lot more now. Hopefully at least.
Wow, kids these days are stumbling around and getting malware? Damn, even I was more tech-savvy than that at their age. At the age of 11, I was sneaking onto the internet when my parents weren't watching (they'd occasionally let me google "educational" stuff at that age, so I learned how it works). But man when they didn't watch I'd browse porn sites, and even then I always saw right through any cheesy malware-infestation attempts. Yes, I've been using porn since the age of 11. And you know what? I don't think it damaged me at all. That's probably a topic for another blog though.
Damn, I've had a weird childhood. On the one hand, I was greatly restricted from video games. On the other hand, I started using porn at the age of 11.
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On March 16 2015 23:08 codonbyte wrote:Show nested quote +On March 16 2015 22:15 GeckoXp wrote:
No video games and no TV were rather common among my friends as well, but that's more of a side product of me growing up in the 90es and video games consoles / PCs being both expensive and not that wide spread in total. Aside from that, I really don't get what most people got from watching TV. I do remember watching it more or less on occasion, on rainy days, but not frequently. All of the public programme was catering to the eldery, with really ghastly music, cooking shows, talk shows and what not - in other words boring as hell. Crime shows and whatnot weren't that entertaining either.
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids. Whenever I look at my younger cousins, I feel as if they're a lot duller and less imaginative about playing / problem solving / socialising. They have all kind of electronic shit, e.g. Wii, Smart Phones, Tablets, eReaders and each one of them a lap top "for school" and are super invested in these devices at the age of 8 and 13 respectively. Yet, none of them knows how to actually navigate the internet properly, fix the easiest issues of these devices (e.g. either too stupid or too lazy to use google), they catch malware on a frequent basis and if they had no special kid contracts for their phones, they'd probably generate huge sums of bills. God knows, it's a bonus they're not so stupid to fall for micro payment shit. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they miss out on something or that they're the most stupid people on earth (on the contrary), it just feels odd that this is a generation growing up with things they just take for granted and know next to nothing about that kind of stuff - consume only, not a single thought on negative sides or more intersted in details. For god's sake, even my anti-tech-fanatic mother is fitter when it comes to any of those electronic things.
Hence, maybe it's not THAT super bad to have a somewhat critical mind about it. Over the long run you're probably appreciating these things a lot more now. Hopefully at least. Wow, kids these days are stumbling around and getting malware? Damn, even I was more tech-savvy than that at their age. At the age of 11, I was sneaking onto the internet when my parents weren't watching (they'd occasionally let me google "educational" stuff at that age, so I learned how it works). But man when they didn't watch I'd browse porn sites, and even then I always saw right through any cheesy malware-infestation attempts. Yes, I've been using porn since the age of 11. And you know what? I don't think it damaged me at all. That's probably a topic for another blog though. Damn, I've had a weird childhood. On the one hand, I was greatly restricted from video games. On the other hand, I started using porn at the age of 11.
idle hands and all
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I have never ever heard of these schools but that sounds terrifying. This blog was good though! You have a nice writing style
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On March 16 2015 23:08 codonbyte wrote:Show nested quote +On March 16 2015 22:15 GeckoXp wrote:
No video games and no TV were rather common among my friends as well, but that's more of a side product of me growing up in the 90es and video games consoles / PCs being both expensive and not that wide spread in total. Aside from that, I really don't get what most people got from watching TV. I do remember watching it more or less on occasion, on rainy days, but not frequently. All of the public programme was catering to the eldery, with really ghastly music, cooking shows, talk shows and what not - in other words boring as hell. Crime shows and whatnot weren't that entertaining either.
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids. Whenever I look at my younger cousins, I feel as if they're a lot duller and less imaginative about playing / problem solving / socialising. They have all kind of electronic shit, e.g. Wii, Smart Phones, Tablets, eReaders and each one of them a lap top "for school" and are super invested in these devices at the age of 8 and 13 respectively. Yet, none of them knows how to actually navigate the internet properly, fix the easiest issues of these devices (e.g. either too stupid or too lazy to use google), they catch malware on a frequent basis and if they had no special kid contracts for their phones, they'd probably generate huge sums of bills. God knows, it's a bonus they're not so stupid to fall for micro payment shit. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they miss out on something or that they're the most stupid people on earth (on the contrary), it just feels odd that this is a generation growing up with things they just take for granted and know next to nothing about that kind of stuff - consume only, not a single thought on negative sides or more intersted in details. For god's sake, even my anti-tech-fanatic mother is fitter when it comes to any of those electronic things.
Hence, maybe it's not THAT super bad to have a somewhat critical mind about it. Over the long run you're probably appreciating these things a lot more now. Hopefully at least. Wow, kids these days are stumbling around and getting malware? Damn, even I was more tech-savvy than that at their age. At the age of 11, I was sneaking onto the internet when my parents weren't watching (they'd occasionally let me google "educational" stuff at that age, so I learned how it works). But man when they didn't watch I'd browse porn sites, and even then I always saw right through any cheesy malware-infestation attempts. Yes, I've been using porn since the age of 11. And you know what? I don't think it damaged me at all. That's probably a topic for another blog though. Damn, I've had a weird childhood. On the one hand, I was greatly restricted from video games. On the other hand, I started using porn at the age of 11.
Since I'm the one to remove it, no it's not porn. It's that they download random gargabe flash games and have a habit of installing the "free search bars" and everything else that goes with it. It's like "we only clicked on the button for the internet and that happened". :|
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On March 17 2015 00:44 QuanticHawk wrote:
I have never ever heard of these schools but that sounds terrifying. This blog was good though! You have a nice writing style
Thanks man! I'll try writing more blogs. I've always found writing to be kind of a drag, but I gotta get used to it if I want to go back to college some day.
On March 17 2015 01:04 GeckoXp wrote:Show nested quote +On March 16 2015 23:08 codonbyte wrote:On March 16 2015 22:15 GeckoXp wrote:
No video games and no TV were rather common among my friends as well, but that's more of a side product of me growing up in the 90es and video games consoles / PCs being both expensive and not that wide spread in total. Aside from that, I really don't get what most people got from watching TV. I do remember watching it more or less on occasion, on rainy days, but not frequently. All of the public programme was catering to the eldery, with really ghastly music, cooking shows, talk shows and what not - in other words boring as hell. Crime shows and whatnot weren't that entertaining either.
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids. Whenever I look at my younger cousins, I feel as if they're a lot duller and less imaginative about playing / problem solving / socialising. They have all kind of electronic shit, e.g. Wii, Smart Phones, Tablets, eReaders and each one of them a lap top "for school" and are super invested in these devices at the age of 8 and 13 respectively. Yet, none of them knows how to actually navigate the internet properly, fix the easiest issues of these devices (e.g. either too stupid or too lazy to use google), they catch malware on a frequent basis and if they had no special kid contracts for their phones, they'd probably generate huge sums of bills. God knows, it's a bonus they're not so stupid to fall for micro payment shit. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they miss out on something or that they're the most stupid people on earth (on the contrary), it just feels odd that this is a generation growing up with things they just take for granted and know next to nothing about that kind of stuff - consume only, not a single thought on negative sides or more intersted in details. For god's sake, even my anti-tech-fanatic mother is fitter when it comes to any of those electronic things.
Hence, maybe it's not THAT super bad to have a somewhat critical mind about it. Over the long run you're probably appreciating these things a lot more now. Hopefully at least. Wow, kids these days are stumbling around and getting malware? Damn, even I was more tech-savvy than that at their age. At the age of 11, I was sneaking onto the internet when my parents weren't watching (they'd occasionally let me google "educational" stuff at that age, so I learned how it works). But man when they didn't watch I'd browse porn sites, and even then I always saw right through any cheesy malware-infestation attempts. Yes, I've been using porn since the age of 11. And you know what? I don't think it damaged me at all. That's probably a topic for another blog though. Damn, I've had a weird childhood. On the one hand, I was greatly restricted from video games. On the other hand, I started using porn at the age of 11. Since I'm the one to remove it, no it's not porn. It's that they download random gargabe flash games and have a habit of installing the "free search bars" and everything else that goes with it. It's like "we only clicked on the button for the internet and that happened". :|
Oh gosh, WHY don't kids realize that nobody will ever give you free stuff unless there's something in it for them?
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At least you turned out fine in the end and you know what school NOT to send your child to 
I for one wished we had a piano/ guitar when I was young. My parents limited my gaming time and I found ways to circumvent them, and I think I've spent too much time on them.
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Hi Avilo's Mod
I had a bat shit crazy mom. I was only worth the grades I got in school, and even then that wasn't much, considering my mother's vanity. I got 3rd in the whole cohort once for mathematics, 96/100. She smiled. She called her friends to boast. The smugness dripped away and she furrowed her brows and she frowned. John scored 98 and it was 'easy'.
I loved video games, so my dad and my uncle would gift me the latest Nintendo handheld console each Christmas. I'd often get to play it for a week before it got locked up. If there were holidays, I got to play it for a week too, but after around a year they'd disappear. I learned later on in adulthood that she was giving them away.
I was into Yu-gi-oh once and my dad bought me this whole set of stuff from eBay. A world champions deck he said. There was a competitor pass and poster too. I never had friends to play it with, so I'd spend whatever free time I had (not much), admiring the cards. Sometimes to get away from my mom, I'd pretend to have constipation. I'd lock myself in the bathroom with my purple coloured deck box containing my Yu-gi-oh cards in their official, transparent, Yu-Gi-Oh branded sleeves, and I'd just go through them one by one, admiring the art. Sometimes Id takes the card out and enjoy the crisp smell.
One day my mom got cross with me and she threatened to burn the cards and one day I never saw them again.
Still, I persisted. I'd peep at my mom as she used the computer and I'd memorize the password. She was a parrot lover so it was natural the password be africangrey. The species of our first pet parrot, Bongo. On occasion, she'd leave the house, be it to look at parrakeets, have brunch with the parents support group, or gallivant. When she did so, she'd leave me with a stack of revision papers. I'd do the first 5 pages and I'd go up to my room and I'd open the blinds ever so slightly and I'd turn on the computer and play Warcraft 3. I learned to keep the lights off as a precaution, as there was no reason for my mother to see the window of the second storey illuminated as she parked her car across the street.
I'd do this every time, and every time I'd get the shit beaten out of me.
I regret nothing.
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Sounds like some poor misguided attempt at creating "artistic" and "focused" students who are free from the evil grasps of electronic entertainment, lead by people who refuse to accept change. There are far worse things than doing video games in the world and people need to start accepting it. Like any hobby or entertainment you need moderation but apparently watching TV for four hours isn't as bad as playing video games for an hour.
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Oh hey, another Waldorf kid! I was actually homeschooled using a lot of Waldorf curriculum and philosophy since my area had no Waldorf schools (and my parents probably couldn't afford such a thing if there was). Gradually, we moved away from Waldorf curriculum and used Singapore math and science, National Geographic history and reading tons of books on my own in lieu of a formal English education. Still, I was banned from video games and non-PBS television until I was 12 or 13.
The whole Waldorf drawing thing, looking back, must have actually harmed my artistic skills. The only people I know who are worse at sketching things are some physics professors. My 12th grade English teacher at the public high school always marked me down on illustrating things (yeah it was weird) because my drawings looked a lot like this masterpiece OP linked even though I still haven't touched watercolor since 4th grade or something.
I got into video games when my parents started letting me go online for 1-3 hours per day, and while I spent it working on Wikipedia, people on IRC would talk about games so I tried some out when mom wasn't looking. The most memorable were SCBW and Star Wars Battlefront, which explains my continuing fascination with both series.
Overall I think the only advantage I might have from spending K-8 at home would be that I'm less burned out on education than some of my peers at college. My social skills and knowledge of culture are pretty limited though, and among the fellow non-burnouts it's all about how good your high school was this early in the program.
So yeah, thanks for sharing! Mom always talked about the idea of sending me to Waldorf school like it was the greatest thing ever, I always wondered what it was really like.
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On March 16 2015 22:15 GeckoXp wrote:
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids.
my rule of thumb will basically be I don't particular care as long as you have other interests outside of video games/tv/internet.
my personal experience and what ive seen a lot elsewhere is that if you try to force something kids end up totally hating it more often than not and resent you
Parenting choices are scary
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I'm fortunate enough that my parents did not mind me playing video games since I was 2 years old, this would be hell for me. Thanks or sharing.
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your Country52797 Posts
On March 17 2015 03:57 GGzerG wrote:
I'm fortunate enough that my parents did not mind me playing video games since I was 2 years old, this would be hell for me. Thanks or sharing.
Yeah, my parents were really tech-friendly as well. I've been a gamer as long as I can remember ^^
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On March 17 2015 02:31 QuanticHawk wrote:Show nested quote +On March 16 2015 22:15 GeckoXp wrote:
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids. my rule of thumb will basically be I don't particular care as long as you have other interests outside of video games/tv/internet. my personal experience and what ive seen a lot elsewhere is that if you try to force something kids end up totally hating it more often than not and resent you Parenting choices are scary
That used to be what I thought I'd do when I had kids, but then I got into SC2 and realized that many video games are every bit as enriching as basically any other activity. If I have kids and they want to play video games till bed time (after they've done their homework, no exceptions on that one; I failed out of college due to procrastination), but yeah if they want to play video games till bed time I honestly won't care. I mean video games are a social activity (for me watching livestreams is about the most social interraction I ever get), and they're a mental workout. So I honestly don't see the problem with playing them non-stop.
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On March 17 2015 02:27 resfirestar wrote:Oh hey, another Waldorf kid! I was actually homeschooled using a lot of Waldorf curriculum and philosophy since my area had no Waldorf schools (and my parents probably couldn't afford such a thing if there was). Gradually, we moved away from Waldorf curriculum and used Singapore math and science, National Geographic history and reading tons of books on my own in lieu of a formal English education. Still, I was banned from video games and non-PBS television until I was 12 or 13. The whole Waldorf drawing thing, looking back, must have actually harmed my artistic skills. The only people I know who are worse at sketching things are some physics professors. My 12th grade English teacher at the public high school always marked me down on illustrating things (yeah it was weird) because my drawings looked a lot like this masterpiece OP linked even though I still haven't touched watercolor since 4th grade or something. I got into video games when my parents started letting me go online for 1-3 hours per day, and while I spent it working on Wikipedia, people on IRC would talk about games so I tried some out when mom wasn't looking. The most memorable were SCBW and Star Wars Battlefront, which explains my continuing fascination with both series. Overall I think the only advantage I might have from spending K-8 at home would be that I'm less burned out on education than some of my peers at college. My social skills and knowledge of culture are pretty limited though, and among the fellow non-burnouts it's all about how good your high school was this early in the program. So yeah, thanks for sharing! Mom always talked about the idea of sending me to Waldorf school like it was the greatest thing ever, I always wondered what it was really like.
Oh god, yeah, my mom instantly got sucked in big time. Luckily the Waldorf school I attended wasn't too cultish (I've read some accounts online of some Waldorf schools being straight-up cults), but yeah, my mom was always going on about how awesome everything they did was. Well, not everything. See, most Waldorf schools are tight-knit communities, and many parents are constantly volunteering to help out with something. Now my mom was a university professor (as was my dad), and so of course having a full-time job made her pressed for time. But she used to get mad because they had this expectation that she'd be able to constantly volunteer. She was always getting asked to help bake things (she hates baking), and she would often complain that they didn't respect the fact that she had a job "as good as any man's job".
Looking back, it seems as if Waldorf schools may be a few decades behind the rest of society when it comes to Women's rights. I remember one incident in 5th grade where my teacher forced this girl to wave her hands over her head to demonstrate that her shirt would lift up when she waved her hands over her head (wasn't showing her belly when her hands were in the normal-position), and then he balled her out for having her shirt too short (only "too short" if she waves her hands over her head!). At the time I just thought it was funny that she got in trouble, but looking back I'm like "holy shit, my teacher slut-shamed an 11yo girl". I've lost a lot of respect for him just based on that one incident.
That's interesting that you say the Waldorf art style hurt your artistic abilities. I've never been much of an artist, but some of my classmates were quite into it and they seem to have learned well with it. But yeah, if I try and sketch something it looks every bit as bad as this beeswax block crayon scribbling.
High fives to you for managing to get your video-game fix inspite of the oppressive regime!
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On March 17 2015 02:02 lisward wrote:Hi Avilo's Mod I had a bat shit crazy mom. I was only worth the grades I got in school, and even then that wasn't much, considering my mother's vanity. I got 3rd in the whole cohort once for mathematics, 96/100. She smiled. She called her friends to boast. The smugness dripped away and she furrowed her brows and she frowned. John scored 98 and it was 'easy'. I loved video games, so my dad and my uncle would gift me the latest Nintendo handheld console each Christmas. I'd often get to play it for a week before it got locked up. If there were holidays, I got to play it for a week too, but after around a year they'd disappear. I learned later on in adulthood that she was giving them away. I was into Yu-gi-oh once and my dad bought me this whole set of stuff from eBay. A world champions deck he said. There was a competitor pass and poster too. I never had friends to play it with, so I'd spend whatever free time I had (not much), admiring the cards. Sometimes to get away from my mom, I'd pretend to have constipation. I'd lock myself in the bathroom with my purple coloured deck box containing my Yu-gi-oh cards in their official, transparent, Yu-Gi-Oh branded sleeves, and I'd just go through them one by one, admiring the art. Sometimes Id takes the card out and enjoy the crisp smell. One day my mom got cross with me and she threatened to burn the cards and one day I never saw them again. Still, I persisted. I'd peep at my mom as she used the computer and I'd memorize the password. She was a parrot lover so it was natural the password be africangrey. The species of our first pet parrot, Bongo. On occasion, she'd leave the house, be it to look at parrakeets, have brunch with the parents support group, or gallivant. When she did so, she'd leave me with a stack of revision papers. I'd do the first 5 pages and I'd go up to my room and I'd open the blinds ever so slightly and I'd turn on the computer and play Warcraft 3. I learned to keep the lights off as a precaution, as there was no reason for my mother to see the window of the second storey illuminated as she parked her car across the street. I'd do this every time, and every time I'd get the shit beaten out of me. I regret nothing.
What is it about mom's and trading card games? Why don't mom's get it? And dad's too, for that matter. I was into pokemon TCG (got into that a few years before my friend rescued me by giving me his GBA). Every time I would buy a booster pack she'd give me this sad look that made me feel like I was probably rotting my brain or something (my dad still gives me that look whenever I eat something unhealthy).
My parents were somewhat liberal compared to some of my classmates' parents. When 9/11 happened, my mom showed me the twin towers on TV; most of my classmates parents didn't let them see that. Tbh I'm glad I wasn't kept in the dark; it wouldn't have done any good. I could sense the fear in the rest of the country, and not seeing what had actually happened would have been detrimental.
Anyway back to TCG. I kind of lost interest in the pokemon TCG once I received my friends GBA. No point in spending my money on cards if I can just play the video game, I figured. I must have played through Fire Red and Ruby so many times.
My mom also had a password on her computer. Usually I had my own account but I pissed her off once and she changed my password so I couldn't log on unless she logged me in. I managed to steal it by setting up a video camera and telling her it was so I could "see where all the mice were coming in". And she bought it. Hook line and sinker. To this day I'm surprised she fell for that story. She's not all that gullible.
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On March 17 2015 05:04 codonbyte wrote:Show nested quote +On March 17 2015 02:27 resfirestar wrote:Oh hey, another Waldorf kid! I was actually homeschooled using a lot of Waldorf curriculum and philosophy since my area had no Waldorf schools (and my parents probably couldn't afford such a thing if there was). Gradually, we moved away from Waldorf curriculum and used Singapore math and science, National Geographic history and reading tons of books on my own in lieu of a formal English education. Still, I was banned from video games and non-PBS television until I was 12 or 13. The whole Waldorf drawing thing, looking back, must have actually harmed my artistic skills. The only people I know who are worse at sketching things are some physics professors. My 12th grade English teacher at the public high school always marked me down on illustrating things (yeah it was weird) because my drawings looked a lot like this masterpiece OP linked even though I still haven't touched watercolor since 4th grade or something. I got into video games when my parents started letting me go online for 1-3 hours per day, and while I spent it working on Wikipedia, people on IRC would talk about games so I tried some out when mom wasn't looking. The most memorable were SCBW and Star Wars Battlefront, which explains my continuing fascination with both series. Overall I think the only advantage I might have from spending K-8 at home would be that I'm less burned out on education than some of my peers at college. My social skills and knowledge of culture are pretty limited though, and among the fellow non-burnouts it's all about how good your high school was this early in the program. So yeah, thanks for sharing! Mom always talked about the idea of sending me to Waldorf school like it was the greatest thing ever, I always wondered what it was really like. Oh god, yeah, my mom instantly got sucked in big time. Luckily the Waldorf school I attended wasn't too cultish (I've read some accounts online of some Waldorf schools being straight-up cults), but yeah, my mom was always going on about how awesome everything they did was. Well, not everything. See, most Waldorf schools are tight-knit communities, and many parents are constantly volunteering to help out with something. Now my mom was a university professor (as was my dad), and so of course having a full-time job made her pressed for time. But she used to get mad because they had this expectation that she'd be able to constantly volunteer. She was always getting asked to help bake things (she hates baking), and she would often complain that they didn't respect the fact that she had a job "as good as any man's job". Looking back, it seems as if Waldorf schools may be a few decades behind the rest of society when it comes to Women's rights. I remember one incident in 5th grade where my teacher forced this girl to wave her hands over her head to demonstrate that her shirt would lift up when she waved her hands over her head (wasn't showing her belly when her hands were in the normal-position), and then he balled her out for having her shirt too short (only "too short" if she waves her hands over her head!). At the time I just thought it was funny that she got in trouble, but looking back I'm like "holy shit, my teacher slut-shamed an 11yo girl". I've lost a lot of respect for him just based on that one incident. That's interesting that you say the Waldorf art style hurt your artistic abilities. I've never been much of an artist, but some of my classmates were quite into it and they seem to have learned well with it. But yeah, if I try and sketch something it looks every bit as bad as this beeswax block crayon scribbling. High fives to you for managing to get your video-game fix inspite of the oppressive regime!
Probably it was more that mom wasn't really an artist either (she studied electrical engineering) so despite buying all the books and beeswax fucking everything, our arts and crafts definitely weren't at the intended level. Though maybe with some imagination you could see watercolors like mine in a modern art gallery. (joking, joking)
The womens' rights atmosphere sounds awful. I lived in the south until college so it wouldn't be shocking for something like that to happen in a public school (and it would be standard in the ultra-christian private schools), but my parents and their homeschooling friends are very left-wing so I've always associated Waldorf with their type of thinking. I guess when you give people that much control over a group of kids some of the shitty things they've internalized come out of hiding.
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Canada16217 Posts
So what games have you played to this point?
Did you end up playing classic series like zelda etc?
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I can't imagine living like that, tbh.
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On March 17 2015 04:53 codonbyte wrote:Show nested quote +On March 17 2015 02:31 QuanticHawk wrote:On March 16 2015 22:15 GeckoXp wrote:
To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't know what kind of policy I'd bring up if I had to watch over kids. my rule of thumb will basically be I don't particular care as long as you have other interests outside of video games/tv/internet. my personal experience and what ive seen a lot elsewhere is that if you try to force something kids end up totally hating it more often than not and resent you Parenting choices are scary That used to be what I thought I'd do when I had kids, but then I got into SC2 and realized that many video games are every bit as enriching as basically any other activity. If I have kids and they want to play video games till bed time (after they've done their homework, no exceptions on that one; I failed out of college due to procrastination), but yeah if they want to play video games till bed time I honestly won't care. I mean video games are a social activity (for me watching livestreams is about the most social interraction I ever get), and they're a mental workout. So I honestly don't see the problem with playing them non-stop.
I'm not debating the merits or gaming or anything, but just saying that I would like to raise my children in such a way that they're interested in exploring new hobbies, not just spending all their free time in a week playing one game or different games! Having one hobby isn't good, whether it's reading, gaming, soccer, etc.
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Agree with Hawk. Having narrow interests is not a virtue, no matter what other people in this community might say. If I have kids, I would want them to have a well-rounded set of hobbies as well.
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Waldorf schools are so ridiculous. I don't understand parents sending their kids there.
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On March 17 2015 06:05 NovemberstOrm wrote:
So what games have you played to this point?
Did you end up playing classic series like zelda etc?
I haven't played nearly enough video-games, man. Let's see: I've played all the pokemon games (too) many times. Then I got into BW right before SC2 came out (never even came close to getting good at it. Then I was into SC2 but found I enjoy watching more than playing.
The game I've gotten the most into is Minecraft. I started a Let's Play series about 2 years ago (think it was 2 years anyway), and that went well. I've found that I really enjoy building automated monster farms and experience grinders. Haven't played minecraft that recently, would like to get back into it.
Oh yeah, and I was playing Sim City 5 for awhile. Planning to download the City Skylines game probably tomorrow. And yeah, that's about it for games that I've played. In my free time when I'm not gaming I mostly just program, but I'm far too distracted and disorganized to actually get anything done most of the time.
But no, I haven't played Zelda or any of those classics (other than very briefly when hanging out with non-Waldorf friends as a kid).
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you just reminded me that I do need to get skylines too ahhhhhhh
to help you get up to speed otherwise:
gog.com
http://www.letsplaysnes.com/
im usre there are plenty of more that others can direct you to!
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EPT
