What would have happened if video games were at hand for Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton during their childhood?
For all you know, Einstein might not have been drawn to that much-talked-about magnetic compass, and Newton might not have thought much of that well-known apple that fell on his head.
Imagine them engrossed in some mindless electronic games, Einstein far from wondering why the compass kept pointing north, leading to scientific feats like E = mc².
Newton might not have come up with his law of universal gravitation if he had stayed home gaming, away from that apple tree.
And let’s picture Alexander Graham Bell in his adolescence, fixated with smartphone games and diverted from inventing the telephone.
In days of old, children grew up with an inquisitive mind and a hunger for knowledge while books were in great demand. School libraries and science labs were something to look forward to.
Those were the integral part of their formative years, where the foundations of educated minds were laid, when eager children were receptive to school’s teachings.
But not today, not with the kids of today when they are often seen playing games on handphones or other mobile devices instead of reading books.
And books-wise, we are aware that Malaysian adults do not have good reading habits except for reading Facebook and WhatsApp.
As for children, do you see them interested in the things around them? They hardly ask questions that your parents would have asked in their childhood, like why is the moon so bright, why is the moon half bright, why this, why that.
Here are some profound words from Einstein, regarded as the greatest mind in history: “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
Curiosity, not necessity, many would say is the mother of invention but this spirit of inquisitiveness is all but missing from the children of today as they rather lose themselves in the world of video games.
Such is the gravity of the situation that video games are alarmingly pulling down the exam grades of students.
I have seen children begging, pestering or even throwing tantrums in their attempts to get their parents to hand over handphones for them to play.
Some parents have no idea that they are messing up the future of their children. There have been cases of mothers proudly saying how smart their toddlers are in playing with the phone, and knowing which buttons to press.
These mothers will come to regret it when their children become video game junkies and lose all focus on their school studies.
While it is inevitable that video games are part of children’s lives, parents must make it clear that they are the ones in control from Day One with a “study and play timetable”.
I have seen cases where the spoilt brats wouldn’t take “no” for an answer because earlier, they were playing video games anytime that they liked.
Lastly, parents should not be bad examples for their children by playing Candy Crush on their handphone or Facebooking when the family goes out for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
NST deputy sports editor Chan Wai Kong sees life differently after waking up from a coma following a car accident in Vancouver