Gaming console or no gaming console?

[Anonymous]

We have a family Switch. Our kids are mixed gender 6-14. We have a lot of fun with it. They can use it as a personal handheld while traveling only, or they can play it together at home - my older two (dds) don't usually feel like it (though they have some single player games they like to play when we are traveling), but when they babysit ds they will play Mario Kart and similar games with him. I like that it is interactive.

We are also very tech limited (my 13 yo just got a phone but no internet, etc., and she is limited to 20 mins per day). They each have a Kindle Fire they can use when traveling (we travel a lot because grandparents/cousins are an 8 hour drive and we see them often; we also take a lot of trips since we live in the middle of nowhere). The Switch has been fun and relatively easy for the kids to turn off without too much fuss. Ds (the 6 yo) had a few times where he got upset about being done playing but we just make sure to be clear about the expectations and consequences and he does fine now for the most part.

[Anonymous]

Nope. I have a phone addiction and my kids don't need one yet. Oldest is 9. We do barely any screen time now and they stopped asking. They read a ton, play together, craft all sorts of things. Yes games are fun but it's very hard to put that genie back in the bottle.
I played some games in HS and really got into it in college and nearly flunked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're long overdue getting one in my opinion. I got my kids a switch at 3&6, they are 6 and 8 now and have their own playstations at their dad's, and at my place we have the switch and a PS5. Kind of wish we had two of the ps5s.

My 6 year old loves astrobot and fortnite, and my 8 year old likes Roblox on it because it doesn't glitch as bad. But if you're more protective I would just do switch games like animal crossing, stardew, and Mario. I don't have much control over gaming at their dad's, but at mine I keep it to Teen rated games, we are a pg-13 ok household. And I try to limit screentime.

OP- I’m going to guess you already know this but please don’t be like this.

Limiting your 6 year old to teen games does not seem like much of a limit.

It is bizarre some who allows their child to play Fortnite where the goal is to acquire powerful weapons to kill other people (you win the game if 99 other people die -ex. there are guns you can get to be a sniper while you hide in a bush) thinks they are establishing limits.

[Anonymous]

If you're going to get a console, make sure you enforce two things: parental control and moderation.
If you can't do those two things, don't get one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're long overdue getting one in my opinion. I got my kids a switch at 3&6, they are 6 and 8 now and have their own playstations at their dad's, and at my place we have the switch and a PS5. Kind of wish we had two of the ps5s.

My 6 year old loves astrobot and fortnite, and my 8 year old likes Roblox on it because it doesn't glitch as bad. But if you're more protective I would just do switch games like animal crossing, stardew, and Mario. I don't have much control over gaming at their dad's, but at mine I keep it to Teen rated games, we are a pg-13 ok household. And I try to limit screentime.

OP- I’m going to guess you already know this but please don’t be like this.

Limiting your 6 year old to teen games does not seem like much of a limit.

It is bizarre some who allows their child to play Fortnite where the goal is to acquire powerful weapons to kill other people (you win the game if 99 other people die -ex. there are guns you can get to be a sniper while you hide in a bush) thinks they are establishing limits.

I assumed that “you’re long overdue” PP was just trolling, but if it was a serious post… yikes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. I have a phone addiction and my kids don't need one yet. Oldest is 9. We do barely any screen time now and they stopped asking. They read a ton, play together, craft all sorts of things. Yes games are fun but it's very hard to put that genie back in the bottle.
I played some games in HS and really got into it in college and nearly flunked out.

Cue all the posters who will insist you wouldn’t have a phone addiction if only your parents had introduced video games at 5 or 6 instead of 14.

[Anonymous]

Only play together, not alone. Has to be a social activity

[Anonymous]

Game consoles are better than iPads because they at least allow playing with another human being sitting next to you, typically talking.

There are also studies that show cognitive benefits to certain kinds of video games (look it up!).

I think the key with dopamine-heavy screen time is balance and moderation.

[Anonymous]

We got my 8 year old a switch for his 7th birthday. Although he was a bit obsessed with getting to play it initially, that waned over time, and I find that the games (Minecraft, Zelda) that my kid loves most require strategy, problem-solving, creativity, and/or quite a bit of background reading and memorization/recall to play well. Parental controls are easy to set up so you can give your kid x amount of time and then it stops.

Frankly I’m way less thrilled about my kids iPad use as we’ve reluctantly let him get on Roblox to game with friends this year (which has created unnecessary social drama) and YouTube, which we’ve had to delete.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're long overdue getting one in my opinion. I got my kids a switch at 3&6, they are 6 and 8 now and have their own playstations at their dad's, and at my place we have the switch and a PS5. Kind of wish we had two of the ps5s.

My 6 year old loves astrobot and fortnite, and my 8 year old likes Roblox on it because it doesn't glitch as bad. But if you're more protective I would just do switch games like animal crossing, stardew, and Mario. I don't have much control over gaming at their dad's, but at mine I keep it to Teen rated games, we are a pg-13 ok household. And I try to limit screentime.

Gotta admit, you had me going there for a bit. Masterful troll job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're long overdue getting one in my opinion. I got my kids a switch at 3&6, they are 6 and 8 now and have their own playstations at their dad's, and at my place we have the switch and a PS5. Kind of wish we had two of the ps5s.

My 6 year old loves astrobot and fortnite, and my 8 year old likes Roblox on it because it doesn't glitch as bad. But if you're more protective I would just do switch games like animal crossing, stardew, and Mario. I don't have much control over gaming at their dad's, but at mine I keep it to Teen rated games, we are a pg-13 ok household. And I try to limit screentime.

Gotta admit, you had me going there for a bit. Masterful troll job.

That’s not a troll. Our house is similar.

When will parents learn that you can’t protect your kids from reality? One day they will be able to do whatever they want to and if they never learned to regulate as kids then you are setting them up for failure as adults when the consequences are much higher.

[Anonymous]

I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're long overdue getting one in my opinion. I got my kids a switch at 3&6, they are 6 and 8 now and have their own playstations at their dad's, and at my place we have the switch and a PS5. Kind of wish we had two of the ps5s.

My 6 year old loves astrobot and fortnite, and my 8 year old likes Roblox on it because it doesn't glitch as bad. But if you're more protective I would just do switch games like animal crossing, stardew, and Mario. I don't have much control over gaming at their dad's, but at mine I keep it to Teen rated games, we are a pg-13 ok household. And I try to limit screentime.

Gotta admit, you had me going there for a bit. Masterful troll job.

That’s not a troll. Our house is similar.

When will parents learn that you can’t protect your kids from reality? One day they will be able to do whatever they want to and if they never learned to regulate as kids then you are setting them up for failure as adults when the consequences are much higher.

This is such a flawed argument for something like video games (also absolutely ridiculous for a comment that was encouraging Fortnite for a 6 year old which has absolutely nothing to do with teaching your child regulation).

If video games isn’t a part of your family culture, and you choose not to introduce it, your child may have one less social currency, but it may be a social currency you’re willing to give up. it may sometimes be with kids you are ok that the social currency is a little less if I’m being frank. And when they are an adult they will just be someone that doesn’t play video games - they aren’t going to become a video game addict as an adult because you didn’t PRACTICE with them as a kid. It is much much more likely to just not be their thing. Most of the close men in my life (husband, brother-in-law, a couple other close family members) didn’t have videos games as kids so they just don’t play them as adults. It’s great for being an engaged husband too so it’s a positive really.

What actually helps kids have good regulation is having good executive function — what builds that is unstructured play with other kids especially if mixed ages. Not video games. Or structured activities. The research doesn’t support anything you’re saying pp - small doses of video games are fine. And it’s also fine for a parent to decide it’s not their thing.

Op my older is 8 and we don’t have anything. Haven’t decided what we’ll do but may just stick with it. It’s tough as I said above I do understand it’s a social currency but I’d just like to put my energy elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Never got one. Kids lived.

+1.