Is Minecraft bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To all the people who swear it is the greatest learning tool ever- Be honest how much are you using it as a babysitter and just justifying that it is any different than sitting your kid in front of a video game?

11.29 here. I believe I said that it's a tool, and any tool can be misused.

I don't use it as a babysitter at all. I'm a live-in nanny, and I make sure that there are no screens while I am with the kids unless it is required for school or balances more towards education than fun (Khan Academy and the like). When they are with their parents, it's up to the parents. One former employer allowed 1 hour per week, another allowed two non-consecutive hours per week, and I'm not sure how many youtube videos they were allowed, but it came out of their weekly television time.

I view looking online with me for articles and walk-throughs for Minecraft as weighing more towards education, because none of them have been easy reads for my charges, and they're learning to research. They are learning to advocate for what they want and present a compelling argument. They are reading non-fiction informational pieces, and they are learning to pull the information they need while ignoring what they don't need. And most important to me: they want to read, they want to research and they've found something that holds their interest enough that they want to learn anything and everything about it.

When you are a parent, parenting 24/7, lets see how your ideals match up with reality.

If your child is older and actually programming, yes it can be educational but that is not how must kids use it. My six year old plays it on the xbox. Its like any other game. We don't restrict it but he his not obsessed with it and dad plays with him. They often look things up in the books I got them or internet and there are some ways you can justify it is academic but its just a game.

Balance means far more than you are making it out to sound. My kid is in 3 activities, does his homework, workbooks and far more and still has plenty of time to play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP that speaks more about your child than Minecraft. My 7 and 9 year olds have created elaborate worlds in Minecraft. They don't discuss killing animals though.

They are killing animals. My son mentions it. He is amused by the zombies and other stuff, especially when they attack dad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:anyone know how the PC game compares to the Xbox game? We have Xbox and iPad versions. Wondering if I should get the PC game if it has more capabilities.

On the computer version, you can add mods - "modifications". Minecraft is open source so anyone, anywhere can write mods for it. There are literally thousands of mods like Pokemon, Star Wars, Zelda... adding capabilities, blocks, weapons, different types of animals, genetic experiments, I can go on and on.

The mods are what makes Minecraft so popular bc it is a game that can be anything you want it to be.

The computer game is nothing like the ipad or xbox versions because there are thousands of mods you can add to minecraft on the computer version.

There are also modpacks (compilations of popular mods that are made compatible with each other) like voidlaucher. Check them out.

Aside from mods there are "adventure maps" which can also be added to minecraft. Adventure maps are basically premade worlds that you can play in such as Zelda, Star Wars, rain forests, outer space, haunted houses, etc. Some of them have quests or goals to attain.

Adventure maps can be used in conjunction with mods.

Or you can create your own adventure maps for other to follow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To all the people who swear it is the greatest learning tool ever- Be honest how much are you using it as a babysitter and just justifying that it is any different than sitting your kid in front of a video game?

11.29 here. I believe I said that it's a tool, and any tool can be misused.

I don't use it as a babysitter at all. I'm a live-in nanny, and I make sure that there are no screens while I am with the kids unless it is required for school or balances more towards education than fun (Khan Academy and the like). When they are with their parents, it's up to the parents. One former employer allowed 1 hour per week, another allowed two non-consecutive hours per week, and I'm not sure how many youtube videos they were allowed, but it came out of their weekly television time.

I view looking online with me for articles and walk-throughs for Minecraft as weighing more towards education, because none of them have been easy reads for my charges, and they're learning to research. They are learning to advocate for what they want and present a compelling argument. They are reading non-fiction informational pieces, and they are learning to pull the information they need while ignoring what they don't need. And most important to me: they want to read, they want to research and they've found something that holds their interest enough that they want to learn anything and everything about it.

When you are a parent, parenting 24/7, lets see how your ideals match up with reality.

If your child is older and actually programming, yes it can be educational but that is not how must kids use it. My six year old plays it on the xbox. Its like any other game. We don't restrict it but he his not obsessed with it and dad plays with him. They often look things up in the books I got them or internet and there are some ways you can justify it is academic but its just a game.

Balance means far more than you are making it out to sound. My kid is in 3 activities, does his homework, workbooks and far more and still has plenty of time to play.

I believe that I said I only allow screens when it's for school or when the screen time balances more towards education than fun. I don't allow my charges to play Minecraft while with me, BUT they get just enough time with their parents that they want to spend tie researching while with me, or they spend time reading by themselves.

I don't claim to be a parent. But yes, I have worked 24/7 with a family, and it was a blast. No, I didn't use screens with them any more than I have with any other family (actually, it was much less, as there was no television in the house).

[Anonymous]

I think it is more creative than educational. But it can also be educational if your child is inclined to use it that way. My son created a Roman Colosseum based on what he studied. He went online to look at detailed diagrams of the tunnels and levels and it was pretty amazing what he built. Just last weekend he and his sister created an elaborate robot factory. A futuristic building with a forge type of assembly rail. They like showing us their creations. I rather them use their 2 video game hours allowed per weekend on minecraft than skylanders or that Lego video game like skylanders. Most of their friends are playing halo and destiny. My kids are 8 and 7 btw.

[Anonymous]

Stampy is a great minecraft YouTube'er IMO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stampy is a great minecraft YouTube'er IMO

Agree on Stampy - his "target audience" are 6-12 year olds (somebody called him a cross "between Mr.Rogers and Pee-Wee Herman"). He makes my 6yo laugh so hard that I almost don't mind his periods of "extended screen time"
And the language is always VERY appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't do XBox/Playstation type games in our home (went to school with too many people who went from promising student to barely there wash-outs because of video game addiction) but we do allow Minecraft and a few kid friendly Ipad games. If the homework is done and academics are on track, there can be time for a little fun. The kids lose iPad privileges if they start getting too worked up when it's time to shut 'er down.

I don't really understand your logic. It's clear that you have rules about when they can play on the ipad so why wouldn't you apply those same rules to a gaming system.

We have both an xbox and a wii. No gaming during the week but he can play on the weekend.

I hope you realise the people you talk about who " went from promising student to barely there wash-outs because of video game addiction" ended up this way b/c of how their parents monitored (or didn't monitor the habit).

Many people have food additions but I am sure you still have food in your house. What you describe sounds like this to me.

I don't want my kids to develop a sweets addiction so we don't keep ice cream in the house BUT we have a mini fridge with ice cream and as a treat when all their work is done we let them have some ice cream from the mini fridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stampy is a great minecraft YouTube'er IMO

Agree on Stampy - his "target audience" are 6-12 year olds (somebody called him a cross "between Mr.Rogers and Pee-Wee Herman"). He makes my 6yo laugh so hard that I almost don't mind his periods of "extended screen time"
And the language is always VERY appropriate.

my 7 YO asked for a Stampy Cat T for the holidays. According to him it is a hit at school. I am not a fan of character shirts but I gave in for Stampy.
I do not like Stampy. DS has to either listed in his room (with the door closed) or wear headphones.

I do like that he is kid friendly so I don't have to worry about what DS is listening to when it is Stampy or Squid

[Anonymous]

Ok. I just started playing this with my kids after reading this thread. It IS kind of a fun game, and we have watched some of the YouTube tutorials because it is not at all self explanatory. I do have trouble believing that kids are building these huge complicated structures in one hour a week. Now, granted I just started playing, but it took the kids and I two hours just to figure out how to survive the night without getting eaten by zombies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here....I signed up for a Minecraft and Lego Robotics camp for this summer also. He is so excited. I work in the tech industry from a legal perspective and I am happy to encourage anything related to writing code.

My husband is a software developer and he is so happy that our son now has an interest in learning about code.

You guys with minecraft fans at home might share this with them: https://code.org/mc

If they want to code another one is https://Studio.code.org

It's a free website with coding classes for kids, and they can create and test their own games. My son has gotten into it. No need to create a log in at first, but once they want to save their work they need a log in (which is totally free).

[Anonymous]

PP, where did you get the stampy cat T?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stampy is a great minecraft YouTube'er IMO

Dantdm is good too. He is kid friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, where did you get the stampy cat T?

Ebay of course. They run really small. DS is 50lbs and 50 inches and the large is adequate.

We have this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/261960605547?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stampy is a great minecraft YouTube'er IMO

Dantdm is good too. He is kid friendly.

My kids likes Dan TDM as well.