Anonymous wrote:Get used to being the strictest parent. It’s ok. Eventually you will find your people.

Stop replying to everything you hermit

Mom of 11yo boys who loves his video games... but also extremely busy with sports so not a ton of time on the weekends. I think the key is to stay strong on rules. I don’t allow any during the week except Friday nights if he has a friend over they can play together. On the weekends I allow an hour or two each day depending on the sports schedule. I never allow it at nights - we do the AM. I feel like it affects his sleep later in the evenings. We also only have a Nintendo and stick with games like Zelda, FIFA soccer and now a game called Pikiman. It helps that his best friends parents are on the same page, both with gaming but also with technology in general as they get older and want iPhones etc.

DP. We do not have any. We plan to never have any. If DC misses out socially, so be it.

Get used to being the strictest parent. It’s ok. Eventually you will find your people.

Anonymous wrote:As a mom of a 13 yo who once loved videogames I can tell you that they grow out of it - at least they realize that one has to have other interests and abilities to be able to fit in. Nobody wants to be a videogame dork. They start paying attention to the outside world and become more or less normal teens.

Many don’t outgrow it though. I know childhood friends who as adults quit good careers because they liked video games more.

Learning how to deal with boredom without the need to be constantly stimulated or seeking escape is an incredibly valuable skill growing up.

As a mom of a 13 yo who once loved videogames I can tell you that they grow out of it - at least they realize that one has to have other interests and abilities to be able to fit in. Nobody wants to be a videogame dork. They start paying attention to the outside world and become more or less normal teens.

Our family has a no video games rule. We now live in Seattle where there is plenty of nature and moderate weather year round. There is absolutely no reason to be plugged into a fake virtual world designed to keep you addicted to it for hours on straight. Go for a hike. Catch some crabs or clams. Build a fort on the beach. Kayak and paddleboard in the summers and snowboard or snowshoe in the winters. Do outside activities.

Anonymous wrote:We don't have video games in our house. Our kids are not allowed to play them at the library. And my kids ages 6-11 spend their Saturdays reading, playing outside, playing with legos, etc. It's pretty simple. You don't want to fight with them about games? Don't have them in your house.

My kids discovered Roblox online and it’s been a battle since! I would never buy them a video game, but I couldn’t control everything they looked up on the internet. Of course I limit the Roblox, but I wish they had never discovered it in the first place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a millennial mom who played a lot of video games growing up and I am in the no video games camp. The games are simply not the same. Back then, with limited graphics, the focus was on gameplay and strategy. Now the focus is on graphics and realism. It makes for more realistic and addictive gaming experience, with less learning/takeaway skills.

I take it you've never played Minecraft or seen Minecraft which is kind of quite an accomplishment

I have seen it but I admit I don't get the appeal. Given its popularity, I don't doubt its appeal and I'm sure it's a great game once I get into it. But I have no desire to spend hours of my day in a game and have no desire to encourage the same in my kids regardless of how many great attributes the game may have. I guess my issue isn't with Minecraft per se, but that once kids go down the rabbit hole that is online gaming, it will be very hard to control (as they get older) which games they play and are exposed to (and that is where the differences in games of today vs yesteryears really matter). It's really a whole mind-set of teaching them to have fun in real life (with all its highs and lows and boredom) vs online life of constant stimulation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a millennial mom who played a lot of video games growing up and I am in the no video games camp. The games are simply not the same. Back then, with limited graphics, the focus was on gameplay and strategy. Now the focus is on graphics and realism. It makes for more realistic and addictive gaming experience, with less learning/takeaway skills.

I take it you've never played Minecraft or seen Minecraft which is kind of quite an accomplishment

.

Minecraft is one of the most addictive games out there. I read this somewhere in an article.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a millennial mom who played a lot of video games growing up and I am in the no video games camp. The games are simply not the same. Back then, with limited graphics, the focus was on gameplay and strategy. Now the focus is on graphics and realism. It makes for more realistic and addictive gaming experience, with less learning/takeaway skills.

I take it you've never played Minecraft or seen Minecraft which is kind of quite an accomplishment

I take it you’ve never played Minecraft with realistic mods and texture packs. 🤓

Anonymous wrote:I am a millennial mom who played a lot of video games growing up and I am in the no video games camp. The games are simply not the same. Back then, with limited graphics, the focus was on gameplay and strategy. Now the focus is on graphics and realism. It makes for more realistic and addictive gaming experience, with less learning/takeaway skills.

I take it you've never played Minecraft or seen Minecraft which is kind of quite an accomplishment

Sign up for sports/activities for most days. They can only get a short time on screens if they are active and doing well with school.

I am a millennial mom who played a lot of video games growing up and I am in the no video games camp. The games are simply not the same. Back then, with limited graphics, the focus was on gameplay and strategy. Now the focus is on graphics and realism. It makes for more realistic and addictive gaming experience, with less learning/takeaway skills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Video games are so much better than watching TV and they are a creative and social activity for boys especially. I get keeping very young kids away and not letting kids play more than an hour or so a day, but there is a level is extreme hate on this board towards video games in particular that I find hard to understand. There is also a level of smugness / superiority from some posters, particularly among moms in my opinion, who have never played video games growing up, and don’t see the appeal themselves.

Disagree. Kids will get bored watching TV and will stop after an hour or so. But many would play video games for hours on end.

I agree. I always thought it was strange how people think interactive screen time is better than passive tv. My intuition is the complete opposite. TV is a way to relax and unwind for a bit but we all get bored or restless eventually. Video games are made to be addicting and people have literally dropped dead playing.