Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

So there isn't one hour you can let your kids veg for a bit? It has to be go, go go?

TV and movies are better screen options than video games.

And sometimes it’s good to just be a little bored and putter around. It’s probably not great for the brain to be on constant video game dopamine drip.

Totally disagree! Quite the opposite.

You have to be a special kind of parent to think that TV is worse than video games.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

So there isn't one hour you can let your kids veg for a bit? It has to be go, go go?

TV and movies are better screen options than video games.

And sometimes it’s good to just be a little bored and putter around. It’s probably not great for the brain to be on constant video game dopamine drip.

Totally disagree! Quite the opposite.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

So there isn't one hour you can let your kids veg for a bit? It has to be go, go go?

It’s hilarious how you think vegging is playing video games and can’t just be doing nothing or poking holes in the dirt with sticks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

So there isn't one hour you can let your kids veg for a bit? It has to be go, go go?

TV and movies are better screen options than video games.

And sometimes it’s good to just be a little bored and putter around. It’s probably not great for the brain to be on constant video game dopamine drip.

Anonymous wrote: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.

So there isn't one hour you can let your kids veg for a bit? It has to be go, go go?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess all y'all "have something planned! Go outside!" people don't get stuck inside weekend after weekend with one sick kid after another, huh? I had great plans. We had to cancel.

You’re prob better off being outside seeing the sun even if a little sick than staring at a screen for hours on end. You can always dress accordingly.

It’s just crazy how many tiny kids are in restaurants playing phone games when they could be listening to the parents talking and gaining social skills.

It was pouring outside and my kid needed to stay close to the bathroom for vomit and diarrhea, so no, we were better off canceling. I'm bummed about it but this wasn't a "wear a jacket and bring tissues" situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We bought a switch for my 7 year old. he had been complaining "his friends have it", but he hasn't played with it since the last playdate. It's not that he hasn't asked, but it's for "playdates" only. That's our compromise.

At 7?? My 7 yr old doesn’t even know what a switch is.

I'm sorry you child will be light-years behind their peers because of their Ludite upbringing.

NP: Or, as young adults, they might be in significantly better mental health. Effect is stronger with females, but for both it's basically linear: the older they were when they got their first smartphone -- up through 18 -- the better their mental health.

https://wired.me/science/first-smartphone-and-mental-health/

Not gaming consoles, but one can speculate as to parallels.

Are you kidding? I don’t love video games but would give my kid a switch and Mario any day over a social media site of any kind. I think there are ways to limit video games, make them pro social, and use them to build friendships. But social media is 90% toxic and I will keep it away from my kids as long as possible

+1. Screens are not created equal. Gaming can be really social and foster critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We bought a switch for my 7 year old. he had been complaining "his friends have it", but he hasn't played with it since the last playdate. It's not that he hasn't asked, but it's for "playdates" only. That's our compromise.

At 7?? My 7 yr old doesn’t even know what a switch is.

I'm sorry you child will be light-years behind their peers because of their Ludite upbringing.

NP: Or, as young adults, they might be in significantly better mental health. Effect is stronger with females, but for both it's basically linear: the older they were when they got their first smartphone -- up through 18 -- the better their mental health.

https://wired.me/science/first-smartphone-and-mental-health/

Not gaming consoles, but one can speculate as to parallels.

Are you kidding? I don’t love video games but would give my kid a switch and Mario any day over a social media site of any kind. I think there are ways to limit video games, make them pro social, and use them to build friendships. But social media is 90% toxic and I will keep it away from my kids as long as possible

Anonymous wrote:I guess all y'all "have something planned! Go outside!" people don't get stuck inside weekend after weekend with one sick kid after another, huh? I had great plans. We had to cancel.

You’re prob better off being outside seeing the sun even if a little sick than staring at a screen for hours on end. You can always dress accordingly.

It’s just crazy how many tiny kids are in restaurants playing phone games when they could be listening to the parents talking and gaining social skills.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I need to know more about quitting “good careers”. What did they do instead? Everyone needs money to eat and pay for housing?

They quit a good career with lots of promotion potential for a bare minimum show up and get paid job which supplied rent and money for basic food and video games.

How are there 9 pages on this. It's easy OP don't buy a system and/or sell the system you have. The kids will find something else to do. Whats annoying is having a party and all the kids bring a switch and just ignore the other kids. My sister has parties and the adults agree no switches. I'm going to do the same at our next one.

I guess all y'all "have something planned! Go outside!" people don't get stuck inside weekend after weekend with one sick kid after another, huh? I had great plans. We had to cancel.

We do let our kids play video games, but we have to be very consistent with limiting the allowable amount of time. My younger kid is alarmingly into them - it's hard to avoid introducing them at an earlier age when the older kid is only allowed to play them on a shared console in the family room. We also don't allow online games like Roblox.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I need to know more about quitting “good careers”. What did they do instead? Everyone needs money to eat and pay for housing?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We bought a switch for my 7 year old. he had been complaining "his friends have it", but he hasn't played with it since the last playdate. It's not that he hasn't asked, but it's for "playdates" only. That's our compromise.

At 7?? My 7 yr old doesn’t even know what a switch is.

I'm sorry you child will be light-years behind their peers because of their Ludite upbringing.

Yeah, they won’t be prepared for the digital world and won’t be employable as a result of their combined lack of videogame skills and their long attention span.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We bought a switch for my 7 year old. he had been complaining "his friends have it", but he hasn't played with it since the last playdate. It's not that he hasn't asked, but it's for "playdates" only. That's our compromise.

At 7?? My 7 yr old doesn’t even know what a switch is.

I'm sorry you child will be light-years behind their peers because of their Ludite upbringing.

Yeah, they won’t be prepared for the digital world and won’t be employable as a result of their combined lack of videogame skills and their long attention span.