Anonymous wrote:Do I really need to buy a video game console and let DS play video games in my house? I don’t enforce whether he plays at friends’ houses but I know a lot of his friends have Switches and PS consoles.

Has anyone (in recent times) done no video games? I’m hoping to do zero games for as long as possible and maybe put off the cell phone for later middle school or early high school.

We don't have video games at home and feel no shame about it.

Anonymous wrote:Only unathletic nerds play these games from what I’ve seen of my children’s friends

Dunno. My kids came home from their baseball games and game with their teammates and school friends. For boys it is pretty social starting around 6th grade. Now they are in college/hs and still play sometimes but it is not a big part of their lives now that they can drive.

Gamers are losers

Anonymous wrote:Only unathletic nerds play these games from what I’ve seen of my children’s friends

Ours still wears soccer gear when he sits down at his computer. Loved being on the playground with the same gaming friends and all other.
Lots of comments from one side to the other. I don't know anyone being so crazy about gaming that they can't get out of the house.

No, you don't have to buy your kids video games, a console, etc. If they want to apply, though, they will probably be able to figure out how to access it on laptops or Chromebooks. And you can't keep them from playing at friends' houses - that would make them weird.

My stepsons sit in their rooms all summer, all day, playing video games. They come home from school and go to their rooms and play video games.

It's incredibly unhealthy.

And yes I am opposed to this but as the step mom there is nothing I can do. I have suggested family bike rides, walks, rides to the pool, offered to drive them to friends' houses, etc. Can't get them out of their rooms except for meals.

It is insanely unhealthy. One kid has depression. The other has ADHD. Their sister doesn't game and she is much healthier and happier.

So yeah I would just keep doing what you are doing.

Also, there are plenty of teens who look down on "gamers."

Only unathletic nerds play these games from what I’ve seen of my children’s friends

Anonymous wrote:We don’t either the video game kids are weird AD

Wow, how judgmental you are. Maybe you would be a better and kinder person if you unclenched your a**. You are the perfect example. A loser who doesn't play video games but, still weird

Anonymous wrote:We don’t play video games in our house. Kids are 20, 18, 15, and 8. They had minecraft and roblox when they were little, but it didn’t stick. I even sent one of them to a Roblox summer camp. No interest. We occasionally watch movies, but other than that no screens other than homework (and being distracted at work - me here). No one ever complained and I never really thought about it. Kids are well adjusted, social, sporty, and academically inclined.

Do it if you want, don’t if you don’t. I think addiction is more on the habits you help foster in your house rather than a screen or external factor.

You really monitor your adult kids their activities? Why so controlling?

Anonymous wrote:My dh’s nephews are addicted to gaming and living with their mother in their 30s, unemployed and playing games literally all night long. It’s a bad situation.

I’m not saying don’t let your DS play, I’m saying keep tight control over it if you do.

I think these 30 year olds have more problems than just video gaming. And to suggest that all those who play games are doomed to be 30 year olds living with mom and dad is crazy.

We have a Switch and let our kids (5th and 3rd grade) play on the weekends. It's kept in the family room and hooked up to the TV, so neither of them are keeping it their bedrooms. We do limit the amount of time they play on weekends, but they are busy with sports and other activities so it's never been a big deal. They mostly play Mario games, Animal Crossing, and sports games. Sometimes we play Mario Kart as a family and they get a huge kick out of beating their parents (although DH is better than me). It can be fun and we are ok with it in moderation. I was in 8th grade when the first Nintendo system came out and we played in moderation, too--although I was never that into it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don’t either the video game kids are weird AD

It’s more than that. The online gaming community is “moderated” by grown adults with serious mental health issues and no jobs. I have a relative who fits this description who openly brags about how “their” goal of “their” friend online group is to convert as many young teens into their worldview as possible through Discord moderation because “capitalism sucks” and “CIS normies” are what is wrong with society.
This relative is unemployed (but very entitled to his parents money that they earn by participating in the evil capitalist society)!and has no friends apart from these online radicalized fellow moderators.

All unpaid moderators have some weird bias. People who have jobs, families, mortgages to pay etc are not volunteering to do free moderation.

Anonymous wrote:YMMV but for us the physical switch console is much less addictive and easier to monitor than Roblox or other PC games. Roblox was introduced by a teacher during Covid and I wish we had never allowed it (have since taken it away). We are able to limit the games available on the switch, we don’t allow multiplayer with people who are not physically present at our house with the other controller, the console stays docked in our family room. Plus the Mario and Zelda games can be stopped and picked up whenever. There aren’t “streaks” and other weird features designed to get my kid addicted.

Same poster. Sorry, I should add that, to your question, no none of our son’s peers do NO video games whatsoever. My advice would be to focus on avoiding excessive/early PC and smartphone usage (YouTube, TikTok, Roblox etc) rather than myopically focusing on avoiding video games. For us, the compromise was the console.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dh’s nephews are addicted to gaming and living with their mother in their 30s, unemployed and playing games literally all night long. It’s a bad situation.

I’m not saying don’t let your DS play, I’m saying keep tight control over it if you do.

They probably have other addictions and possibly mental health issues. It’s not as simple as they love games so much they stay unemployed to play all night.

There is pretty much universal agreement that getting out of the house and participating in social activities is good for mental health.

My 9-year-old son (ADHD, sweet kid but has follower tendencies that can get him into trouble) is allowed to play single player games, mostly Minecraft, 20 minutes on school nights when everything he’s supposed to do is finished. He gets more time Saturday mornings.

I’ve told him we’ll talk about multiplayer at 10 but even then it would be one of the heavily moderated family-friendly servers. I teach 5th graders and know some of what they get up to on headsets and in game chats. It’s gross.

No Roblox yet. Maybe in another year or two depending on maturity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you really want your child growing up to be a weird anti-social gamer?

Or a weird socially awkward kid who doesn’t fit in.

Doesn’t anybody understand the middle ground ?

OP here. That is what I am asking. I want to know if anyone did no video games at home and had their boys still be well liked and have a good group of friends. Like I said I am ok with him playing video games elsewhere.

If he’s playing games elsewhere , he has friends and he isn’t socially awkward.

The socially awkward are the ones who play games all night and day and have zero interaction with their families or other people