Do your kids play too many video games?
Written by Gerard on Friday 27 March 2009
It seems we have at least one of every popular video game console in our house. Well, with the exception of the X Box. But we have accumulated a Nintendo Wii, an older PlayStation 2, two Nintendo DS-Lites. This in addition to abundant internet access and a weird kiddie-console thing that hooks up to the TV.
Before your mind explodes at the phenomenal cost that all this tech surely represents, bear in mind that Lisa is an eBay master and has either picked up games and consoles at a massively reduced price. As well as that, some stuff has been handed down from other family members and picked up as birthday presents, etc.
The fact remains though: too many computer games.
I worry sometimes that they get addicted. Certainly we had to severely restrict Daniel's access to console games because he refused to do anything else for a while. Playing with toys, reading, drawing, he refused to do anything that didn't have a screen in front of it. He even started getting up at the crack of dawn to sneak downstairs and get a fix of PlayStation.
The big question I want to ask the readers here is: what's your opinion of kids playing computer games, and do you have a plan to manage how long and what games they play?
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Comments
hi i love video games
hi i love video games
to console or not to console?
Bringing them up in a healthy environment to begin with, and ensuring you make things like short family hikes or outings in nature fun, will hopefully give them what they need in terms of a base to realize that spending time outside is preferrable to zoning out indoors. Of course, children don't think this way, but again, getting them started on the right foot and promoting family activities will, perhaps, one day make them question why they were ever into video games in the first place. This worked for me, and I expect it would work with my children when done properly.
I agree you can't get a lot of motivation out of stubborn children who need that video game fix; one can only hope it doesn't last too long. But why stock the house chock full o' consoles?? :)