Nothing educational about roblox, Minecraft etc?

YANBU, I’ll be keeping my DS off tablets and phones for as long as I can.

Maybe minecraft is a bit educational, but I can’t see it genuinely helping get a child through an Engineering degree- what will help with that is excellent GCSE and A Level Maths.

Parenting is so hard and I don’t blame people for needing a break, especially if they’re WFH, but I think people kid themselves if they think video games really help their children.

I’m sure I’ll eat my words very soon, but we’re going to try our level best to keep DS on the traditional books/musical instruments/swimming/arts and crafts and sports track for as long as we can, if that’s what he wants, as I really don’t think screens add much value.

I don't think Roblox is at all educational!

Really? Through the Studio application, users can develop their programming skills (using a recognised scripting language) and see near instant results in an environment they enjoy using. For a child interested in programming, what's not educational about that?

Minecraft can be educational, it’s like Lego except way more possibilities.
Most minecraft playing kids know the square root of 64 they just haven’t been told they know it yet.

Not everything has to be "educational".

I've just allowed mine to have Roblox since this lockdown started. She FaceTimes/skypes her friends (from my iPad, she's too young for a phone) while playing as a turned the chat off. I've allowed it purely as a social interaction tool and it's working. She also enjoys craft, cycling, reading etc, all a balance!

If playing computer games leads to un understanding of how they work and an interest in programming, her friends are indeed gaining important future skills

Social contact is important to humans look at you chatting online wanting chat and opinions.little humans needs are the same. Kids going on games chatting interacting and working out things is educational and a benefit,what isn't a benefit is all day every day but that is where balance comes in you need to balance her time.

If you have android phone and use your Google email for their access, use Family Link (free) app. It allows me to restrict individual apps, I can time out after 1 hour on tiktok each day and set maximum hours on my DC under 13's access. I also changed pin on my daughters child account (I'm admin) so I shut it down or refuse to log her in, if I need to control her access.

PPs have pointed out minecraft is a useful resource and can be used socially with invited friends (laptops have two options for minecraft underlying coding for multi play, so check with their friends which they use ) . Like anything the key is moderation. But our ideas of "good parenting" have had to change and adapt to these unprecedented times

Nothing wrong with them gaming in moderation.

It’s about balance.

Well obviously they aren't educational but not everything has to be does it.

BTW, DD loves reading and creating too . One doesn't necessarily cancel out the other. She's loving Art and Media Studies at school, and quite often produces something spontaneously. She loves her Nintendo Switch too. Kids can like a variety of things.

It doesn't make you better or them worse for using technology. Your post oozes snobbiness.

My friend's two boys 9 & 7 love Minecraft. It's baffling to me but at the end of the day, they miss their friends and the social aspect bridges a gap a little.

DD (14) does all her school work and homework, then spends ages on her phone to her social circle. She also joins Zoom meetings with them. I encourage this because she misses them terribly. Once all the crap is over with we might tell her to scale it down again. Kids need social connections, and I'm glad we now have a range of tech to enable this.

Oh my god how judgemental ! I also don’t love these games and my kids haven’t played them yet (oldest boy is 7) but for parents who have to work and have kids who don’t love reading / crafting independently (like your precious angel) then what are they supposed to do??? I’m lucky I’m on mat leave so can do stuff with the kids but not everyone is

The person who called Minecraft junk clearly knows nothing about it. It is very educational and you can be creative in the game too. You don't play with randoms like some other games so it's not unsafe. You can play on your own or invite a friend and talk through a headset.

TikTok is the opposite end of the scale and best avoided as long as possible.

My ds has played Minecraft since he was 12. He has asd.
The love of Minecraft has evolved into making Minecraft animations and general computer skills.
This has led to a choice of IT course in college and a route to computer based work. Which in my book is a great career path.
All thanks to being obsessed with Minecraft.
So no I don't think screen time and gaming is bad at all in moderation and in our case has been a positive influence.

Urgh. No experience has a negative educational value.

Dd1 looked around all kind of museums and space centres in mine craft last lockdown they were really good with free bolt ons then.

I think mine craft is quite creative. It's not what I allow the dc to do all day long though!

Calling all games junk is so lazy.

I grew up in the nineties and played a lot of video games. Playing The Sims taught me a lot of English (non-native speaker here). I've played some amazing historical games which then inspired me to read books about the subject.

When I was ten I got into building websites which eventually became my career.

Some of my friends parents were very restrictive with computers and that didn't do my friends any favours. They had a much harder time getting the hang of things like Word and Excel, plus I am sure there are snails that type faster than them!

Well seeing as you can't actually spell Tik Tok I'm not sure you're that clued up on online games.

I was using computers in the 80/90's, I'm not sure how educational Frogger was, fun though!

If you completely remove her from playing games you may also remove her involvement with school friends during lockdown.

You can set screen time on tablets. My children love Roblox and tic toc, but are only allowed in them for so long during day and do other activities aswell.

My child is an avid reader, she likes a bit of craft and she loves tech. Her functional maths and problem solving skills developed using both Minecraft and Roblox.

Minecraft is very creative. It's like virtual Lego, and there are so many things which can be done in the world, or via programming.

Roblox, which we don't have (mostly for the following reason) encourages further purchases. Lots of in-game 'upgrades' which you can show off for your friends.

I can highly recommend Minecraft.

Roblox can be amazing. My son has built the most unbelievable houses and cities on one of the games. Something to do with pets though is less fabulous. Minecraft is excellent though

Does your dd watch TV? Gaming is far better IMO (depending on the game). Why not switch TV time for gaming rather than reducing the crafting time?