To ask what your teenagers do with their spare time? It can't just be gaming surely...

[Flamingo1980]

I know no teenagers so I've absolutely no idea what they do 'these days'. So I'm asking because I simply don't know, I'm not judging or criticising.
I ask because my collegue at work told me that her son spends up to six to eight hours EVERY DAY gaming alone in his room and apparently all of his friends do the same.
I'm genuinely shocked and a bit worried about this. What on earth does that do to a persons mind? I KNOW I must sound like an out of touch fuddy-duddy (I'm 35) but I openly admit to being completely ignorant on the subject as as I said I don't know any teenagers at all.
'In my day' my brother spent his free time either playing football with his mates or building gliders or mountain biking etc.
Don't teenagers - indeed all humans - need sunlight, social interaction, exercise and fresh air sometimes?? Could this be why so many kids now have depression, adhd etc...?
Please reassure me this isn't all teenagers as I fear for the next generation of this is true..

My teen lads,

Gaming
Sports
Hair
Mirror gazing
Trying to get off with girls
Sleeping/wanking
Trying to get off with girls
Cinema
Eating
Eating
Eating
Part time jobs
Trying up get off with girls
Eating
Avoiding me.

My teenage girls
Mirror gazing
Eye brow plucking
Fake tanning
Makeup
Hair
Avoiding part time jobs
Bathing
Bathing
Avoiding eating
Shopping
Shopping
Chatting to friends
'Oh my god I don't believe she wore that'
Fake tanning
More makeup
Shopping.
Ignoring me.

My kid does waste time playing games like a lot of others, and I'm not saying that computer games are any different to consoles. I'm just answering the OP's question - she was worried about the next generation spending hours alone in their rooms gaming, to the exclusion of other activities. Some kids love the outdoors, sport etc. Mine happens to have a rich 'inner life' that involves a lot of things that wouldn't appeal to the majority. He doesn't choose to do any recreational sports etc, but he gets plenty of fresh air and exercise at school. Each to their own, and the lists of pastimes in this thread certainly demonstrate the huge variety of things that teens are getting up to. However, I still think that any kid who spends all day on a gaming console is losing out and I don't buy the 'social' argument. It's a poor excuse in my view.

Why "for a boy" nomoregrief - do you not think that a girl in a (or more than one) sports team has to put in as much commitment ?

DS1 goes to a school 12 miles away. His many friends are scattered about all over the county as a result.
They play online and chat over the headsets. How that's not 'social' or sociable i don't know. It's the easiest way to get together and chat in the evenings.

Or is it just the 'all day' aspect?

Pop, I think most teens spend most of their time in front of a screen doing the following:

Gaming
YouTube
Tumblr
Instagram
Snapchat
Watching TV
Playing music

But most teens can still do that and have numerous hobbies.

I think I would be far more worried about a child that routinely spent twenty hours of their spare time dancing every week than one who spent twenty hours in front of a screen.

I don't have a teenager but before the arrival of PFB DS 6 months ago I'd happily spend 6 hours a day gaming and I'm 36.

I'm looking forward to us being able to play together when he's older.

My teenage DS would happily spend 6 hours a day (weekends/holidays) gaming/(Playstation)/you tubing etc if I didn't make a huge fuss and prevent it and have a screaming row everytime. . He does do quite a bit of sport, a lot more in the summer thank goodness. We force him to spend time with us, watching tv or a film together, playing board games, cards etc. He goes out with friends a bit (but I strongly suspect they go back to each other's houses for more gaming).

Homework takes the bare minimum of time, and there seem to be no sanctions from school about this. He does do after school sports clubs four nights a week so that takes up a bit of time.

I do hate it though, but it did seem a lot easier when I was a teenager to get jobs - I used to work in cafes, do babysitting & holiday childcare from about 14. Not many people would leave their children with a 14 year old these days, would they ?

DS (13)
Football training and matches
Scouts and related weekend activities
Homework
Going into town with friends
Sleepovers
iPad and watching old re-runs of Top Gear for hours
Xbox live
Will read at bedtime under duress (no screens in rooms)

We have instilled from when they were very young that they of course can relax in which way they wish but they have to do some sort of sport and another activity.

This has to start young though as it is almost impossible to encourage a teenager to take up something new.

Mine play rugby, cricket, football, they swim for fun, play guitar, cinema once a week, go to football/rugby| cricket matches

My non sporty child is in an amateur dramatics group and they do plays and pantomimes.

Mostly it's about what attitude they're brought up with.

Oh , they do an awful lot of homework too!

Don't get me wrong they love a lot of minecraft and Fifa

My DS games and plays football for a team and has many a kick about with his mate who lives in the next road. He also does a paper round two days after school.

He is currently playing smite with 4 friends and chatting mainly about the game but also other stuff. We game together and have our consoles in the same room. His friends are always amazed he has a Mum who loves gaming. We play Star Wars battlefront together and he is if often top player on the winning team, I have to make do with mid table mediocrity.

My 16 year old occasionally goes out to play football after college. Mostly it is gaming or cooking. He isn't into going out but can be persuaded to play football sometimes. He is a homebody and is currently looking for a PT job.

14 year old goes out a lot with friends but also spends a lot of time gaming.

12 year old is always in some kind of after school sport club, or playing football with friends. I think if I didn't make him he would rarely come home. He is a social butterfly and loves being active. He hates the winter because he has to be in much earlier.

DS 18

Gaming
YouTube
Snapchat
Football
PT job
Gym
Sleeping
Parties
Cinema
Avoiding revising

Mine does 15 hours a week performing arts stuff

He also spends a lot of time gaming / either on the computer or on the Xbox.

It's not alone though as he is constantly on skype - and mainly playing with school friends.

They sometimes meet up - but that tends to be at someone's house to watch some gaming tournament (yawn).

Each to their own. He does plenty of exercise (7 of the 15 hours a week mentioned above is dance) and mainly plays the games with schoolfriends - albeit it over skype. He doesn't watch TV or talk to friends on the phone for hours (my teen years).

Mostly it's about what attitude they're brought up with.

Is it? My DH & I are big into volunteering, outdoor stuff, hiking, camping, sports, reading, theatre, films, cooking, eating out, helping in the community etc. We are both practically luddites when it comes to technology - neither of us has played a computer 'game' in our lives .............. so where does our DS's obsession with gaming come from?

14 year old Ds spends hours gaming.
He does also plays drums in a band and kicks a ball round the park with his mates. That's about it.

It would be helpful to ask some teens too op
These are parents responding, remember.

14 year old DS - wearing black, sneering at us, reading fan fiction, writing fan fiction, playing strategy games, war hammer

13 year old DS - gaming, talking to friends, more gaming

Me - 16 year old - wearing black, drinking Guinness, smoking hash - still aced my A levels!

I think I would be far more worried about a child that routinely spent twenty hours of their spare time dancing every week than one who spent twenty hours in front of a screen

Why?!?

If my DD had 20 hours free time to spare she would like nothing better than to spend it all dancing - it would be her idea of heaven.

Why is that worrying? I used to think that 20 hours a week gaming was worrying but I've come round to seeing as something that just isn't my thing and, because I've never been interested or bought any, isn't my children's thing either.

I don't think gaming/screens are a lesser activity than dance. But I definitely don't think dance is a lesser activity than screen time either.

Some very funny competitive posts on here . OP please don't fear for the next generation too much, I'm pretty sure they'll be okay

I didn't have time for all this gaming when I was a teenager. I was far too busy sleeping.

Two boys teens:

Football
Tennis (dc1)
Basketball(dc2)
Xbox(dc2)
YouTube
PC games - generally simulation games (eg Plane landing) or planning games (eg, building a railway)
Tv - Big Bang Theory, Brooklyn 911 etc

Both dc's have very social internet lives and spend ages talking to friends online.

Clobbered - Maybe if you spend all day on the computer, you do not have a 'rich inner life', but the majority of posts list gaming as one of several hobbies. Variety is the spice of life.

I think I would be far more worried about a child that routinely spent twenty hours of their spare time dancing every week than one who spent twenty hours in front of a screen

Why AlmondPudding ?

Not that it's usually a direct 'one or the other', but surely exercise, and mixing with different people from school friends, is preferable to the same four walls and only exercising thumbs?

My ds (16) spends all his spare time playing games on his PC. I have no real problem with this. He likes strategy and politics games mostly and spends hours arguing with people about his political views (currently fairly extreme socialist) and getting his regiment to work effectively.

His PC is in our dining room so we know what he is up to and the sorts of conversations he has. Apart from occasionally telling him to turn down the swearing I find it quite interesting hearing all about his views of the world.

dd (15) spends a lot of time watching YouTube videos and Netflixs, reading fan fiction, writing her own fiction and chatting to friends. I don't see ds's hobbies as being any better or worse than hers. They both sleep a lot!

ds and I do a martial arts class a couple of times a week (dd acts). He works hard for school and is (mostly) enjoyable company. He is a very interesting conversationalist, good at debates and very interested in how the world works. Next semester he's looking to get a job and/or voluntary work, mostly to boost his personal statement for university applications. All seems pretty familiar to me, except that I remember my teen years as being mostly boring and frustrating. I was a lot more grumpy too!

Sorry was meant to be a new thread. Will report & have deleted!