To think there are good things about children gaming on consoles?

[colourdilemma]

I’m struggling with the idea of ds, 9, having an Xbox or similar. But, despite all the bad press for lots of screen time, they must have positives? I’m close to saying yes, but something’s holding me back.

Trying to get a child off something like Minecraft is hell, and i am not just talking about my own kids who have recently been introduced to it. I have friends whose young kids are completely obsessed with minecraft. How can that be a good thing for a young child

Odd, my (extensive) research showed that the vast majority of parents stuck to age ratings or vetted games thoroughly and it was a small minority of parents that let their children play inappropriate games.

I'd be interested to see your statistics for your claim, please?

I see some children playing inappropriate games. Not a great deal, actually. I'm surprised that you're a teacher and don't know how to spell surreptitiously, though.

Trying to get a child off something like Minecraft is hell

Strange, I just tell mine that their game time is over and they turn off the console.

When I use it in class, I tell my pupils that they need to save their games and turn off the iPads/computers and they do.

If that's hell, it's going to be an easy ride!

I find a bit funny all the smugness about children programming, programming is not like a second language, you don't need to learn it as a kid to be good at it. Children should play outdoors as much as possible, they will have plenty of time seating in front of a screen as teenagers and adults.

I didn't say I had 'statistics' - and neither do you. I'm merely pointing out, in a reasonable way, that for every claim there is a counter claim. I think it probably depends very much on the cohorts of children. I'm guessing we're not comparing like with like.

I'm not going to apologise for a typo. A very petty comment to make in what has been an interesting discussion, but if it makes you feel better

Something I don't think has been mentioned. Most console games are one-off purchases and the developers try to make them fun games that will get good reviews. By contrast most smartphone and tablet games are full of 'microtransactions' and pay-or-wait mechanics, and the developers try and make them addictive so players pour in money. Though the smartphone-style approach is infecting console and PC gaming too now, it's nowhere near as pervasive.

That's a really interesting point to make safariboot and makes perfect sense.

You said,

the vast majority of parents don't think this applies yet you can't back it up with evidence? That's a very big claim to make without being able to provide any sources for it.

I can assure you I have many statistics, since I spent two years of my life collating them. I'm not sure why you'd claim that I don't, seeing as you know nothing about me, nor my research.

Loving the teacher who can’t spell “pursuing” bitching about the teacher who can’t spell “surreptitiously”!

"I'm not going to apologise for a typo"

Because you haven't backed up your statement with your research results either. Anyone can say pretty much anything can't they and dress it up as fact. That's kind of my point. The parents posting on here are talking about their actual experiences which is why this is an interesting discussion, with interesting opinions on both sides.

I'm sure it's possible to find research that proves and disproves pretty much anything. I'd also say that 11 year olds are very different to teens and older kids.

I can back it up, though.

Yes, there are always two sides to research, but in many cases there is enough evidence on one side to be proof. I'm sure you know all this, if you're a teacher yourself.

To be fair though, some of the parents posting on here don't seem to know much about what they're posting about.

They are indeed very different.

I’ve no experience of this yet and am inherently scared of technology because I don’t k kw enough about it. I will educate myself when the time comes.

However, as a rule I believe gadgets are just tools. You can put them to good use so that they enhance your life (phones that connect people to each other by voice or the written word, allow access to maps and music and books etc blah blah blah); or you can become their slave and suffer for it (readily accessible internet access to websites such as MN where one can waste hours of one’s life blah blah).

However, unlike many tools, consoles etc have a singular purpose of giving access to a potentially damaging and addictive activity: gaming. Not all games are damaging (see above), and not everybody sees the point in or succumbs to gaming (just like not everybody who drinks alcohol becomes an alcoholic).

Surely, sensibly speaking, it depends on the child, the gadget and the purpose to which it is put? And surely all of this requires considerable parental involvement? (That’s the bit that mainly makes me drag my heels - there are easier ways to keep children gainfully occupied that don’t involve huge amounts of parental supervision!)

I know someone who bought their give year old GTA. I was and pointed out the many inappropriate elements of the game and said that it was rated 18. She laughed and said it was just a game.

I watched lots of 18 films when I was underage, but it was things like Terminator at 16 rather than at five.

As for children being obsessed, DS was pretty obsessed with Thomas, then Cars (until he saw Cars 3, he immediately stored liking it then) and now it's Lego - films, toys and games, particularly Batman and Ninjago. I'm making the most of it as it's something DS, DH and me all agree is great.

There is s benefit! Having one means that you don't actually have to spend time with your child! It used to be the case that your child would pester you in the evenings into explaining the history of medieval Europe, demanding thatvupu went into such detail that you evebetualky taught them chess out of desperation so that you could just do that instead. Now you can just shove them in front of the tv and tell yourself that you don't have to be guilty because they are using 'teamwork' and improving their 'coordination'.

Outy - best post of the night

Minecraft and Disney Infinity meant we could finally sleep in on Sunday mornings.
For that the console is a good thing.
When I was young we got up early and watched cartoons.
Minecraft is just digital lego.

Outy I’m inclined to agree

Ds palys Minecraft On the ipad and a few games on the Xbox at his dads but nothing online it just isn’t as safe as we are often lead to believe

But he is just as up to date with technology as his friends who are constantly glued to their Xbox/screen as they have grown up with technology in a way we haven’t

And he other skills mentioned seem to be just as good and one thing that certainly is better is his concentration this improved when I limited the time he spend playing games

It's fab. I get to do my marking without feeling guilty thst I'm not spending time with the kids. It's an easy punish.net (15 mins off per transgression) and. It means that non footballing Ds has something in common with other kids.

Ah, the electric babysitter argument.

Do you run after your child's bike when they're riding round the street? Or follow them when they're out playing with their friends, wanting to join in with their games? What about when they read a book or draw a picture? Do you hover over them, commenting constantly on their activity?

And today I played chess with Dd after minecraft, then listened to Dd read, then tried to.discuss why we use both Anglo.Saxon and Latinate Lexis. That was possibly a step too far. We did climb a local mountain this morning.

The above is all true. It wasn't quite our usual Sunday.

Seriously, it's everything in moderation.

This is only from my experience and my children, so anecdata at its best.

Gaming on the whole has been a positive thing for my boys. They are now 10 and 11, and play collaboratively on games like Minecraft, Tales of Zestiria, Thingummy and the White Witch (can't remember the exact title). This year once the youngest reached 10 I have allowed them to play Minecraft on servers but up until now it's been offline / no chat rooms / no online contacts at all. Online Minecraft they have to have the chat channel off and they aren't allowed to accept friend requests.

They are learning to code (started with scratch and now on to JavaScript), they have amazing hand eye coordination, they have very good logical and deductive reasoning skills, they still seem to be imaginative in terms of their writing / penspiration at school. They are both natural mathematicians and this seems to have improved since they started coding and gaming.

They regulate their own screen time in as much as it has to be earned. Some jobs are expected (keeping bedroom tidy, feeding animals) but some jobs are paid for in screen time minutes (dishwasher, laundry sorting, collecting and sorting the eggs for example). Each job gets 5 minutes (or more depending on the job - washing both cars gets 30). They also get 10 minutes for every hour's exercise class they do and if they do 3 classes and one sparring, they get it doubled as a bonus (or 5 classes if no sparring classes running). Sparring tends to be on Friday afternoon so they get their bonus in time for the weekend.

There is a limit of 2h per day and homework / chores / anything else I deem necessary has to be done before they can spend their minutes. They start a timer when they turn the computer or console on, and when their time is up, they turn the computers off again.

I have noticed that my younger son's behaviour is more difficult after he has been playing computer games - more sulky, prone to tantrums, everything is in the too-hard basket and he's far more easily wound up by his brother. We are working on this, every time his attitude goes too far he gets a screen time ban of 24-72h (depending on how bad) and he has to find something else to do in his free time. Typically it'll be playing a card game or board game if he can persuade someone to play with him, or reading if he can't. He doesn't seem to be able to entertain himself without some kind of external input (screen or book or game with others - he won't play lego on his own, for example, or sit and do a jigsaw or anything arty) - but this was his personality before we introduced screens into his life, he's always needed some kind of external stimulation. He doesn't have any problems with turning the screens off once he has spent all his minutes - he's always been really conscientious about setting his timer and turning everything off when it runs out.

My older one seems to be the same whether he's had screen time or not. No tantrums, no sulks, no issues with keeping himself busy with something else (lego, arts, reading, making up stories - he's currently writing his own Pathfinder module) - I think it's just his personality type.

We are a gaming family though - DH and I met online in EverQuest (Antonius Bayle server for any other gamers out there!), and we regularly play Pathfinder (D&D roleplay) as a family which keeps their imaginations fired. They have a pretty well rounded life, with lots of outdoors stuff as well as indoors.

Blimey that was long!!

Hic, I've also done a research project into the effects of role play games on educational attainment and results were astoundingly positive. So much so, I introduced D&D to a small group of Year 6 boys with behavioural issues and it was extremely beneficial to them both socially and educationally.

It really is surprising how games can improve so many things.

D&D is round the table RPG....very different to consoles. I'm not saying consoles are evil and no child should ever be allowed on one, but they're very different to round the table RPG.

I could do D&D all day and all night.