To not buy ds1 a games console for Christmas

[caitlinohara]

Ds1 will be nearly 12 at christmas but we are still holding out on this. My reason being - I do not want to live in a family where the kids are glued to computer games and I do not trust them to limit themselves to a sensible amount of game time (learned from experience of having a Wii). Ds1 thinks I am BU and has just gone and slammed a door about it. Apparently EVERYONE else in the world has Fortnite. It has got to the point now where he is saying he can't have friends round because there is 'nothing to do that they will like'. To clarify: we have a drum kit, a pool table and a garden to play in so I don't buy this at all, I think he is being spoilt. He has a tablet and a mobile phone but they have screen limits on them. I know he is never going to stop asking. AIBU.

From my understanding reading doesn't give you a dopamine hit

It can do, depending on what you read.

Sometimes games have a problem solving element, but they are pretty easy. My kids are utterly disinterested. They seem to get their dopamine hit from memes and vines

Over all gaming is probably more addictive than reading I would think

Minecraft is actually so beneficial, it's released an educational version that we use in schools and it has many purposes.

What a strange statement. The fact that a games manufacturer has moved into schools and is selling them a product does not mean that said product necessarily has any educational benefit whatsoever. Of course the makers of Minecraft want schools to buy versions of their product--they are a business! If Coca-Cola incorporated invents a soft drink with supposed education-boosting benefits and markets it to schools, does that "prove" that the drink in question actually does anything beneficial?

Have you actually used Minecraft as an educator?

Have you seen other games that children play being adapted for use in school, such as Call of Duty, Fortnite, Rocket League etc?

I'm not sure why my comment is deemed as "strange", when Minecraft is beneficial for education, which is why schools are using it.

Surely by your logic, anything could be marketed to a school? It doesn't mean to say that a school will use it or buy it.

Haven't read the full thread yet, so apologies if this has been said already. I think that on Xbox you can set time restrictions on the Microsoft account that it is set up with it. I'd imagine you can do the same with a PlayStation. If you start with very clear rules and time restrictions already programmed in, it should be fairly manageable. Time limits are non negotiable in our house.

I grew up in the 80s without a telly. It made me feel horribly left out and I felt very embarrassed about it. When people started talking about their favourite programmes I'd go really quiet so no one would find out. I hated it.

I’d say YABU. I’ve let my DC have restricted time on games since the age of four and am not seeing any serious psychological damage. We have an iPad, laptop, MacBook, DP has a PS4 and DS has an Xbox. They’re not glued to games whatsoever because I am their parent and I tell them when it’s time to get off.

You are setting up a pubescent boy for a fall sending him to school having not played a game the vast majority of people his age will have played. He will be left out as a result. If it were a money issue, I’d be on your side but it sounds as though you are projecting your own opinions onto him.