Age 7 & 9 too young for an Xbox?

[mrsdaz]

My 9 year old has been pleading with me all year for an Xbox. All his friends have one. They also have mobile phones which I’m set against at this age...however back to topic...

I can’t afford one for him solely so it would have to be a joint present with his 7yo brother. 7yr old would also be overjoyed as he loves gaming too but he equally enjoys colouring etc. They play my ds18 Xbox approx once a week when he allows them to go on his.

They have loads of toys that I kept from my ds18.

Last year I bought loads of board games and bits and bobs but some are still unopened as we just have favourites like chess, monopoly etc.

Am I being silly even thinking of getting them an Xbox? Should I wait until they are older?

Feeling a little bit railroaded as my sister has got her 6 year old one for Xmas and my boys will be gutted he has one as he’s younger.

I want them to get what they want...and don’t see the point wasting money on toys they won’t play with! But I’m torn on the matter.

Their Xmas lists are Xbox, Pokemon cards, clothes etc. So not toys to pick out!

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

If you can afford a joint one I don't see why not. You can always have screen time limits.

I think Xbox is aimed at the older age group. I think a lot of thesgames have age ratings of 12+ 16+ 18+ etc. I would go and have a look at the games available first.
It could be though that they are using the word 'Xbox' in a generic way (like Hoover, Biro, Coke etc when you are refering to vacume cleaner, pen, cola etc). At that age they would get a lot of fun from one of those retro plug into the telly with 100 games pre loaded type things. They have the classic games like Space Invaders.

I'd say 7 is definitely too young. 9 is borderline. I wouldn't get into the habit of joint presents or you'll find the 7 year old is getting things too old for him, buy for them individually for their age.

My boy has been playing ours since he was much much younger.
He (6) and his sister (8) are playing it right now.

The limits on play time and mum and dad's rights to switch it off at any given moment have been a standard since they were young so it is easy and argument free when I tell them to turn it off. My almost 12 year old doesn't fight it at all either and she's a gamer.

Thanks all...I’ve decided to wait another year. Definitely can’t afford one as a stand alone present for the 9 year old and as they share a room it would be a bit of a nightmare if the younger one touched it etc so it would have to be joint.

At least I’ve got next years gift sorted 😊

My sons got a joint one last year. They were 6 and 10. My eldest got a switch from his grandfather, and tbh I wish I'd just gotten the younger one his own switch. Its much more kid friendly, lots of good 2 player games. No need to be online at all, the xbox demands it.

My 6 year old is car obsessed so uses it for one game which is perfect for him, but my eldest hardly looks at the xbox, he prefers the switch and his tablet.

If you could afford it, would you consider a switch? I do feel that the 9 year old will be the odd one out soon without some kind of games console. In my 6 year olds class at school there is only one or two without some kind of gaming thing.

My gut reaction is that they’re too young. But if the 9 year olds friends genuinely all have one he may be missing out on a social dimension if they are playing against each other.

Would it be possible to negotiate a deal with your older ds for the 9 year old to get more time on his xbox?

I would say yes it's appropriate for their age but you need to police carefully what games they have access to. By 9 some parents let them play inappropriate games so be prepared for "xxxx has yyyy game" parental controls are your friend! We've always had PlayStations as it's DH's and our DD's could use but under supervision.

My 8 year old ds has an Xbox, it’s in the living room so I can keep an eye on what he’s doing and he is allowed to play it Friday and Saturday night. He plays Lego games,
Minecraft etc. Surprised so many have said 9 is too young as most of his friends have one too so assumed it wasn’t overly young.

These games can be quite addictive. And especially at secondary age can be a massive diversion from doing homework etc. I would introduce this with great caution. Or not until much older.

How will your 9 year old feel? I mean obviously if you can't afford it you can't, but you can buy second hand ones to bring the cost down.
He isn't wrong that almost all his friends will have one.

So hard to keep them off it once they are hooked, I'd delay as long as possible !

I find taking the controllers away very effective. Im happy for my dc to fit in with their peers in ways which are not dangerous and which i can control!

All ds8 friends have Xbox etc and they all play fortnite. We are not getting him any game console yet. He is ok with it now. Also some boys in dd6's class play fortnite.

Ive found strict rules from the start are really easy to manage. My ds also does lots of sports clubs and out of school activities so is kept busy. As I said in earlier post he knows he is allowed to play fri and Saturday evenings and doesn’t even ask any other day. His friends who are fixated on it are the few who don’t have one at home, the ones that do come over mid week and are happy to go play something else.

I dithered before getting one and it's been brilliant.

They still colour, read, play board games, play outside all normal stuff. It's excellent in winter when there is little else to do it's been great for us and neither child has got stuck on it for hours.

Dh on the other hand...

PS there are loads of games for young dc...

yea get one. I have one for me, well now me and the boy but the girl plays now and shes 3.