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Parenting

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Original poster

Is my DS the only 6 yr old without a ...

186 replies

pipo · 30/01/2011 12:36

DS?
He has asked for one for his 6th birhtday next month. he assures me that EVERYONE in his class has got one. is anyone else's dc as deprived as mine? i'm not even sure why i'm not keen for him to have one - it just seems a grown-up sort of toy when i want him to play with lego, go to the park and be bored enough to make up his own little games still. has anyone else successfully got away with not getting one?

OP posts:

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JustAnother · 02/02/2011 07:36

yes, some children spend too much time on the DS, some children spend too much time watching TV or even eating crisps. It is a question of teaching your kids what is acceptable or not, according to your own criteria. The toy itself won't turn them into addicts. The lack of parental direction might.

Bonsoir · 02/02/2011 08:48

I agree with Franca that most of the children I see with games consoles spend an awful lot of time on them unless they are very clearly policed not to do so. I saw a todder in a push chair out with his parents last Saturday, playing on a DS - what kind of habits are being engrained?

Francagoestohollywood · 02/02/2011 09:15

Northern don't worry, I've been on so many electronic games threads that I grew a thick skin , I know they can get extremely controversial!

It is probably also a generational issue: I am 40 and video games appeared when I was about 10 or maybe older, I played Donkey Kong and there was also that fantastic game of the Olympics (I grew up in Italy, did you have it in the UK? It was ace!) Therefore, I know how good fun video games are, but they never become part of my life.
For this reasons, it would have never occurred to me to buy a nintendo ds or whatever for my toddler children (I've seen lots of very small children with them too) and for this reason I am trying to delay having to police electronic games time, as I am already policing ds's time on the computer.

And sadly, our son won't be the next Steve Jobs or whatever, because all he does on the computer is watching Juventus on youtube, or checking the weather forecast when he wants to go skiing [hmm

Sorry, long!!!

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SoMuchToBits · 02/02/2011 12:03

Lol, my ds's favourite websites are the RNLI website and the Playmobil one

Mumcentreplus · 02/02/2011 12:28

My DDs 7 and 8yrs don't have a DS they have been asking since they were 4...I've said I'll get them one when they are on special offer half-price or BOGOF

preghead · 02/02/2011 16:20

If you've got any old consoles or games kicking around you can trade them in at GAME and get money off new ds's, that was the best deal I saw when looking. Sadly, I didn't go down the route of trading in my husbands playstation or xbox like a friend of mine did (LOL, he wasnt pleased) and traded my old ds lite instead. This means I am now in the ridiculous situation of having to ask my 6y old for permission to use it as I am trying to finish off professor Layton puzzle game. He has actuall stared saying "no mummy, you haven't done the dinner yet, haven't been well behaved enough" etc so my own words are coming back to haunt me....

I agree that it is not the ds that can cause problems, it's unrestricted access as they don't have the self control to know when to stop at this age. As long as you have some ground rules and it's not played to the exclusion of Lego, park etc I think it is fine. I was a massive gameplayer in my youth and turned out fine, gainfully employed etc

Original poster

pipo · 02/02/2011 19:55

thank you all for all your observations. i am still undecided but vearing towards a no not this time, will try to hold out for another year.i am a SAHM at the moment so do have the time to help him play creatively (i.e. clear up afterwards) and to loiter in the park with him.

OP posts:

shirazgirl · 02/02/2011 19:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ixia · 03/02/2011 20:43

DD is 5 and wants one, we have resisted. Unfortunately most of her friends do have one and a few of them have Ipads. Worst thing is that there are 2 of them in her classroom - which really pisses me off, as it blows my too young argument out of the water. This is also the school that asks for book donations, as they had no books for the quiet corner. How many bloody books can you buy for the price of 2 DSs.
We do have a Wii, which is a family game and v. good for DD's motor control (she's waiting for an OT assessment). But she is prone to being obsessive and I know a DS will be a battle ground.

skybluepearl · 03/02/2011 21:57

most 7 and 8 year olds i know don't have them. mine play on the wii and watch a bit of TV most days. Screen time ammounts to one hour a day mostly - or less if we are busy.

mindtheagegap · 04/02/2011 13:46

I hate them - and I think 6 is way too young. I just don't 'get' them - and aren't they expensive? I am maybe out of touch as I don't have a child this age (DS is 23 years and DD is only 15mths), but I don't think living without computer games is a hardship, or is going to affect a child's ability to be computer 'literate'. But then I don't agree with young children having mobile phones either. I didn't have TV when I was a child and it didn't make me a social leper and I don't watch it much now (only have one in the house - which according to friends is wierd!). My 23 year old had a games console of some kind when he was 12 - but he saved up for it and survived not having one up to then. Maybe I'm just a mean luddite

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