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I have 6 kids. We don't allow video games in the house - except Tetris, since that seems to be good for developing intelligence. It can be hard for them to rel

I have 6 kids. We don't allow video games in the house - except Tetris, since that seems to be good for developing intelligence. It can be hard for them to relate to other kids, who only want to talk about Fortnite, which my kids know nothing about.

gerbilly 8y ago
Man, we used to play outside from morning (dawn is really early in the summer) till lunch, then from after lunch till 9:30pm. We lived in the country so we rode bikes, built tree forts, explored the woods. We shot bows and arrows and ran around with pellet guns, took apart old lawnmowers that never got put back together, sorry... :-( From thirteen on, I had little joe jobs pumping gas, washing cars watering plants at a nursery. Later on I worked at a farm. I can still back up a forty foot trailer on a dime. I also learned to jury rig almost any mechanical thing, because equipment was always breaking down.
- gerbilly 8y ago
  Replying to myself because I thought of more stuff. Some kinds had mini bikes, when we were about eight, but my grandmother forbade me from riding one, but she did let me drive her car when I was about 12 to go visit my friends. Also we'd go camping by this nice place near a waterfall with just two wool blankets. We'd take some cut hay from a nearby field to stuff under the first blanket and cover ourselves with the other.
vokep 8y ago
It may be hard and you may be viewed as "that weird restrictive parent that won't even let their kids play fortnite", but that doesn't make you wrong. Good stuff, glad parents like you are out there.
- leetcrew 8y ago
  it doesn't necessarily make them right either; there's always a tradeoff. when I was a kid, I was allowed to spend as much time as I wanted on the computer (I dunno why lol), but I could only watch thirty minutes of TV/movies per day and my parents refused to get a console. my parents were always very conservative with what I was allowed to watch, so what little I could watch was 2-3 years behind what my median classmate was watching in maturity level. when I was 8/9, all my classmates were obsessed with james bond. I asked my dad when I could watch james bond too and he said "maybe when you're 14". I know my parents had good intentions, but it meant that I couldn't really participate in most of the conversations my classmates had at school. I essentially lived in a culture shifted back several years. it was extremely isolating. on the other hand, I did get real good with computers and make a good living from coding now.
rublev 8y ago
Good stuff.
ceesick 8y ago
So many things concerning about your comment. What is the difference between getting lost in a good movie, book, or game? There isn't much difference between having some friends over for settlers of catan vs a 40 minute game of Mario Party. I grew up with blue collar parents who did everything they could to steer me away from games and technology. It damaged my relationship with them and to be honest I still carry a degree of resentment. Had my parents tried to harness my interest in games and technology and maybe looked into programs like these (https://www.lifewire.com/kids-programming-languages-4125938 https://www.lifewire.com/kids-programming-languages-4125938) then things might have been differently. Instead they did a great job of alienating me and forcing me to take interest in things that I had no interest in doing. All things in moderation, a teaching which I would argue has much more value than trying fruitlessly to shelter your kid from things you have little to no understanding of. I can understand not letting your young kid play games with violence or shooting, or online games, but a household ban on video games isn't going to curb any interest your kids have in technology. My passion for games and technology is the sole reason for my success in life. Your son or daughter could take that interest in games into so many other fields. It could motivate them to master math, physics, or to pursue one of many STEM fields.
- gerbilly 8y ago
  I understand what you are saying, but you may be arguing from a marginal case. Not every kid who would prefer to play video games is going to grow up to be a professional game developer or programmer.
  - ceesick 8y ago
    Correct, but to deny them an interest like that based on fear is a very narrow minded approach. The fact that many parents are worried about their son or daughter playing video games but are fine with them playing contact sports speaks volumes about their priorities. As a society we need to focus on encouraging our kids to be comfortable with who they are and supporting their interests. Just because all you wanted to do was run outside and play from morning to sundown does not mean that's what your kid wants to do. I'm not saying giving your kid free reign to play xbox all day but plenty of games out there encourage problem solving and critical thinking (and teamwork) on a deeper level than a word problem about how many watermelons Janet can carry to her car ever will. That being said, everything in moderation.
sosborn 8y ago
I have a ten year old boy who plays Fortnite. I'm actually impressed with the quality of interactions he has with his friends when playing. They collaborate on strategies together and communicate effectively as a team, all while laughing uproariously and making memories together.
- ceejayoz 8y ago
  Yeah, Fortnite and Minecraft seem to lead to pretty positive interactions. Seeing 6-8 kids all in the same Minecraft world makes it pretty clear that there's just as much creativity and social stuff going on as, say, playing with Legos. We don't permit passive stuff (YouTube) or the Skinner box games, but that's not because they're screens, it's because they're shit.
- king_phil 8y ago
  They even learn social competence for example when playing with random other people they talk about what characters there are, how you communicate with people effectively or give feedback/criticize effectively.
em500 8y ago
Somehow I doubt they're really that ignorant about Fortnite and other games, unless you're severely restricting their time/contact with other kids.
nathan_f77 8y ago
You should read this article about Fortnite: https://char.gd/blog/2018/fortnite-is-the-new-hangout-spot https://char.gd/blog/2018/fortnite-is-the-new-hangout-spot Apparently it's more of a "place" than a "game", so your kids are going to be left out if all of their friends are bonding and hanging out in the game. My parents never bought me a video game console, and I'm actually very grateful for that. I would play computer games occasionally but I was much more interested in learning QBASIC and making my own games, music, and animations. I also spent a lot of time outdoors with my friends and cousins, building treehouses and riding bikes, etc. Video game consoles weren't connected to the internet, and I was an only child, so I would have just been playing single-player games by myself. That would have been boring and a bit lonely, so maybe that's why I don't really like games. But it was always fun to go to a friend's house and play Super Smash Bros, GoldenEye 007, Crash Bandicoot, etc. I think you should reconsider the blanket ban on video games, because Minecraft and Fortnite can be very social activities. Maybe have a time limit of an hour per day.

gerbilly 8y ago

Man, we used to play outside from morning (dawn is really early in the summer) till lunch, then from after lunch till 9:30pm. We lived in the country so we rode bikes, built tree forts, explored the woods. We shot bows and arrows and ran around with pellet guns, took apart old lawnmowers that never got put back together, sorry... :-( From thirteen on, I had little joe jobs pumping gas, washing cars watering plants at a nursery. Later on I worked at a farm. I can still back up a forty foot trailer on a dime. I also learned to jury rig almost any mechanical thing, because equipment was always breaking down.

gerbilly 8y ago
Replying to myself because I thought of more stuff. Some kinds had mini bikes, when we were about eight, but my grandmother forbade me from riding one, but she did let me drive her car when I was about 12 to go visit my friends. Also we'd go camping by this nice place near a waterfall with just two wool blankets. We'd take some cut hay from a nearby field to stuff under the first blanket and cover ourselves with the other.

vokep 8y ago

It may be hard and you may be viewed as "that weird restrictive parent that won't even let their kids play fortnite", but that doesn't make you wrong. Good stuff, glad parents like you are out there.

leetcrew 8y ago
it doesn't necessarily make them right either; there's always a tradeoff. when I was a kid, I was allowed to spend as much time as I wanted on the computer (I dunno why lol), but I could only watch thirty minutes of TV/movies per day and my parents refused to get a console. my parents were always very conservative with what I was allowed to watch, so what little I could watch was 2-3 years behind what my median classmate was watching in maturity level. when I was 8/9, all my classmates were obsessed with james bond. I asked my dad when I could watch james bond too and he said "maybe when you're 14". I know my parents had good intentions, but it meant that I couldn't really participate in most of the conversations my classmates had at school. I essentially lived in a culture shifted back several years. it was extremely isolating. on the other hand, I did get real good with computers and make a good living from coding now.

rublev 8y ago

Good stuff.

ceesick 8y ago

So many things concerning about your comment. What is the difference between getting lost in a good movie, book, or game? There isn't much difference between having some friends over for settlers of catan vs a 40 minute game of Mario Party. I grew up with blue collar parents who did everything they could to steer me away from games and technology. It damaged my relationship with them and to be honest I still carry a degree of resentment. Had my parents tried to harness my interest in games and technology and maybe looked into programs like these (https://www.lifewire.com/kids-programming-languages-4125938 https://www.lifewire.com/kids-programming-languages-4125938) then things might have been differently. Instead they did a great job of alienating me and forcing me to take interest in things that I had no interest in doing. All things in moderation, a teaching which I would argue has much more value than trying fruitlessly to shelter your kid from things you have little to no understanding of. I can understand not letting your young kid play games with violence or shooting, or online games, but a household ban on video games isn't going to curb any interest your kids have in technology. My passion for games and technology is the sole reason for my success in life. Your son or daughter could take that interest in games into so many other fields. It could motivate them to master math, physics, or to pursue one of many STEM fields.

gerbilly 8y ago
I understand what you are saying, but you may be arguing from a marginal case. Not every kid who would prefer to play video games is going to grow up to be a professional game developer or programmer.
- ceesick 8y ago
  Correct, but to deny them an interest like that based on fear is a very narrow minded approach. The fact that many parents are worried about their son or daughter playing video games but are fine with them playing contact sports speaks volumes about their priorities. As a society we need to focus on encouraging our kids to be comfortable with who they are and supporting their interests. Just because all you wanted to do was run outside and play from morning to sundown does not mean that's what your kid wants to do. I'm not saying giving your kid free reign to play xbox all day but plenty of games out there encourage problem solving and critical thinking (and teamwork) on a deeper level than a word problem about how many watermelons Janet can carry to her car ever will. That being said, everything in moderation.

sosborn 8y ago

I have a ten year old boy who plays Fortnite. I'm actually impressed with the quality of interactions he has with his friends when playing. They collaborate on strategies together and communicate effectively as a team, all while laughing uproariously and making memories together.

ceejayoz 8y ago
Yeah, Fortnite and Minecraft seem to lead to pretty positive interactions. Seeing 6-8 kids all in the same Minecraft world makes it pretty clear that there's just as much creativity and social stuff going on as, say, playing with Legos. We don't permit passive stuff (YouTube) or the Skinner box games, but that's not because they're screens, it's because they're shit.
king_phil 8y ago
They even learn social competence for example when playing with random other people they talk about what characters there are, how you communicate with people effectively or give feedback/criticize effectively.

em500 8y ago

Somehow I doubt they're really that ignorant about Fortnite and other games, unless you're severely restricting their time/contact with other kids.

nathan_f77 8y ago

You should read this article about Fortnite: https://char.gd/blog/2018/fortnite-is-the-new-hangout-spot https://char.gd/blog/2018/fortnite-is-the-new-hangout-spot Apparently it's more of a "place" than a "game", so your kids are going to be left out if all of their friends are bonding and hanging out in the game. My parents never bought me a video game console, and I'm actually very grateful for that. I would play computer games occasionally but I was much more interested in learning QBASIC and making my own games, music, and animations. I also spent a lot of time outdoors with my friends and cousins, building treehouses and riding bikes, etc. Video game consoles weren't connected to the internet, and I was an only child, so I would have just been playing single-player games by myself. That would have been boring and a bit lonely, so maybe that's why I don't really like games. But it was always fun to go to a friend's house and play Super Smash Bros, GoldenEye 007, Crash Bandicoot, etc. I think you should reconsider the blanket ban on video games, because Minecraft and Fortnite can be very social activities. Maybe have a time limit of an hour per day.