17 ms·

Choosing Minecraft over Disney

509 points by don_neufeld 13y ago

DannoHung 13y ago
Lame. She still doesn't really give a shit what her kids are doing so long as she doesn't get back talk. Fuck you lady.
- anthem001 13y ago
  Obviously not a parent, either that or you're miraculously able to entertain your kid(s) 24/7.
  - mratzloff 13y ago
    It's perfectly OK and healthy for kids to be bored.
- 6d0debc071 13y ago
  If she never played with her kids, I might agree with you. However, it seems a bit of a stretch to assume based just on that article.
jmduke 13y ago
To me, this reads less like a Minecraft-is-great piece and more like a tablets-are-great piece. Julie's daughter isn't just choosing Minecraft over Disney -- she's choosing activity over passivity, creation instead of consumption. For the first time ever, toddlers (as in, people too young to understand how a Gameboy works) are interacting and playing in increasingly complex ways. It's not a niche often covered in HN, but the childrens' app market is booming at an unparalleled level: it's why everyone from Amazon to Valve is trying to get involved, because suddenly we have this ubiquitous magical technology that lets our five year olds learn fractions while being on an adventure -- and the price is $.99, instead of an overpriced $15.99 pop-up book or a $49.99 DVD. There's a lot of FUD in this overwhelmingly technological age, but I think it speaks volumes when I think that I'd rather be a kid now than any other time. The future is bright.
- claudius 13y ago
  The child in question is nine. I distinctly recall a friend of mine having a gameboy in primary school, and I got my first computer (well, ‘us kids’ got it) at that age, too. With an actual keyboard and letting me explore that thing rather than merely being an interface to Youtube and Minecraft.
  - __david__ 13y ago
    I got my first computer when I was 7 (2nd grade). I had to built it—my dad gave me the circuit board, a bunch of parts and the schematic. He showed me how to match the schematic parts to thier number on the board and the number on the chip. He gave me a cheat sheet for the resistor's colors (I didn't end up memorizing them--to this day I have to look them up). He showed me how to bend the pins so the parts didn't fall out when you turned the board over to solder them. I'd spend an hour putting parts in, then I'd get to my favorite part where I got to use the soldering iron. I'd flip the board over and solder all the holes I'd just filled with parts. My dad would monitor me for a few minutes before he got bored and then it was all me. I don't remember how long it took because it was so long ago, but I remember finally soldering the last part in and looking in awe at my bootleg Apple ][+. The first time I used it it didn't even have a case. And no disks either--we used the tape to load some games and play around. I learned basic that way and that computer is probably why I'm a programmer today. I loved that computer—I still have that computer. And it still works.
    - dchichkov 13y ago
      Yep. It's funny, but a 5 year old can easily manage an oscilloscope and basic analog circuits. And a 6-7 year old - an oscilloscope, a logic probe and digital circuits. The kid doesn't have to be a wunderkind too. It is just a matter of being exposed to these tools and having dad working at home with the equipment.
  - mikeash 13y ago
    I got my first computer around that age as well. However, that was far from the norm.
ronilan 13y ago
What Disney produces is content made for kids. What SkyDoesMinecraft produces is content made for everyone that happens to be appropriate and relevant for kids. The latter represents what the world is. The former is a fantasy. Minecraft is awosome but the unique appeal here is of YouTube. It is, and has been for years now, a one of a kind window to the world that is especially appealing to kids. It can not be duplicated but it can go wasted. Don't be sad though, you can always skip this ad in 5 seconds.
phaedryx 13y ago
For kid-friendly minecraft videos I recommend Paul Soares Jr.: http://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr http://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr
- remixz 13y ago
  Another good one is kurtjmac: http://www.youtube.com/user/kurtjmac http://www.youtube.com/user/kurtjmac He also raises money for charity by walking to an area of Minecraft where the terrain generation glitches out, called the "Far Lands".
  - netcraft 13y ago
    As well as Etho's Lab. He keeps the language PG and has quite the following. http://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab/videos http://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab/videos
  - exDM69 13y ago
    Kurt's Kerbal Space Program videos are awesome too. Oh yeah, and Kerbal Space Program is something that could get your kids interested in space and science, perhaps not as young kids as Minecraft appeals to but perhaps a ten year old could be interested. KSP is family friendly too, with the exception of the occasional little green men dying in a horrible solid rocket booster accident or a high velocity impact with a celestial body.
- squidsoup 13y ago
  For slightly older kids, I would highly recommend Direwolf20's Feed the Beast Let's Play series. FTB is a collection of mods that adds entirely new tech trees to the game (amongst other things), allowing you to build advanced power generation such as nuclear and geothermal, logic gates, and even programmable bots/turtles (programmed in Lua). Direwolf's videos are instructive and fun, and his language is appropriate for kids. http://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20 http://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20
fckyrpywll 13y ago
"Please sign in to continue" No.
- prezjordan 13y ago
  You do not have to sign in to read articles.
corresation 13y ago
My 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son are both deep in love with Minecraft, so I most certainly agree with that part. I also have the same disdain for Disney XD, with the same complaints as the linked -- they have truly terrible writing, and are just horrible social models. I have to add a caveat about the Minecraft videos, however, in that many of them are just as bad or worse than tween shows. While some are just walkthroughs, a growing number are obnoxious cliche fests (e.g. screaming and yelling expletives when a creeper appears, etc). There is a large set of people trying to capitalize on kids watching minecraft videos.
- VLM 13y ago
  I've seen a similar bifurcation where most minecraft videos are either really cool how to demos that focus on the game, or are extroverts trying to showcase their swearing and drinking abilities where the game is kind of a screensaver in the background as they act pretty much act like fools. I've learned a lot from some minecraft youtube videos such as how to build an automatic chicken growing factory with water conveyor belts. Frankly I'd rather have spent 15 seconds looking at a blueprint than 15 minutes tediously watching a build, but still..
- nextw33k 13y ago
  I think the awesome benefit of youtube is that you can leave direct feedback. Give it a thumbs down plus explain why. Teach your kids to do that and eventually things will improve. Just don't expect that of Disney.
  - DanBC 13y ago
    Yogscast (quite sweary British minecraft youtubes) have 4,806,098 subscribers and 1,931,000,000 video views. This video [1] has 1,076,520 views, 49,507 up-thumbs and 808 down-thumbs, with over 7,000 comments. It's been up for about 24 hours at this point. I fully support down-voting and commenting, but I'm not sure it's going to have any effect. Luckily, there are plenty of other videos where decent attitudes are on show. [1] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idfJmWRj3s&list=UUH-_hzb2ILSCo9ftVSnrCIQ&index=3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idfJmWRj3s&list=UUH-_hzb...)
jiggy2011 13y ago
Minecraft on a tablet? How does that work?
- ihuman 13y ago
  It is a watered-down version, with touch-based controls.
rlx0x 13y ago
Minecraft Lets Plays are amazing, I can't think of any other game where it spawned such a large community. For people who want to watch a little bit more serious Lets Plays (not just targeted at toddlers) I recommend the MindCrack[0] server/network of Youtubers. In particular EthosLab[1]. There is also a large community around the ForgeCraft[2] server where most major mod creators play and test their mods. Direwolf20[3] in particular. [0] http://www.guudelp.com/ http://www.guudelp.com/ [1] https://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab https://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab [2] http://www.reddit.com/r/forgecraft/ http://www.reddit.com/r/forgecraft/ [3] https://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20 https://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20
- dthunt 13y ago
  I actually watch Japanese Minecraft LPs - it makes for excellent study material, and is highly entertaining.
conradev 13y ago
I think too many commenters here are focusing on the positive effects of Minecraft rather than the negative effects of modern television. In my opinion, anything is better than Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and their derivatives. The author pretty thoroughly covers what is wrong with them, and she is not alone in her opinion. I know people who have specifically blocked those channels on their TV, so that the kids are forced to watch something better.
- rcthompson 13y ago
  Yes, this was what I took away from the article: "Micecraft is cool, I guess, but anything is better than Disney tween sitcoms."
- cschmidt 13y ago
  The Disney shows are just evil - they give kids horrible stereotypes to emulate. I know several girls that are walking little Disney show characters. They are mean, snarky, and talk in zingers like the punchlines of Shake it Up or A.N.T. Farm. It is kind of sad. We see a change in behavior when our 7 year old daughter sneaks off and watches some of these show. Instant attitude. Our clever daughter decides she wants to be a famous dancer.
  - wtracy 13y ago
    I ate dinner in a Burger King last week that had a TV playing The Wizards of Waverly Place. I was horrified. The main character shows no empathy toward the people around her (she lets some girls eat some spoiled sandwiches that she was told to dispose of, and doesn't skip a beat when they later start vomiting) and insults and physically attacks her brother (knocking over his food tray) constantly without any provocation. She repeatedly mis-uses trite motivational sound bites to deflect blame (announcing, "We could focus on the past, and on whose fault this is, or we could focus on the now" when the fault was clearly her own negligence--that started to make me want to punch her in the face!). And, of course, she constantly uses magic to cover up her mistakes and avoid responsibility. I'm not even a parent, and I'm mad.
- gbog 13y ago
anthem001 13y ago
Great article. My kids are exactly the same (5 and 8). I would rather have them use their imaginations to play and build than watch TV violence or stupidity. I would recommend iHasCupquake for YouTube videos. She is engaging and funny and is someone your daughter can find inpiration in as well (youtube.com/user/iHasCupquake) Oh, and iHasCupquake, if you for whatever reason read this my daughter thinks your "hair is very pretty".
arocks 13y ago
Content produced by Disney and others are written with a stereotypical kid in mind. Their brief must be something like this - "Our target audience needs a bright colour palette with lots of bubble gum pink and syrupy greens. Should have fast and loud sequences to keep them engaged. Goofy characters work. In any case - Don't Make Them Think". Trust me it is a relief to not see the young generation glued to such content all day (which even they don't find engaging any more). If they find joy in building and designing something themselves, then more power to that.
milesf 13y ago
My kids are huge Minecraft fanatics. I set them up their own server with a whitelist, and now they have over 40 of their friends on it building incredible things. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, I'm using Purugin (https://github.com/enebo/Purugin https://github.com/enebo/Purugin) and helping them learn to write plugins in Ruby for their server. I'm writing a book with my son and daughter about the experience in hopes other parents out there can channel their kid's passion into learning a skill that will serve them the rest of their lives, no matter what occupation they choose. Minecraft has been a life changing event in our home. My kids would rather create than consume. That's something I can get behind as a parent.
- pseut 13y ago
  I'd love it if you blogged the book as you write it. I'm always looking for new ways to engage my 4yo daughter with this stuff as she grows up.
  - DanBC 13y ago
    Here's a mother and her young child (4? 5?) playing around with Minecraft. (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAA32A313F61AFBBB http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAA32A313F61AFBBB) It's cute and fun, and it can expand in all sorts of different ways. Arts and crafts, or programming, or design, or real world play.
    - chasb 13y ago
      All this kid wants to do is make zombies. That's adorable.
  - clbrook 13y ago
    My 4 year old son started playing Minecraft in creative mode when he was 3. He's become quite adept with the mouse and keyboard. Here's a video of him building a train, ahem, minecart track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYt3-kihNE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYt3-kihNE My husband wrote out a cheat-sheet for him to copy letter-by-letter into the command line to switch between creative and survival mode. He remains in creative mode except when he wants to use the crafting table. I've tried introducing him to Scratch, however, since it is so word-based, it is quite difficult to teach to a non-reader. In Minecraft, even though he can't read, he can tell me what almost every piece of material is in his inventory. Anyway, long story short, we're always looking for G-rated Minecraft Youtube videos to learn from. My husband hosts a server world for us (and sometimes his cousins join us). I would love for him to have the opportunity to play Minecraft with kids his own age, but I don't know of any others, does your daughter play or is she just getting started with it?
MartinCron 13y ago
I had to put on a blanket "live action Disney Channel show" ban after my son (10 at the time) started marathoning "Good Luck Charlie" on Netflix and transformed into an obnoxious little jerk, never missing a chance to make a snarky comment. It was very disturbing. Removing the garbage quality tween shows caused an immediate reversal. Still, not everything Disney makes is bad, Phineas and Ferb is brilliant.
- EduardoBautista 13y ago
  An entire generation will know about the magical platypus.
- cschmidt 13y ago
  I'd have a very short list of shows that Disney makes that aren't evil. 1. Phineas and Ferb
  - ndrake 13y ago
    Gravity Falls!!!!!!!!!!
  - far33d 13y ago
    I have one problem with Phineas and Ferb, a show I otherwise enjoy. The sister is a classic Disney tween show girl. It sets an awful example for my daughter as she relates to her brother and other peers - the boys are doing all this great, awesome, fun stuff while the girl tattles on them and cares only of boys and popularity.
    - MartinCron 13y ago
      The other female characters (Isabella, Vanessa, et. al) are strong enough that I can forgive the broad clumsy parody that is Candace.
- robryan 13y ago
  Lizzy McGuire was a pretty good kids show. I think that era of Disney channel shows was a bit better. My sister and I are separated by 7 years, the stuff she grew up with on Disney Channel was pretty different (early 2000's).
noonespecial 13y ago
It was a wakeup call for me when I literally heard the Disney channel coming out of the mouth of my 7 year old girl. I spent a day and actually watched that stuff. Day-um. It was good for a life lesson about how tv is a huge exaggeration of real life and you probably shouldn't talk like the characters on tv until you can appreciate the impact of those words and attitudes.
- moens 13y ago
  It was a wakeup call for me when I literally heard the Fox News channel coming out of the mouth of my 70 year grandmother... etc. Barf. The point is much more general: programmed stimulation is a problem. Unless you are a slave owner, then programmed stimulation can be good for production.
  - w1ntermute 13y ago
    Well, there's a difference in that Fox News was simply telling your 70 y/o grandmother that her preexisting views were shared by many others, and therefore acceptable to express in public. On the other hand, live action Disney shows have a much greater effect, because they can permanently affect the mental and social development of young children.
    - noonespecial 13y ago
      The part I really had trouble with was the shows had kind of a pervasive cynicism to them while the dialog consisted largely of biting sarcasm. The message seemed to be "whoever is fastest on the draw with a sarcastic insult is coolest." Just taking an episode of South Park and s///g'ing the profanity with disnified words like "dweebiod" doesn't alchemically transmute it into "wholesome family entertainment". If you talk to your real life friends like the "friends" do on these shows, you're not going to have many of them.
nicklovescode 13y ago
I wholeheartedly support the idea of children using interactive creative environments rather than just watch TV. However, as a non-parent, I can't figure out why cursing is such a big deal. Many parents wouldn't bat at eye at some pretty awful violence in movies(think Batman or something), but feel "fuck" is cause for evacuation. I have the same issue with fear of nudity.
- ceol 13y ago
  I imagine the parent in the OP would also steer her child away from violence the same way she does bad language. That's just how our society is: There are some words and phrases that we have all accepted are improper or "bad", so most of us refrain from allowing children to hear them.
  - nicklovescode 13y ago
    Wouldn't it make sense to just teach the children that many people accept these words as bad, and leave it at that? Why censor vast amounts of content(I would imagine most of the best Minecraft videos for instance wouldn't be PG) based on language used.
    - ceol 13y ago
      Well, because there are videos by other people who do not use excessive curse words. If there are alternatives, why not prefer them? Now, if this were the parent blocking their child from viewing any Minecraft video because the majority of them include some cursing, it would be a bit different.
      - nicklovescode 13y ago
        In my experience the Youtube/gaming videos default is not kid-friendly. If that's the case, then your kid will be getting less quality content for what I believe is basically no fair reason.
        13y ago
spacecowboy 13y ago
I have four children between the ages of 9 and 17 and they all play Minecraft. One of the most interesting things about them playing it is that they'll play together as a team building elaborate home structures. At one point, they built an amusement park with roller coaster rides and everything. One of the other games I have introduced them to is the game Fez. It allows them to simply explore another colorful 2d/3d world as a single player.
raldi 13y ago
Remember when the iPad came out and was widely decried for being suitable only for passive, non-creative consumption of content?
- Groxx 13y ago
  I don't think this has stopped, or even slowed. There are more counter-examples now, but there are also more supporting ones, and it feels like I see a new article somewhere on a monthly basis saying tablets are no good for creation. Meanwhile, the kids keep painting and building things, like they did when it first came out.
- Grue3 13y ago
  Playing games is still passive, non-creative consumption of content.
  - Karunamon 13y ago
    Have a look at some of the things built on Minecraft (we're talking all the way up to fully functional CPUs, here) and then tell me that it's both passive and non-creative.
cinquemb 13y ago
"Bad language is easy to curb, but stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt are not." Old way of conditioning, meet the new way of conditioning where the complexities in the way people live their life reflected in media are still circumvented and avoided in order to provide temporary peace of mind and entertainment. Edit: I probably shouldn't share these types of thoughts on HN, but do anyways seeing what others care to explain about possible underlying dynamics going on here that aren't being said. Sorry if I am offending the HN groupthink.
- conroe64 13y ago
  I don't understand what you are saying? Playing minecraft or watching amateurs' videos of themselves playing is conditioning? By who, and how?
  - cinquemb 13y ago
    Bear with me. The conditioning in this is media is shaping the minds of individuals (intentionally or not), who will most likely not be aware of this going on during consumption. The old way being television or in relation to this posting, Disney and "…stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt…". The new way being "interactive" media, or in relation to this posting, Minecraft and related content consumed where "Bad language is easy to curb…". The "stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt" is hardly unique Disney or other child TV consumption (or TV for that matter…). One thing people point out with television consumption people have stated time and time again, is that it hardly invites it's viewers to explore ideas outside of the content while viewing. Then it seems like some how, the ability to be able to interact with media with content like Minecraft is some how better (allows children to be more creative, enabling more thinking, or whatever people say the benefits are compared to what people think of television now [though I bet some people were touting the benefits of television not to long ago…]), which I can see/understand the argument being made here for that with the logic being made on surface level. However, the thing is that it isn't like what the children are doing is outside of the purpose of the game and are very much only able to do things within the constructs the game. At the end of the day, it is still a game. And like Disney shows or the like, it still does not invite the player to explore ideas and concepts that are going within the game at the same time. So to me, it seems like overall the child is no better off with being able to digest things like "Bad language…" and notions of "…stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt"(hardly unique to our times since it is apart of human nature after all) that could be going on in the game or other consumable content related. It seems to me it would be foolish to think that this "new interactive media" does any more or less compared to the "old way" (TV, or the tech before that like radio and even books) when it comes to addressing the underlying issues being avoided. And apparently, even trying to have a discussion upon such seems to be avoided…
Swizec 13y ago
When you think about it, Minecraft is this generation's LEGO. Kudos to Notch!
- jamie_ca 13y ago
  Yep. My 5yo still alternates between "Minecraft" and "the Lego game."
stevewilhelm 13y ago
I tried a couple of times to get my daughter interested in Sim City, Second Life, Minecraft, etc. Every time, she decided if she was going to go to all the trouble of building something, it should be a real thing. She has since gotten very active in team sports.
bagacrap 13y ago
when I was growing up I was sort of forced, sort of coaxed into reading a lot of books. So maybe I am biased, but it seems like reading books is the most educational experience a young mind can have. I also built a lot of legos, which is kind of like a real world analog to Minecraft (correct me if I'm wrong on that), and that helped develop my spatial reasoning I suppose. But it seems like literature has an almost endless potential to educate and expand your mind, whereas at a certain point minecraft/legos/etc will reach a state of greatly diminished returns. So why is the only other option for this woman's child a TV?
alfiejohn_ 13y ago
Although I agree that exposure to computers is great for kids, how young is too young? I've got a toddler (3yo) who plays games on my phone. He's actually pretty good at some of the platform games on it (astonishingly good considering his age), but we're questioning his maturity with phone use. He asks my wife all day long "when is daddy coming home", only to hear "can I play with your phone" when I walk through the door. I'll let him play with it for about half an hour just before dinner, but telling him to pack it away to eat dinner is like a declaration of war. We've gotten to the point that we've banned him outright using my phone because of the anger/temper that it's caused. I know the links of bad behaviour and sugar consumption, but we're thinking that phone use is worse. Anybody else seen this behaviour, or is it just bad parenting?
- ChuckMcM 13y ago
  Welcome to being a parent. Throughout their lives they will find things that they desire above all else. Your goal should be to figure out how to use that to teach them moderation, and 3 is about the right place to start in my experience. The primary goal for me at that stage was to help them understand delayed gratification, or specifically that working on something not as fun can lead to something fun. The secondary goal turned out to be to find other things that are just as fun. This latter goal was abetted by reading stories like "Bread and Jam for Frances" in which our heroine learns that while Bread and Jam is tasty, it isn't all there is in the world. I did not realize it at the time but the secondary goal of finding things equally fun becomes really useful as they get older. To know from experience that no matter how fun this thing you are doing is, there are other things that are fun out there waiting to be discovered, helped mitigate some obsessing on the one fun thing. Reading/books are great for that since they come in many shapes and topics and you can learn a ton from them.
  - alfiejohn_ 13y ago
    Thanks for the comment. You're right. I think the lessons of moderation and delayed gratification should be a goal and not a blanket ban. Finding things equally as fun is hard. He knows what he wants... what works is distracting him from what's in front of him to something else not equally as fun. We'll work on that. As for reading, he really enjoys books but just not nearly enough as gaming. He's favorite is "The little yellow digger" and he's even memorised it. Highly recommend it.
bitwize 13y ago
One of the things I've learned from meeting smart adults with kids is how legitimate -- and prevalent -- are "no stupid bullshit" rules governing what kids may watch. I've met more than one couple now that forbids Hannah Montana, Bratz, and other associated nonsense, and their kids are probably better functioning for it. If instead of idiot TV they're messing around with Minecraft -- a screen-bound Lego set with as close to infinite pieces as makes no difference -- so much the better.
greatguns 13y ago
OMG this is so true. Disney and Nick were so bad that we cancelled cable for several years before eventually giving up when a good deal came along. :( We've regretted it. We limit how much they watch, but it doesn't matter. It isn't even attitude so much as just non-stop nonsense from both kids at the dinner table because that is what they watch. The shows aren't funny to begin with but imagine children trying to parrot the same behavior of the children in the shows without having any idea how to fully pull it off. It is HORRIBLE. Please make it stop. Our cable contract is coming up, but the fam is addicted again to the other shows we didn't get on air or via netflix. So screwed.
xarien 13y ago
Preface: My son is 3 years old. I let my kid choose his own entertainment. He'll more often than not either request the tablet or violent Donald Duck cartoons from the 50s (both of which we cap the duration to ~15 min). I believe that while curiosity is something to foster, we shouldn't force it upon our kids without providing them with alternative choices. Helping him develop an ability to discern pros and cons when making decisions along with negotiation skills will help round him out much more than trying to force him into a purely producer role.
JunkDNA 13y ago
This is the massive change afoot that Hollywood needs to recognize. 20 years ago they were fighting over which network you would watch or which film you would go to see. But now the entire Movie/TV industry has to compete against other forms of entertainment. While you can argue that this has always been the case, computer-based entertainment is a lot more "TV-like" than going out to a concert or seeing a play. I think this long term trend poses an existential threat to the TV and movie business. They are going to need to adapt to this new environment or risk irrelevance.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
matthewsinclair 13y ago
I can't speak highly enough of the transformative capabilities of Minecraft. My 7yo has been struggling with reading because of working memory issues, even though he has a verbal reasoning score that is off the charts (we had him psych tested as part diagnosing why he was struggling with his reading). Minecraft was about the best thing we found to motivate him to read. He wanted to know how to do stuff, I told him "it's in the Wiki" and point-blank refused to help him do it in the game. He struggled at first to even be able to type stuff into the Wiki search box, but he persevered and his reading has improved dramatically. Every now and again (mostly at random) I will 'reward' him by jumping onto the console and dropping in a couple of special items that he hasn't seen before, and then watch him go off to the Wiki to try and work out what to do with it. As I said, I just can't speak highly enough about it and I've told everyone who will listen about how good it is. The simplest explanation I've come up with to explain to grandparents and other interested parties about what he is doing is this: "it's Lego for the mind".
mowfask 13y ago
One thing about this whole discussion really bugs me: Everyone is just talking about how to keep the children occupied with technology. I really think this is the wrong approach, there is so much more to learn and explore than stupid pixels on a screen. When we were young my parents had the attitude that it's very important to get a "feel for the earth", in a very literal way. That's why we spend as much time outside as possible. One of the few things I remember about primary school: I was the only one who knew potatoes grow below ground. Where has this world come, that our children know so little about even the most basic stuff??
- bliker 13y ago
  Situations like that are very sad http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bGYs4KS_djg http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...
  - bluehex 13y ago
    It really is. I'm wondering if there may be another American epidemic at play here as well, which is the "it's cool to be stupid" phenomenon. I actually don't know around what age this starts happening but I definitely remember being hesitant to give the right answer as a kid as the other kids would make fun of me for being a nerd or what have you.
- DanBC 13y ago
  Children use huge amounts of time. It might sound like parents are spending all this time dumping a child in front of a screen but really this time is quite short compared to the rest of the time that's available. Gardening is another great activity. Start with cress, then herbs and vegetables in window boxes.
  - mowfask 13y ago
    In my opinion "dumping a child in front of a screen" should really be the last option; only used with a good excuse and balanced by extensive investment of time. (It's of course easy for me to talk like that, but I see one of the greatest responsibilities of live in raising your children properly. Which for me includes spending a whole lot of time with them.)
Balgair 13y ago
http://www.reddit.com/r/mindcrack/ http://www.reddit.com/r/mindcrack/ Since a lot of young parents are on this thread, I'll risk the reddit link and plug for the MindCrack community. Many up loaders there are curse banning and very kid friendly. EthosLab is by a Canadian coder/garden supplier and is logic gate heavy. KurtJMac is a Chicagoian graphic designer that is walking to the floating point error in the games world algorithm generation for charity having raised 70k for cancer patients and talks about astronomy and NASA. Both are very good.
marshray 13y ago
It got to the point that my kids were begging me to cancel cable TV and use the proceeds to buy an additional computer so they'd have less sharing contention for the computer that did Youtube and Minecraft. So I did.
rainbw 13y ago
I love Minecraft. It's one of the priceless games on the web that doesn't try to convince you into buying things with your won money- Passes, Rubies, Tokens, whatever you call them, they worth about as much as real money after it's accidentally dropped into a volcano. Minecraft also lets you create your own story, over and over again. You can create custom maps, wire up amazing redstone systems, and simply give the player a challenge to overcome. One of the most popular maps, Skyblock, is just a few floating blocks in space, which gives the player a challenge to face. Minecraft is one of my favorite games, and will always be. By the way, it's budder. XD

509 points by don_neufeld 13y ago

DannoHung 13y ago

Lame. She still doesn't really give a shit what her kids are doing so long as she doesn't get back talk. Fuck you lady.

anthem001 13y ago
Obviously not a parent, either that or you're miraculously able to entertain your kid(s) 24/7.
- mratzloff 13y ago
  It's perfectly OK and healthy for kids to be bored.
6d0debc071 13y ago
If she never played with her kids, I might agree with you. However, it seems a bit of a stretch to assume based just on that article.

jmduke 13y ago

To me, this reads less like a Minecraft-is-great piece and more like a tablets-are-great piece. Julie's daughter isn't just choosing Minecraft over Disney -- she's choosing activity over passivity, creation instead of consumption. For the first time ever, toddlers (as in, people too young to understand how a Gameboy works) are interacting and playing in increasingly complex ways. It's not a niche often covered in HN, but the childrens' app market is booming at an unparalleled level: it's why everyone from Amazon to Valve is trying to get involved, because suddenly we have this ubiquitous magical technology that lets our five year olds learn fractions while being on an adventure -- and the price is $.99, instead of an overpriced $15.99 pop-up book or a $49.99 DVD. There's a lot of FUD in this overwhelmingly technological age, but I think it speaks volumes when I think that I'd rather be a kid now than any other time. The future is bright.

claudius 13y ago
The child in question is nine. I distinctly recall a friend of mine having a gameboy in primary school, and I got my first computer (well, ‘us kids’ got it) at that age, too. With an actual keyboard and letting me explore that thing rather than merely being an interface to Youtube and Minecraft.
- __david__ 13y ago
  I got my first computer when I was 7 (2nd grade). I had to built it—my dad gave me the circuit board, a bunch of parts and the schematic. He showed me how to match the schematic parts to thier number on the board and the number on the chip. He gave me a cheat sheet for the resistor's colors (I didn't end up memorizing them--to this day I have to look them up). He showed me how to bend the pins so the parts didn't fall out when you turned the board over to solder them. I'd spend an hour putting parts in, then I'd get to my favorite part where I got to use the soldering iron. I'd flip the board over and solder all the holes I'd just filled with parts. My dad would monitor me for a few minutes before he got bored and then it was all me. I don't remember how long it took because it was so long ago, but I remember finally soldering the last part in and looking in awe at my bootleg Apple ][+. The first time I used it it didn't even have a case. And no disks either--we used the tape to load some games and play around. I learned basic that way and that computer is probably why I'm a programmer today. I loved that computer—I still have that computer. And it still works.
  - dchichkov 13y ago
    Yep. It's funny, but a 5 year old can easily manage an oscilloscope and basic analog circuits. And a 6-7 year old - an oscilloscope, a logic probe and digital circuits. The kid doesn't have to be a wunderkind too. It is just a matter of being exposed to these tools and having dad working at home with the equipment.
- mikeash 13y ago
  I got my first computer around that age as well. However, that was far from the norm.

ronilan 13y ago

What Disney produces is content made for kids. What SkyDoesMinecraft produces is content made for everyone that happens to be appropriate and relevant for kids. The latter represents what the world is. The former is a fantasy. Minecraft is awosome but the unique appeal here is of YouTube. It is, and has been for years now, a one of a kind window to the world that is especially appealing to kids. It can not be duplicated but it can go wasted. Don't be sad though, you can always skip this ad in 5 seconds.

phaedryx 13y ago

For kid-friendly minecraft videos I recommend Paul Soares Jr.: http://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr http://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr

remixz 13y ago
Another good one is kurtjmac: http://www.youtube.com/user/kurtjmac http://www.youtube.com/user/kurtjmac He also raises money for charity by walking to an area of Minecraft where the terrain generation glitches out, called the "Far Lands".
- netcraft 13y ago
  As well as Etho's Lab. He keeps the language PG and has quite the following. http://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab/videos http://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab/videos
- exDM69 13y ago
  Kurt's Kerbal Space Program videos are awesome too. Oh yeah, and Kerbal Space Program is something that could get your kids interested in space and science, perhaps not as young kids as Minecraft appeals to but perhaps a ten year old could be interested. KSP is family friendly too, with the exception of the occasional little green men dying in a horrible solid rocket booster accident or a high velocity impact with a celestial body.
squidsoup 13y ago
For slightly older kids, I would highly recommend Direwolf20's Feed the Beast Let's Play series. FTB is a collection of mods that adds entirely new tech trees to the game (amongst other things), allowing you to build advanced power generation such as nuclear and geothermal, logic gates, and even programmable bots/turtles (programmed in Lua). Direwolf's videos are instructive and fun, and his language is appropriate for kids. http://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20 http://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20

fckyrpywll 13y ago

"Please sign in to continue" No.

prezjordan 13y ago
You do not have to sign in to read articles.

corresation 13y ago

My 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son are both deep in love with Minecraft, so I most certainly agree with that part. I also have the same disdain for Disney XD, with the same complaints as the linked -- they have truly terrible writing, and are just horrible social models. I have to add a caveat about the Minecraft videos, however, in that many of them are just as bad or worse than tween shows. While some are just walkthroughs, a growing number are obnoxious cliche fests (e.g. screaming and yelling expletives when a creeper appears, etc). There is a large set of people trying to capitalize on kids watching minecraft videos.

VLM 13y ago
I've seen a similar bifurcation where most minecraft videos are either really cool how to demos that focus on the game, or are extroverts trying to showcase their swearing and drinking abilities where the game is kind of a screensaver in the background as they act pretty much act like fools. I've learned a lot from some minecraft youtube videos such as how to build an automatic chicken growing factory with water conveyor belts. Frankly I'd rather have spent 15 seconds looking at a blueprint than 15 minutes tediously watching a build, but still..
nextw33k 13y ago
I think the awesome benefit of youtube is that you can leave direct feedback. Give it a thumbs down plus explain why. Teach your kids to do that and eventually things will improve. Just don't expect that of Disney.
- DanBC 13y ago
  Yogscast (quite sweary British minecraft youtubes) have 4,806,098 subscribers and 1,931,000,000 video views. This video [1] has 1,076,520 views, 49,507 up-thumbs and 808 down-thumbs, with over 7,000 comments. It's been up for about 24 hours at this point. I fully support down-voting and commenting, but I'm not sure it's going to have any effect. Luckily, there are plenty of other videos where decent attitudes are on show. [1] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idfJmWRj3s&list=UUH-_hzb2ILSCo9ftVSnrCIQ&index=3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idfJmWRj3s&list=UUH-_hzb...)

jiggy2011 13y ago

Minecraft on a tablet? How does that work?

ihuman 13y ago
It is a watered-down version, with touch-based controls.

rlx0x 13y ago

Minecraft Lets Plays are amazing, I can't think of any other game where it spawned such a large community. For people who want to watch a little bit more serious Lets Plays (not just targeted at toddlers) I recommend the MindCrack[0] server/network of Youtubers. In particular EthosLab[1]. There is also a large community around the ForgeCraft[2] server where most major mod creators play and test their mods. Direwolf20[3] in particular. [0] http://www.guudelp.com/ http://www.guudelp.com/ [1] https://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab https://www.youtube.com/user/EthosLab [2] http://www.reddit.com/r/forgecraft/ http://www.reddit.com/r/forgecraft/ [3] https://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20 https://www.youtube.com/user/direwolf20

dthunt 13y ago
I actually watch Japanese Minecraft LPs - it makes for excellent study material, and is highly entertaining.

conradev 13y ago

I think too many commenters here are focusing on the positive effects of Minecraft rather than the negative effects of modern television. In my opinion, anything is better than Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and their derivatives. The author pretty thoroughly covers what is wrong with them, and she is not alone in her opinion. I know people who have specifically blocked those channels on their TV, so that the kids are forced to watch something better.

rcthompson 13y ago
Yes, this was what I took away from the article: "Micecraft is cool, I guess, but anything is better than Disney tween sitcoms."
cschmidt 13y ago
The Disney shows are just evil - they give kids horrible stereotypes to emulate. I know several girls that are walking little Disney show characters. They are mean, snarky, and talk in zingers like the punchlines of Shake it Up or A.N.T. Farm. It is kind of sad. We see a change in behavior when our 7 year old daughter sneaks off and watches some of these show. Instant attitude. Our clever daughter decides she wants to be a famous dancer.
- wtracy 13y ago
  I ate dinner in a Burger King last week that had a TV playing The Wizards of Waverly Place. I was horrified. The main character shows no empathy toward the people around her (she lets some girls eat some spoiled sandwiches that she was told to dispose of, and doesn't skip a beat when they later start vomiting) and insults and physically attacks her brother (knocking over his food tray) constantly without any provocation. She repeatedly mis-uses trite motivational sound bites to deflect blame (announcing, "We could focus on the past, and on whose fault this is, or we could focus on the now" when the fault was clearly her own negligence--that started to make me want to punch her in the face!). And, of course, she constantly uses magic to cover up her mistakes and avoid responsibility. I'm not even a parent, and I'm mad.
gbog 13y ago

anthem001 13y ago

Great article. My kids are exactly the same (5 and 8). I would rather have them use their imaginations to play and build than watch TV violence or stupidity. I would recommend iHasCupquake for YouTube videos. She is engaging and funny and is someone your daughter can find inpiration in as well (youtube.com/user/iHasCupquake) Oh, and iHasCupquake, if you for whatever reason read this my daughter thinks your "hair is very pretty".

arocks 13y ago

Content produced by Disney and others are written with a stereotypical kid in mind. Their brief must be something like this - "Our target audience needs a bright colour palette with lots of bubble gum pink and syrupy greens. Should have fast and loud sequences to keep them engaged. Goofy characters work. In any case - Don't Make Them Think". Trust me it is a relief to not see the young generation glued to such content all day (which even they don't find engaging any more). If they find joy in building and designing something themselves, then more power to that.

milesf 13y ago

My kids are huge Minecraft fanatics. I set them up their own server with a whitelist, and now they have over 40 of their friends on it building incredible things. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, I'm using Purugin (https://github.com/enebo/Purugin https://github.com/enebo/Purugin) and helping them learn to write plugins in Ruby for their server. I'm writing a book with my son and daughter about the experience in hopes other parents out there can channel their kid's passion into learning a skill that will serve them the rest of their lives, no matter what occupation they choose. Minecraft has been a life changing event in our home. My kids would rather create than consume. That's something I can get behind as a parent.

pseut 13y ago
I'd love it if you blogged the book as you write it. I'm always looking for new ways to engage my 4yo daughter with this stuff as she grows up.
- DanBC 13y ago
  Here's a mother and her young child (4? 5?) playing around with Minecraft. (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAA32A313F61AFBBB http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAA32A313F61AFBBB) It's cute and fun, and it can expand in all sorts of different ways. Arts and crafts, or programming, or design, or real world play.
  - chasb 13y ago
    All this kid wants to do is make zombies. That's adorable.
- clbrook 13y ago
  My 4 year old son started playing Minecraft in creative mode when he was 3. He's become quite adept with the mouse and keyboard. Here's a video of him building a train, ahem, minecart track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYt3-kihNE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkYt3-kihNE My husband wrote out a cheat-sheet for him to copy letter-by-letter into the command line to switch between creative and survival mode. He remains in creative mode except when he wants to use the crafting table. I've tried introducing him to Scratch, however, since it is so word-based, it is quite difficult to teach to a non-reader. In Minecraft, even though he can't read, he can tell me what almost every piece of material is in his inventory. Anyway, long story short, we're always looking for G-rated Minecraft Youtube videos to learn from. My husband hosts a server world for us (and sometimes his cousins join us). I would love for him to have the opportunity to play Minecraft with kids his own age, but I don't know of any others, does your daughter play or is she just getting started with it?

MartinCron 13y ago

I had to put on a blanket "live action Disney Channel show" ban after my son (10 at the time) started marathoning "Good Luck Charlie" on Netflix and transformed into an obnoxious little jerk, never missing a chance to make a snarky comment. It was very disturbing. Removing the garbage quality tween shows caused an immediate reversal. Still, not everything Disney makes is bad, Phineas and Ferb is brilliant.

EduardoBautista 13y ago
An entire generation will know about the magical platypus.
cschmidt 13y ago
I'd have a very short list of shows that Disney makes that aren't evil. 1. Phineas and Ferb
- ndrake 13y ago
  Gravity Falls!!!!!!!!!!
- far33d 13y ago
  I have one problem with Phineas and Ferb, a show I otherwise enjoy. The sister is a classic Disney tween show girl. It sets an awful example for my daughter as she relates to her brother and other peers - the boys are doing all this great, awesome, fun stuff while the girl tattles on them and cares only of boys and popularity.
  - MartinCron 13y ago
    The other female characters (Isabella, Vanessa, et. al) are strong enough that I can forgive the broad clumsy parody that is Candace.
robryan 13y ago
Lizzy McGuire was a pretty good kids show. I think that era of Disney channel shows was a bit better. My sister and I are separated by 7 years, the stuff she grew up with on Disney Channel was pretty different (early 2000's).

noonespecial 13y ago

It was a wakeup call for me when I literally heard the Disney channel coming out of the mouth of my 7 year old girl. I spent a day and actually watched that stuff. Day-um. It was good for a life lesson about how tv is a huge exaggeration of real life and you probably shouldn't talk like the characters on tv until you can appreciate the impact of those words and attitudes.

moens 13y ago
It was a wakeup call for me when I literally heard the Fox News channel coming out of the mouth of my 70 year grandmother... etc. Barf. The point is much more general: programmed stimulation is a problem. Unless you are a slave owner, then programmed stimulation can be good for production.
- w1ntermute 13y ago
  Well, there's a difference in that Fox News was simply telling your 70 y/o grandmother that her preexisting views were shared by many others, and therefore acceptable to express in public. On the other hand, live action Disney shows have a much greater effect, because they can permanently affect the mental and social development of young children.
  - noonespecial 13y ago
    The part I really had trouble with was the shows had kind of a pervasive cynicism to them while the dialog consisted largely of biting sarcasm. The message seemed to be "whoever is fastest on the draw with a sarcastic insult is coolest." Just taking an episode of South Park and s///g'ing the profanity with disnified words like "dweebiod" doesn't alchemically transmute it into "wholesome family entertainment". If you talk to your real life friends like the "friends" do on these shows, you're not going to have many of them.

nicklovescode 13y ago

I wholeheartedly support the idea of children using interactive creative environments rather than just watch TV. However, as a non-parent, I can't figure out why cursing is such a big deal. Many parents wouldn't bat at eye at some pretty awful violence in movies(think Batman or something), but feel "fuck" is cause for evacuation. I have the same issue with fear of nudity.

ceol 13y ago
I imagine the parent in the OP would also steer her child away from violence the same way she does bad language. That's just how our society is: There are some words and phrases that we have all accepted are improper or "bad", so most of us refrain from allowing children to hear them.
- nicklovescode 13y ago
  Wouldn't it make sense to just teach the children that many people accept these words as bad, and leave it at that? Why censor vast amounts of content(I would imagine most of the best Minecraft videos for instance wouldn't be PG) based on language used.
  - ceol 13y ago
    Well, because there are videos by other people who do not use excessive curse words. If there are alternatives, why not prefer them? Now, if this were the parent blocking their child from viewing any Minecraft video because the majority of them include some cursing, it would be a bit different.
    - nicklovescode 13y ago
      In my experience the Youtube/gaming videos default is not kid-friendly. If that's the case, then your kid will be getting less quality content for what I believe is basically no fair reason.
      - 13y ago

spacecowboy 13y ago

I have four children between the ages of 9 and 17 and they all play Minecraft. One of the most interesting things about them playing it is that they'll play together as a team building elaborate home structures. At one point, they built an amusement park with roller coaster rides and everything. One of the other games I have introduced them to is the game Fez. It allows them to simply explore another colorful 2d/3d world as a single player.

raldi 13y ago

Remember when the iPad came out and was widely decried for being suitable only for passive, non-creative consumption of content?

Groxx 13y ago
I don't think this has stopped, or even slowed. There are more counter-examples now, but there are also more supporting ones, and it feels like I see a new article somewhere on a monthly basis saying tablets are no good for creation. Meanwhile, the kids keep painting and building things, like they did when it first came out.
Grue3 13y ago
Playing games is still passive, non-creative consumption of content.
- Karunamon 13y ago
  Have a look at some of the things built on Minecraft (we're talking all the way up to fully functional CPUs, here) and then tell me that it's both passive and non-creative.

cinquemb 13y ago

"Bad language is easy to curb, but stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt are not." Old way of conditioning, meet the new way of conditioning where the complexities in the way people live their life reflected in media are still circumvented and avoided in order to provide temporary peace of mind and entertainment. Edit: I probably shouldn't share these types of thoughts on HN, but do anyways seeing what others care to explain about possible underlying dynamics going on here that aren't being said. Sorry if I am offending the HN groupthink.

conroe64 13y ago
I don't understand what you are saying? Playing minecraft or watching amateurs' videos of themselves playing is conditioning? By who, and how?
- cinquemb 13y ago
  Bear with me. The conditioning in this is media is shaping the minds of individuals (intentionally or not), who will most likely not be aware of this going on during consumption. The old way being television or in relation to this posting, Disney and "…stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt…". The new way being "interactive" media, or in relation to this posting, Minecraft and related content consumed where "Bad language is easy to curb…". The "stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt" is hardly unique Disney or other child TV consumption (or TV for that matter…). One thing people point out with television consumption people have stated time and time again, is that it hardly invites it's viewers to explore ideas outside of the content while viewing. Then it seems like some how, the ability to be able to interact with media with content like Minecraft is some how better (allows children to be more creative, enabling more thinking, or whatever people say the benefits are compared to what people think of television now [though I bet some people were touting the benefits of television not to long ago…]), which I can see/understand the argument being made here for that with the logic being made on surface level. However, the thing is that it isn't like what the children are doing is outside of the purpose of the game and are very much only able to do things within the constructs the game. At the end of the day, it is still a game. And like Disney shows or the like, it still does not invite the player to explore ideas and concepts that are going within the game at the same time. So to me, it seems like overall the child is no better off with being able to digest things like "Bad language…" and notions of "…stupid adult stereotypes, sarcasm, backstabbing behavior, and contempt"(hardly unique to our times since it is apart of human nature after all) that could be going on in the game or other consumable content related. It seems to me it would be foolish to think that this "new interactive media" does any more or less compared to the "old way" (TV, or the tech before that like radio and even books) when it comes to addressing the underlying issues being avoided. And apparently, even trying to have a discussion upon such seems to be avoided…

Swizec 13y ago

When you think about it, Minecraft is this generation's LEGO. Kudos to Notch!

jamie_ca 13y ago
Yep. My 5yo still alternates between "Minecraft" and "the Lego game."

stevewilhelm 13y ago

I tried a couple of times to get my daughter interested in Sim City, Second Life, Minecraft, etc. Every time, she decided if she was going to go to all the trouble of building something, it should be a real thing. She has since gotten very active in team sports.

bagacrap 13y ago

when I was growing up I was sort of forced, sort of coaxed into reading a lot of books. So maybe I am biased, but it seems like reading books is the most educational experience a young mind can have. I also built a lot of legos, which is kind of like a real world analog to Minecraft (correct me if I'm wrong on that), and that helped develop my spatial reasoning I suppose. But it seems like literature has an almost endless potential to educate and expand your mind, whereas at a certain point minecraft/legos/etc will reach a state of greatly diminished returns. So why is the only other option for this woman's child a TV?

alfiejohn_ 13y ago

Although I agree that exposure to computers is great for kids, how young is too young? I've got a toddler (3yo) who plays games on my phone. He's actually pretty good at some of the platform games on it (astonishingly good considering his age), but we're questioning his maturity with phone use. He asks my wife all day long "when is daddy coming home", only to hear "can I play with your phone" when I walk through the door. I'll let him play with it for about half an hour just before dinner, but telling him to pack it away to eat dinner is like a declaration of war. We've gotten to the point that we've banned him outright using my phone because of the anger/temper that it's caused. I know the links of bad behaviour and sugar consumption, but we're thinking that phone use is worse. Anybody else seen this behaviour, or is it just bad parenting?

ChuckMcM 13y ago
Welcome to being a parent. Throughout their lives they will find things that they desire above all else. Your goal should be to figure out how to use that to teach them moderation, and 3 is about the right place to start in my experience. The primary goal for me at that stage was to help them understand delayed gratification, or specifically that working on something not as fun can lead to something fun. The secondary goal turned out to be to find other things that are just as fun. This latter goal was abetted by reading stories like "Bread and Jam for Frances" in which our heroine learns that while Bread and Jam is tasty, it isn't all there is in the world. I did not realize it at the time but the secondary goal of finding things equally fun becomes really useful as they get older. To know from experience that no matter how fun this thing you are doing is, there are other things that are fun out there waiting to be discovered, helped mitigate some obsessing on the one fun thing. Reading/books are great for that since they come in many shapes and topics and you can learn a ton from them.
- alfiejohn_ 13y ago
  Thanks for the comment. You're right. I think the lessons of moderation and delayed gratification should be a goal and not a blanket ban. Finding things equally as fun is hard. He knows what he wants... what works is distracting him from what's in front of him to something else not equally as fun. We'll work on that. As for reading, he really enjoys books but just not nearly enough as gaming. He's favorite is "The little yellow digger" and he's even memorised it. Highly recommend it.

bitwize 13y ago

One of the things I've learned from meeting smart adults with kids is how legitimate -- and prevalent -- are "no stupid bullshit" rules governing what kids may watch. I've met more than one couple now that forbids Hannah Montana, Bratz, and other associated nonsense, and their kids are probably better functioning for it. If instead of idiot TV they're messing around with Minecraft -- a screen-bound Lego set with as close to infinite pieces as makes no difference -- so much the better.

greatguns 13y ago

OMG this is so true. Disney and Nick were so bad that we cancelled cable for several years before eventually giving up when a good deal came along. :( We've regretted it. We limit how much they watch, but it doesn't matter. It isn't even attitude so much as just non-stop nonsense from both kids at the dinner table because that is what they watch. The shows aren't funny to begin with but imagine children trying to parrot the same behavior of the children in the shows without having any idea how to fully pull it off. It is HORRIBLE. Please make it stop. Our cable contract is coming up, but the fam is addicted again to the other shows we didn't get on air or via netflix. So screwed.

xarien 13y ago

Preface: My son is 3 years old. I let my kid choose his own entertainment. He'll more often than not either request the tablet or violent Donald Duck cartoons from the 50s (both of which we cap the duration to ~15 min). I believe that while curiosity is something to foster, we shouldn't force it upon our kids without providing them with alternative choices. Helping him develop an ability to discern pros and cons when making decisions along with negotiation skills will help round him out much more than trying to force him into a purely producer role.

JunkDNA 13y ago

This is the massive change afoot that Hollywood needs to recognize. 20 years ago they were fighting over which network you would watch or which film you would go to see. But now the entire Movie/TV industry has to compete against other forms of entertainment. While you can argue that this has always been the case, computer-based entertainment is a lot more "TV-like" than going out to a concert or seeing a play. I think this long term trend poses an existential threat to the TV and movie business. They are going to need to adapt to this new environment or risk irrelevance.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

matthewsinclair 13y ago

I can't speak highly enough of the transformative capabilities of Minecraft. My 7yo has been struggling with reading because of working memory issues, even though he has a verbal reasoning score that is off the charts (we had him psych tested as part diagnosing why he was struggling with his reading). Minecraft was about the best thing we found to motivate him to read. He wanted to know how to do stuff, I told him "it's in the Wiki" and point-blank refused to help him do it in the game. He struggled at first to even be able to type stuff into the Wiki search box, but he persevered and his reading has improved dramatically. Every now and again (mostly at random) I will 'reward' him by jumping onto the console and dropping in a couple of special items that he hasn't seen before, and then watch him go off to the Wiki to try and work out what to do with it. As I said, I just can't speak highly enough about it and I've told everyone who will listen about how good it is. The simplest explanation I've come up with to explain to grandparents and other interested parties about what he is doing is this: "it's Lego for the mind".

mowfask 13y ago

One thing about this whole discussion really bugs me: Everyone is just talking about how to keep the children occupied with technology. I really think this is the wrong approach, there is so much more to learn and explore than stupid pixels on a screen. When we were young my parents had the attitude that it's very important to get a "feel for the earth", in a very literal way. That's why we spend as much time outside as possible. One of the few things I remember about primary school: I was the only one who knew potatoes grow below ground. Where has this world come, that our children know so little about even the most basic stuff??

bliker 13y ago
Situations like that are very sad http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bGYs4KS_djg http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...
- bluehex 13y ago
  It really is. I'm wondering if there may be another American epidemic at play here as well, which is the "it's cool to be stupid" phenomenon. I actually don't know around what age this starts happening but I definitely remember being hesitant to give the right answer as a kid as the other kids would make fun of me for being a nerd or what have you.
DanBC 13y ago
Children use huge amounts of time. It might sound like parents are spending all this time dumping a child in front of a screen but really this time is quite short compared to the rest of the time that's available. Gardening is another great activity. Start with cress, then herbs and vegetables in window boxes.
- mowfask 13y ago
  In my opinion "dumping a child in front of a screen" should really be the last option; only used with a good excuse and balanced by extensive investment of time. (It's of course easy for me to talk like that, but I see one of the greatest responsibilities of live in raising your children properly. Which for me includes spending a whole lot of time with them.)

Balgair 13y ago

http://www.reddit.com/r/mindcrack/ http://www.reddit.com/r/mindcrack/ Since a lot of young parents are on this thread, I'll risk the reddit link and plug for the MindCrack community. Many up loaders there are curse banning and very kid friendly. EthosLab is by a Canadian coder/garden supplier and is logic gate heavy. KurtJMac is a Chicagoian graphic designer that is walking to the floating point error in the games world algorithm generation for charity having raised 70k for cancer patients and talks about astronomy and NASA. Both are very good.

marshray 13y ago

It got to the point that my kids were begging me to cancel cable TV and use the proceeds to buy an additional computer so they'd have less sharing contention for the computer that did Youtube and Minecraft. So I did.

rainbw 13y ago

I love Minecraft. It's one of the priceless games on the web that doesn't try to convince you into buying things with your won money- Passes, Rubies, Tokens, whatever you call them, they worth about as much as real money after it's accidentally dropped into a volcano. Minecraft also lets you create your own story, over and over again. You can create custom maps, wire up amazing redstone systems, and simply give the player a challenge to overcome. One of the most popular maps, Skyblock, is just a few floating blocks in space, which gives the player a challenge to face. Minecraft is one of my favorite games, and will always be. By the way, it's budder. XD