If the child is at an age where you should be worried about their ability to handle the game, you should be monitoring their usage as well. Unless you can keep

If the child is at an age where you should be worried about their ability to handle the game, you should be monitoring their usage as well. Unless you can keep them away from all of the different ways they can find addictive games to play (hello flash player) then it seems to me better to be involved and encouraging responsible use? I don't know that minecraft needs to be beneficial. I certainly doubt super mario or sonic the hedgehog were when I was young. It's a game. It allows lots of creativity, it has lots of variety. No mod will change the fact that it's still a computer game. Treat it as such and I don't see a problem?