Ah the joys of raising today’s modern day kids.
Every time I turn around, there is a kid on a gadget, another one in front of the TV, and the third one on a computer. This morning, I had enough. My six-year old was in his room crying because the TV to the Wii wouldn’t turn on. His day was ruined, over, he was miserable, and it was only 9:15 a.m. Well I’ve had enough!
Today is promising to be a beautiful, sunny day. But do you think my kids have any interest in playing outside? No. Playing outside is now the new torture. They don’t want to throw a ball, play soccer, ride bikes around the neighborhood. They want to sit inside on the screen until their little eyes start squinting
My biggest issue is with my 5th grader. At this age, he should be having bike wars. I should have to call him and beg him back indoors to eat lunch and dinner. Instead, I find myself having to pry the laptop out of his hands because he has spent hours playing and he just can’t stop. He is on-line playing his favorite game- Minecraft. Minecraft is a 3-D on-line game that sounds like the gaming version of the movie, Hunger Games. You can play with strangers, or you can play with your real friends that are also on-line at the same time. You meet in virtual worlds that someone has created- or something like that. As much as my son plays, I don’t know if calling it his favorite game is exactly accurate, or even the right word. Addicted may be more appropriate but I think I’m afraid to use it. He discovered this game a few months ago and now its become an obsession. He talks about it all the time with his friends. When friends come over they bring their own computers or iPads and sit in the same room and play together. So now I’ve capped his computer time to two hours a day, as recommended by the American Pediatric Association, and I’m officially the strictest mom out there– once again.
Finally, I sat down and did a little research today about what other parents are saying. I already checked out the game and it’s safe. Turns out, other parents have noticed the same thing but not all are complaining about it. I found this post where one mom was concerned that her 11-year old is addicted to Minecraft. It sounded all too familiar, however, several of the commenters told the mom not to worry about her son’s habits. These moms viewed the social aspects and creative nature of the game to be beneficial for kids.
Hmm, interesting spin on it, I guess. I suppose you can make the argument that all the time adults/bloggers spend on social media networks, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogging, is somewhat similar to this sort of on-line gaming. We spend time on our gadgets, each day virtually socializing and being creative, right? There are other adults that find joy in a different sorts of on-line entertainment, virtual party casinos, for example. So is it fair to place limits or want him to socialize more, in person?
What do you think? Should I just accept that virtual socialization is the new social for kids? Or is on-line socialization for Tweens a bad idea?
image credit: Flickr/Picture Youth
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