Video games aren’t bad, for the adults or kids, so long as either have decent control over when one starts and when one stops playing them. As a note, as a father and an adult in my 30s, I play them, both by myself and with wife and my kids. However, I don’t get into playing for hours on end, I do have work hours during the day. And when it is light outside, generally the priority for our kids is to play with things like family frisbee or family football, or go have fun with a soccer ball at the park 2 blocks away. The big and important message is that video games only deserve a fraction of time and for certain situations where we can play together as a family enjoyment. I even let one of my kids play till about 5 a.m. at one point, so that, after feeling drowsy as ever, he got the point that it doesn’t feel that great to spend too much time on video games in a day, or stay up late, during summer break anyways. In essence, this is more important than totally banning video games from the house just because nowadays it actually helps the kids get the concept of there being more than just playing games. In addition, with education nowadays being computer-reliant, it helps them understand that one needs to balance between a computer for games, and using it for work functions. And as a final note, they are always the ones to be proactive in encouraging their friends to enjoy sports outside for their daytime enjoyment as well.
Weekends seem to be when our grumpy, old FReepers come out.
“We didn’t need no VIDEEO GAMES. We played Kick the Rock. And we liked it!”
“We knew all our neighbors. Because nobody had AC and we were all out in our yards day & night, sweltering, looking at the neighbor men walking around shirtless and miserable. And we liked it!”
“We didn’t have no ‘low violent crime rate’. We knew if we set foot outside our neighborhood, we’d be knifed ... by WHITE PEOPLE! So, it was safer then. And we liked it.”
Boy, the way Glenn Miller played ...
My son is now 19 and we let him stay at home because he has a very well paying job and is going full-time to college. Our contribution is some cash and free room and board.
Since he is an adult we try not to run his life so he now holes up in his room a lot and plays video games. We did not allow that before he graduated high school.
I do get him outside as part of his “rent” is to mow and trim the lawn and help me with the remodeling I am doing on our house. He also got two extrs lawn mowing jobs on our block. He will do anything legal to make money for college. He saves every penny for college so I have no complaints but I still am not enamored of the time spent on the video games.
I am in my early 50s and although I made a very good living working with and on computers and networks I just can’t get into the gaming. I have so much to do fixing the house, cars, and also my hobby of woodworking I just think it is a waste of my time, but that is just my opinion.