I obviously don’t know the ages of your kids or grandkids, but one of my biggest concerns as a mom is the video game addiction that I see in the kids my son hangs out with. MY son is 18 and has loved video games since he was about 6 or so. I resisted allowing him to play any until he was about 8 and then it was supervised. The past few years he goes through waves of being addicted to one game or another. This month he has a new game that him and his buddies play and it is like a ghost town at my house. Once he gets home, he is right into his room and on the game.
I think for many kids that is a huge concern. I know with my kid, he does have a lot of outside activities and he is a good student. I just hate that he spends so much time gaming. For some kids, video games can really influence their entire lives – making them hermits and detached from society. I wish it was like the old Pac Man days where we could go to the arcade and have fun! LOL
Do you have kids that try to be addicted to their games? Do you regulate their time and the games they play or are they of the age where it is beyond your control?
My kids are grown up , but when they were younger they could only play video games after all the homework, etc. was finished. Since they enjoyed outdoor activities too I tried to make sure that there was balance in their activities. It is up to us as parents to supervise our kids and not allow them to do whatever they want to do.
I don’t have any children but I really think this gaming is such a growing problem. It is good to hear that your son does have some outside activities that he enjoys. I agree with you I miss the old Pac Man days. To tell you the truth I have seen some of the commercials on tv for these games and they scare me a lot them seem so evil. My mother would never let us sit in front of the tv and play video games when I was a kid and I thank her to this day. I was outside in the garden, building forts, and tending to the animals. I really think too much video games does lead to a detachment from society and reality. I know a lot of parents who use it as a babysitter and that’s sad.
Exactly Heather! The games are scary and I think that is what is wrong with society in a lot of ways today. Evil stuff on TV and in the games can only make them sad and weirded out! I tell my son he better be praying every night after seeing some of the stuff they put in those games. Luckily he is hooked playing NBA and Soccer games right now! 🙂
Hi Chris,
Boy you and I are on the Same Page! I am so happy to hear that your son likes the sports videa games. Like I wrote earlier those gaming commercials are super scary and full of subliminal messages. I read that the Sandy Hook psycho killer sat in his bedroom alllll day and played video games in the dark. There is just way too much evil on TV, radio and in games today. I stopped watching “Prime Time” network television about a year ago. I could not stand another episode of CSI were a woman was raped and killed. Seems like all of the shows on TV are like that CSI New York, CSI Miami, CSI Las Vegas, Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Crimal Minds (this one is super sick), and the list goes on and on.
I miss the days of Little House on the Prairie. When shows had family Christian values and a meaning to the story. These days I am very particular about what we watch on TV. Don’t even get me started on the radio – I gave up and now only listen to audio books from the Libary when I drive or my favorite Christian radio station. I see it all so clearly now…. Thank you Lord.
Have a nice night and God Bless. I love your blog and posts like this one.
My kids are grown, but they had the addiction when they were younger. They were both around 9-12 when they got the original Nintendo before that it was Atari – which my husband loved. We only had a couple of games for the Nintendo and the SuperNes when it came out, but my kids loved it. They were only allowed to play for an hour or two after school though. They never graduated from those older sets and really lost interest in video games as they got older. They go through occasional wanting to play for sessions but nothing big. My daughter and one of her friends when they are both back home play Super C which is for the Nintendo, and it’s there must play go-to fun memory game. My grandson would like to be addicted but his mom limits his time and what he is allowed to play. On the other hand, I know kids that barely quit to eat and sleep. It does make me worry some about socialization skills and activity levels.