How to Control Your Child’s Video Game Habits
by Jan Mags on May 07, 2007 with 0 Comments
Do you ever wonder why your kid may be just four feet away from you but doesn’t respond when you call out to him? If he has got a funny little contraption in his hands and has his eyes glued to the TV monitor, he’s not going deaf. He’s just becoming a video game fanatic.
What can a parent do against such an engaging piece of modern technology?
Get Into His World
It may not be a completely understandable and pleasant task for you, but you should join in a bit on your child’s video game craze. You don’t need to get hooked with a game yourself. You just need to help pick video games with your child. This is crucial because it should be your concern if there is violence or some other explicit content.
Be sure t o check the rating of the game you pick. If you’re buying for a young child then that game marked “for adults only” isn’t the one for you. But even if the rating is clear, take the extra effort to double check. Learn how to use your game machine and take a look at what’s inside that video game.
Set Some Clear Rules
From the very moment your child can hear, talk and understand you, set some clear and solid rules. These may include setting a specific time and duration for video game time, room cleaning time, homework time and meal time. You don’t need to nail the law on your child’s bedroom door. Just make sure he never forgets what time it is.
As an added note, it will help a lot if you also don’t allow your child to have his own television and video game set. Have him play where you can see him. You can have your equipment set in the living room so you can join in too when you have the time
Be Consistent but Considerate
Never go back on house rules you’ve set. Make sure you mean what you enforce. Meal time is meal time and there should be no questions about it. At the same time, you would also do well not to be overly uncompromising. You may have set weekdays as no video game days. You might just allow some video playtime however on weekdays that are holidays.
Be Rational
You may think everything will just be easier if you ban video games from your home altogether. There is nothing wrong with this if you are doing so for cultural and religious reasons. If your culture and religion does not prohibit it though, then you may have to allow it for the simple reason that it is everywhere. You cannot stop the production of video games and you cannot stop your child from learning from his friends. Video games are here to stay and evolve.
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Published in: Family
