Video Game Addiction In Kids

I was at parenthacks.com (love that website :) and came across this post and video...

http://www.momversation.com/episodes/video-games-violent

...where three moms discuss their boys' video games habits. I myself also know several moms who have sons who can't get enough of this electronic entertainment, and who are fixated on it to the point where nothing else matters to them.

I worried about lil' J for awhile because he adores the computer (which is good in many ways) and Wii. Every day it was: computer, Wii, computer, Wii.

He started in on it all fairly young (3 1/2 yrs) when he didn't really have a busy schedule. Because of this, I let him indulge in gaming, in the back of my mind thinking I'd have to start setting limits when he starts Kindergarten (which he did this year). I wondered how difficult this would be, and often thought that I should start cutting him back gradually, and getting him used to limits. However the early computer skills that he was acquiring appealed to me and so I just let it continue.

Then one day he he didn't play as much, and then the next even less, and before I knew it he was chasing a soccer ball around in the back yard.

I am convinced that because I let him immerse himself in gaming, he's had his fill, and played to the point of boredom.

Whereas if I had set limits, say with a timer each day or something similar to that, he would have been stopped before he was ready, and possibly left wanting more?

If you were given a slice of chocolate cake and while you were eating it someone intercepted the fork on its way to your mouth and took away the plate with half the slice still on it, wouldn't you be thinking about cake for the rest of the day? (I know I would!!) On the other hand, if you were allowed to finish the piece, and then were given as much more as you could eat, wouldn't you eventually feel tired enough of it to maybe not want cake for a few days? There might be a parallel here.

In any case, it's worked for us (so far :)

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My Son Is A Click-a-holic

Husband: "Hey, can he (4 yr old) play at the computer while you're in the shower? I have to leave for work."

Me: "Um, NO!! He clicks on stuff he's not supposed to!!"

Husband: (laughing) "Whatever. Computers are bullet proof these days."

You can see why I drink wine.

(anyway)

He (the 4 yr old, not the 44 yr old), cannot be trusted unsupervised with a mouse (computer, not rodent). Take today, for example: he started off at the kid safe site www.totlol.com and somehow, in a mere 14.2 seconds, ended up about to click "play" on a YouTube video of a man eating scorpions (and right before lunch, no less ;)

BLECH.

He has printed stuff he's not supposed to, Googled 30+ random character "words", come really close to e-mailing gibberish to people, deleted stuff, CRANKED up the PC volume... you get the idea. I could go on, but I won't.

What? Parental controls? Hmm. Hey, you know what? Maybe I should look into that.

(now I get it)
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Movin' On Up

'K, done. The computer has been moved upstairs. We went shopping last night for a desk and here's what we ended up buying:



I LOVE it, although it was a little more than what I was hoping to pay (we bought ours at Staples for $199 CDN). The reason I went with this particular one was because it is more decorative than "office functional", which is important because it's sitting in a corner of our living room.

As I type this, the kids are both in front of the computer and I can see their screen (plus hear the repetitive drone of "we need to catch up to the Sillysaurus!!" courtesy of Nick Jr... oh my aching head). If they need help I can simply walk across the room, rather than hollering "JUST A SECOND!!" down to the bowels of the basement, where they were up to goodness only knows what.

Ah yes, this is much better, Sillysaurus and all ;)
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Kids And Computers

Yesterday:

Hubby (talking about Lil' J, who's 4): "He's on your computer. Whatever, he seems to know what he's doing." ...wanders off to the bathroom.

Um, 'scuse me? It's not the computer I'm worried about - it's everything else in my office.

I went downstairs and extracted him from potential complications, only to find him down there a few hours later with his sister, who is five.

Alyssa: "Mommy I like this one." I look at the screen to find her at Google, typing words into the search box.

Um, NO. Not without parental filters, or constant supervision, and I am not spending the next hour standing over your shoulder as you type at the speed of slug. I love you.

The rate at which kids become computer friendly is inspiring and alarming at the same time. I am a big believer in the policy of no Internet in bedrooms. One of these days I'll have the time and the energy to move my desk top upstairs so that both kids can "surf supervised".

Meanwhile J will just have to be content watching his sister on one of three sites: Starfall, Webkinz, or totlol (I keep meaning to look at and bookmark more, like Nick Jr., for example).

Now he (J) is trying to climb on my lap, so that's all for now!