Advice for Kids Gaming?

[Nonbryan 176]

Mrs. Nonbryan and I are giving in and getting the kids a Xbox for Christmas.  Any parental advice before we jump off the deep end?  We are going to limit play time and we were thinking they can earn more time by doing homework and doing outside activities.  Any pitfalls we need to watch out for?  Any ideas that anyone has that can help us out?

 

[Jkwellborn 7007]

How old are the kids? Do you plan on getting games for them to play online? Do they have friends that play online? Get them the same type of system their friends have.

[Nonbryan 176]

Thanks JK.

 

10 and 6.  We bought them the same system that their buddies down the street play.  We bought xbox live so they can play Overwatch online with their buddies.  I'm a little worried about too many outside influences on small kids  with the online factor.  Any other good practices to start early with them?

[Jkwellborn 7007]

Set times for play, rules for it, that kind of stuff. Sit in there with them some, play the game with them so you will know what’s going on in it and stuff. Online gaming with randoms is wild and there is a ton of shit taking.

 

You might hold off getting them mics unless you can specifically set it to talk to thier friends. You can chat regardless of game on there.

 

[Parliament 14565]

"I wish I had played more video games as a kid," said no one. Ever.

 

Don't do it. Get them a basketball hoop.

 

 

[Surly Bevo 25660]

Refine your ability to floss.

[bernorange 8385]

Xbox let's you store your credit card info in the profile/account to allow automatic renewals of Xbox live subscription.  Be very careful.  Kids are smarter than you think and will figure out your account password eventually.  They can buy digital content (games, skins, whatever) and M$ is pain to get real support in fixing things after the fact.  My recommendation - go to the hassle of buying the Xbox live 12 month cards from the store and do *not* put your cc info in the box.  Ymmv.

[zork 629]

I bought an IPad in 2017 for me.  They use it exclusively with permission.  Same goes for the xbox.  They must ask permission. 

They get to use the ipad for math and reading apps for no more than an hour a day.  They get xbox time about one session of 3-4 hours once every 2 to 3 weeks.  They relish that time and it is balanced with trips to the library, playing outside, playing inside in their rooms with legos etc.(yuge cities and battles, etc, etc)  They can watch movies with permission on weekends but weekdays are for reading, chores, homework, etc.

They are 8 and 10 soon to be 9 and 11 within the next two months.  Balance all  of it, not too much of any of it except they can read almost any time they want and they love to do so.

[Buzzrock 15118]

Set up Xbox profiles for your kids (it’s kind of a hassle because it requires an email address for each but it’s worth it). Then you can set parental controls and explicitly grant permission to each game on a one-time or ongoing basis. Also having their own profiles lets them get their own achievements.

Don’t get them a mic yet, and mute other players. The most vile content is the filth spewed by other gamers online. If they want to play with their friends they can use speaker phone or they don’t have to talk to each other.

Play any game you are going to let them play first. Also there are often settings to turn off gore and language. Effectiveness varies from game to game.

Limit time as you see fit. Losing Xbox can be a great motivator.

Playing games with your kids can be really fun. We’ve had a great time with Rocket League, Minecraft, and Sea of Thieves.

I do not get Fortnite at all. But kids LOVE it and there’s no gore.

[Fat Bastard 651]

8 hours ago, Parliament said:

"I wish I had played more video games as a kid," said no one. Ever.

 

Don't do it. Get them a basketball hoop.

 

 

Say what you will about playing games and improving hand eye coordination, but my job specifically is using tools in my hand and watching how they’re manipulated on a screen. It certainly helped me pick it up more quickly than my peers.