Jump to content

How long do you let your kids spend on their computers/gaming consoles


pegleg31
 Share

Recommended Posts

My partners son is 12 and spends every hour of the day on either his Xbox or his laptop playing silly games, I'm not against this just think the time he spends on it needs limiting. His dad's the same, no woman and plays on the Xbox/computer constantly, he does nothing with his kids. He has them on a Friday night until Saturday evening and all they do is sit and play games. I know this is none of my business but I'm worried my son will grow up thinking this is normal and might want to do this instead of enjoying the outdoors.

What's everyone's views on these things and how much time do you allow your kids to spend on them.

 

Russ

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My partners son is 12 and spends every hour of the day on either his Xbox or his laptop playing silly games, I'm not against this just think the time he spends on it needs limiting. His dad's the same, no woman and plays on the Xbox/computer constantly, he does nothing with his kids. He has them on a Friday night until Saturday evening and all they do is sit and play games. I know this is none of my business but I'm worried my son will grow up thinking this is normal and might want to do this instead of enjoying the outdoors.

What's everyone's views on these things and how much time do you allow your kids to spend on them.

Russ

That's too much, it IS your business if you have care of him in your house, it's known to cause behavioural issues on many a spectrum.

 

I think you and your partner need a strategy to change this.

 

Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's too much, it IS your business if you have care of him in your house, it's known to cause behavioural issues on many a spectrum.

I think you and your partner need a strategy to change this.

Good luck!

I've tried to limit his time ever since I met her, the problem is the father. We're looking to move further away from him now and do you know what his initial response was?.......the Internet speed isn't very good. His son is a loner but has come round a lot since I've Been involved, he's 12 has no friends won't involve himself with anyone and will go out of the way if we have people are around. Personally I think there's something else going on with him and we've tried ( myself and my partner) to have him looked at but both the schools and doctors keep saying its a maturity thing. His daughter on the other hand is completely different, she's nine has loads of mates and is a right girly girl but he's got her obsessed with the Xbox and computers as she's been brought up thinking its normal!. It's also hard because we fall out a lot about it plus it's hard to spend time with him because he just wants to avoid everyone and play on his computers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My partners son is 12 and spends every hour of the day on either his Xbox or his laptop playing silly games, I'm not against this just think the time he spends on it needs limiting. His dad's the same, no woman and plays on the Xbox/computer constantly, he does nothing with his kids. He has them on a Friday night until Saturday evening and all they do is sit and play games. I know this is none of my business but I'm worried my son will grow up thinking this is normal and might want to do this instead of enjoying the outdoors.

What's everyone's views on these things and how much time do you allow your kids to spend on them.

Russ

We're not married/living with the same woman are we? Or a parrallel life?

 

Had exactly the same with my stepson and his father.

Turned 18 recently and didnt wish for a party or anything......... But I will say this, something must be going right as his predicted A level grades are such that several Universities have already offered him unconditional places.

But, still socially inept and dont get me startedcon his lack of interest in girls ( or boys if thats his thing)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We're not married/living with the same woman are we? Or a parrallel life?

Had exactly the same with my stepson and his father.

Turned 18 recently and didnt wish for a party or anything......... But I will say this, something must be going right as his predicted A level grades are such that several Universities have already offered him unconditional places.

But, still socially inept and dont get me startedcon his lack of interest in girls ( or boys if thats his thing)

Yeah, he has no interest in girls either or boys for that matter?. Still he's a good lad and causes no trouble and does as he's told so I can't complain to much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son spends a bit of a mixture between computer games and making items for survival.

 

Just passed him in the kitchen butchering some used .410 shells to make a survival drinking straw(?) Stuffed with crushed charcoal and cotton wool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My youngest son is 12 and loves x box live where he speaks and plays against school friends who live twenty five miles away he also speaks too and plays against lads he knows from Aberdeen and Yorkshire, we live in a fairly isolated place without lads his own age locally to play with, I worry that he spends too much time on this and try to wean him off with fishing, shooting and some paid chores,

he loves the x box live and at least is relating to other boys, he would be on it 12 hrs a day if I let him, advice welcome

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my lad isnt that bothered by games/ipad or whatever, he's happier swinging a hammer round the garden or the like. From the get go I made him do outsidey things with me, maybe that helped?

 

 

bloody well done.....exactly what im doing with my grandaughter... :good:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must admit i do get drawn into games and can admit I've spent FAR too long on some of them. Though I know when enough is enough and I need to shift my **** and get outside.

 

But these days young people are so conditioned into being plonked in front of a TV or left in front of pc's or consoles that they literally don't know anything else though. It is quite sad.

Seems to be a cop-out for lazy/inept parents to just leave their kids to rot in front of these machines.

And not only that but I think it is quite damaging in terms of building skill sets and social abilities for later life.

I'm glad I was an 80's / 90's child. I used to spend all my time outside with mates building stuff or tinkering with mechanics and my old man got me a paper round in the village and later when I was in high school I had a saturday job at the local garage helping out with basic things.
It was awesome back then as I used to save up my money and look in the local freeads for honda crunchies and stuff to fix up and rag around the garden.

I think stuff like that is important as it helps build practical and mental skills and as well also teaches about being responsible and managing money etc.

 

Kids these days are just screwed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do limit my kids to a couple of hours a day on electronic devices as I like them to be involved in other activities, both my daughters dance every week and my eldest shoots with me on occasions (read when its not too cold or wet :) ).

 

On the other hand though speaking as a former hard core gamer (slightly embarressed to say I was heavily involved in world of warcraft for 5 years) its not all solitary and antisocial as a lot of people think.

If you are involved in a lot of the on line stuff you can get a fair few friends through games and it is very social. I still have some mates who I met playing on line games who I am in contact with today and meet up with occasionally.

What I think tends to get missed now is this is the way the world and communication is moving now. My eldest daughter goes to school with her friends for 8 hours a day and then comes home and is on Face Time with them straight away despite only having said good bye to them five minutes earlier. However is this any different to girls of a previous generation spending the evening on the phone to their friends? Its just technology moving on.

 

Being fairly tech savvy I get involved and keep an eye on what the kids are playing/ who they are messaging. This allows me to keep any eye on/ understand what/ who they are talking to and make sure they are safe. While I agree limits need to be put in place the same as any hobby i.e. would any of us allow our children to do fieldsports all the time at the expense of schoolwork ect we also need to understand that these are legitimate/ popular hobbies the same as the hobbies we enjoys (and let be honest spending the entire night chasing bunnies in the freezing cold would be seen as a bit odd by some).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you care for this lad then I would urge you to get him away from these bloody things. My lad is 15 and has no life other than playing games on his laptop-it affected his school work and he is totally oblivious to the world around him. I was against getting games from day one but I foolishly listened to others who assured me that such things are harmless-they are not. My lad is immature and aggressive and completely unable to cook or tidy up after himself-he is lazy and has no comprehensioin of working as a family unit-over the christmas period he was on his laptop every day screaming down the line at other players-its pathetic but so difficult to put a stop to because he uses his computer for so many other things.

Edited by bruno22rf
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you care for this lad then I would urge you to get him away from these bloody things. My lad is 15 and has no life other than playing games on his laptop-it affected his school work and he is totally oblivious to the world around him. I was against getting games from day one but I foolishly listened to others who assured me that such things are harmless-they are not. My lad is immature and aggressive and completely unable to cook or tidy up after himself-he is lazy and has no comprehensioin of working as a family unit-over the christmas period he was on his laptop every day screaming down the line at other players-its pathetic but so difficult to put a stop to because he uses his computer for so many other things.

To be fair this is what I'm worried about, I'd love it if I could get him interested in the outdoors but I can't see that happening as he doesn't like going outside.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is something that has become a big worry to my wife and I with our kids, our little boy is 2 and the girl is only 6 months. We have quite a few family and friends with children around the 10-16 age, some of the kids will walk into your house say hi sit down and be straight on their ipads. One of the boys is particularly bad, 15 years old spends all day in his room and when you do pull him out of his room and go out for dinner at a restaurant he speaks so quietly his mum has to order for him!! I have know the boy since he was born and he still doesnt have the confidence to have a conversation with me. Problem they have is he is very well behaved, doing well at school etc so cant punish him by removing the computers but he is socially retarded.

 

I think a lot of parents of kids this 10-16 age have a similar problem to some degree or another, it has caught them off guard a bit and now a difficult problem to resolve. Other people with younger kids I have spoke to have all experienced it and now making a conscious decision to limit their childrens use of ipads etc and get them involved in other things. I think sport will be a major way of helping this and getting the kids out and about as kids dont go out and just play anymore. Of course shooting and outdoor activities are another great way.

 

Long and short of it get him away from them as much as you can it will make a big big difference which you already know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Must say that i have another concern, my son plays football, which for a rugby family is really frightening....only joking by the way, i'm glad he does have an outdoor sport activity which sees him run around, get fresh air, and spend time away from a computer screen!!!

From what i have read above things are not quite as bad as i thought.

Cheers

Aled

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally think that there is something strange/weird about adults that play with childrens toys like x box or playstation

I know what you mean, they're either not getting any or their partners are getting plenty while they ignore them on those stupid consoles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...