I'm referring to gaming here... Most if not all of us have been raised enjoying video games. They give us a certain joy and sense of comfort that we can turn to whenever the **** hits the fan, or if we just want to kill some time. So this question comes in two parts. The first part would be to identify the way you've been raised and how playing video games has fit into your life up to this exact moment in time where you are reading this thread. Were your folks relaxed about your gaming? Did they get you the games and consoles you wanted, or did you feel deprived by their decisions... only to finally feel a sense of freedom to buy and play what and how much ever your heart desired once you had your own spending and decision making power? Has gaming become a large part of your life, or have you been able to maintain your cravings to keep them at bay? Do you find yourself spending too much on games, or think the amount of money and time you spend is justified? I don't expect answers to the above questions - they're intended to get your mind working about different aspects of gaming and what part it's played on your life. The second and more important part of the question is: how would you raise your kids when it comes to gaming? What would you teach them? How much time would you allow them to play, and do you believe you can set specific and concrete rules / guidelines on a) how much time and b) how much money they should ideally be devoting and spending on this activity? Deep down inside, anybody who's a bit addicted to gaming can agree on a couple of things: i) it's a pretty expensive hobby compared to other sources of entertainment and ii) it's easy to get hooked into and/or addicted to gaming, causing other priorities to sometimes go on the backburner. As a future father (undecided when), i'd love to hear your ideas and thoughts on how your parents influenced where you are today in terms of your gaming habits, and how this would affect your decision making ability while raising your kids in the future.
My parents let me play as much as I wanted. I still got my school work done (most of the time), but other than that I was addicted to the screen. Everyone needs a hobby and depriving a child of theirs isn't such a good idea; so I was more or less left to make my own descisions and learn from the wrong ones. I know I spend a lot on games, but again, it's a hobby and there are plenty more hobbies out there that also cost a lot of money. If it's something you're really into then it's worth the cost, if it wasn't then you just wouldn't spend it. As for my own children... I think I'd do much the same as my parents did. They can play as much as they like, but obviously if it became a serious problem then I'd step in and make sure they're still getting fresh air, making friends, getting schoolwork done, etc. On the whole I think it balances out pretty well, I have four cousins at various ages from 3 to 13 and all of them like computer games, but being kids they also like other things and they seem to get a good mixture in just being left to their own devices. Serious addiciton doesn't seem common enough to worry about, most kids will get bored of a game eventually and go outside in search of a new adventure.
