I had two conversations yesterday. First, a coworker was complaining about her ex-husband. Her two kids hated visiting their father, because they couldn't watch TV, play Nintendo, or play computer games. After I failed to see the downside in that, she added that he didn't provide an alternative, and shooed them outside to a friendless environment the whole day.
That night, a friend phoned me, asking for a good computer game to get for the children of a wannabe girlfriend. I demurred, as he didn't know what kind of computer she was getting, or even what they were interested in.
What leisure time activities do we want for children? Kids tend to spend much more time on a particular game or hobby than most adults consider healthy. In the past, creative pre-adolescents focused on model rockets or railroads, books, baseball cards, sports, soap box cars, or dolls. Now, some favored pastimes are Nintendo, dinosaurs, and skateboarding. While the tendency to go overboard is natural, parents should have input into what the focus is.
It's hard to say in advance which games would appeal to children, so shop at a store with a liberal return policy. Parents should read the rules, try the game, and exercise veto power over concepts and games they disapprove of -- just as they should for TV and movies.
I do not disapprove of computer games; in fact our family play them a great deal. But, make sure that you drag your kids (literally, in the case of my 4-year-old) away from the electronic devices, and engage in some joint parent-child playing. Your child gets a great deal of accomplishment from completing a Nintendo level, or spelling a word. They get a great deal more from gameplaying with you.
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