Balanced Gaming

Pixie Hallow is our life

2009-03-12T10:33:19-05:00

Our 6 year old is into fairies and making them fly. Disney has done a wonderful job with their Pixie Hallow website, and it’s fun to create fairies and zoom them around. Here’s the issue: You can instant chat with other fairies and I immediately got worried that adults might be preying on innocent-barely-able-to-read girls who just want to hear “be my friend.” Any advice as to how I should monitor, and if anything COULD actually “happen” to my kid while she’s playing with in this very enticing imaginary world?

How do I relate?

2009-03-04T10:31:58-05:00

How do I relate to my child with the gaming? I have never been a video game person. I do not enjoy it. However, my 9 year old son loves it. How do I encourage his likes but not have to play the games?

Should I make a plan with our child?

2009-02-10T20:35:11-05:00

Yes.

Sit down and talk with your child about common-sense rules for computer use. You both should think about:

1. How much time per day is reasonable?
2. What sites are ok to visit?
3. Is it ok to IM and chat?
4. When your kid is using the internet for homework, what are the guidelines?
5. What happens when a rule is broken?
6. What kinds of games are ok to play?
7. What should your kid do if they encounter something that makes them feel uncomfortable?
8. How often should these rules be revisited?
9. Will you install parent-survey software? Will you discuss the results?

You should keep the computer in a public place in the house.

How do I guide my child to have a balanced relationship with computer games?

2009-02-10T16:56:29-05:00

1. Pay attention to ESRB ratings. Computer games aren’t like movies - they are more immersive and you need to think harder before you let your kid play a game that has a Teen or Mature Rating.

2. Write up some rules about computer use with your child. Make sure to include stuff like safeguarding personal information, limiting the amount of time your child can play on the computer, cyberbullying (don’t say it online if you wouldn’t say it in person), and what to do if your child encounters some inappropriate content. Finally, agree on a healthy amount of time to spend on the computer. here’s a template you can use.

3. Find out why your child plays games. This will involve some work. read this thoroughly - pay special attention to the part about how kids run into trouble when they use games to escape. People play games for different reasons - we need to understand this as parents.