Online gaming can be done healthily and usually when enjoyed in small doses. However, with the online gaming world being so vast and dominant online for all generations, a lot of the youngsters who’ve grown up with technology are spending too much time gaming.
As a parent, it’s part of your responsibility to encourage healthier gaming, rather than ignoring it or trying to restrict it completely. Technology and gaming will always be a part and parcel of many children’s lifestyles growing up so it’s good to know how to manage it effectively.
With that in mind, here are some helpful tips on how to make online gaming healthy for your children.
Set limits and encourage screen-free time
When your child’s accessibility to gaming and technology is unlimited, of course, many children will often use this to their advantage and spend all their time on it.
It’s good to put in limits so that your children can understand that they do need to have some separation time away from these gaming consoles. Otherwise, it can often result in too much time spent on the games, and therefore an addiction can form as a result.
Having screen-free time should be encouraged and this can be done by partaking in activities that don’t involve a screen. For example, this could be going out for a walk or taking part in an extra-curricular class like dancing.
Keep on track of what limits you set and put in screen-free time every day, even if your children are behaving. It doesn’t always benefit you and your child to reward good behavior with additional screen time.
Teach them about the dangers online
Even with online games, there are stranger danger scenarios that they should be aware of. Your child shouldn’t feel confident enough to meet up with people they’ve met online, alone. If anything, they should be cautious about who they interact with online and tell you when they’re concerned.
If they do want to meet up with those online, you should be doing this in a public environment and always under supervision by yourself.
There are many dangers online, so you should be teaching your children about these online dangers from an early age. This includes both playing online games and having access to their own smartphone.
Ensure they are spending time on a variety of game genres
There are lots of gaming genres available, as well as plenty of options that encourage problem-solving and educational value.
Whether it’s learning to play chess or navigating storytelling gameplay, you should look to give your little one as many options as possible. There are some game genres that you might want to restrict until a certain age.
For example, shooting games might not be the best educational game to play from a young age, and even moreso for the average teenager who might be going through some intense hormones.
Do your own research to understand the gaming world
If you’re not a gamer yourself then the world of online gaming might feel a little alien to you, which isn’t something to be worried about. However, as a parent, it’s good to do your own research in order to understand the gaming world.
Do your research on what’s on offer games-wise and immerse yourself in the world of gaming alongside your child. Understand from them, what the best games are and learn the lingo when it comes to gamer talk. That way, you’re going to have a better perspective on how everything works and what you should be looking out for when it comes to safe and not-so-safe gaming.
Monitor your child’s behaviors when gaming
Your child’s behavior is something that you should be closely monitoring when it comes to gaming. That means the behavior they exhibit before gaming, during, and after.
Typical sibling arguments over whose cheating to little outbursts of frustration can be typical and normal to feel as they navigate their emotions. However, if they’re getting too upset with gaming or finding they change significantly when it comes to gaming before and after, you’ll want to address this as soon as possible.
Look at monitoring your child’s behaviors when gaming so that you can tackle problem behavior when it arises.
A certain amount of gaming is expected for young children and older children because it’s entertaining and all their friends are likely to engage in it too. However, there’s an unhealthy area of online gaming that’s worth being aware of and knowing what it looks like in your own child or children.
Look for certain behavior patterns and identify whether this is influenced by gaming or whether it might be something else that’s going on, like at school for example.
Set parental controls online
Finally and probably most importantly, look to set parental controls when you’re kids are playing online games in the home. Of course, you can only do so much to control your children when you’re in the home. Once they’re out of the home, that’s where it gets more challenging.
However, most internet providers allow you to set necessary parental controls to ensure your children aren’t going onto sites they shouldn’t be on. These parental controls will also make you aware of how much time they’re spending on these sites too so you know truly whether or not it’s a healthy amount.
Setting parental controls online isn’t invasive but a cautionary measure to protect your children. It’s an effort that you can make to show you’re doing all you can to keep your children safe from online dangers and from playing too much on a daily basis. There’s a lot of content online that’s inappropriate, which is why parental controls exist for families with young children
Online gaming is certainly a great benefit for people of all ages but particularly for children who are developing life skills. It’s not as damaging as some people would like parents to think. As long as your children are practicing healthy gaming, they can learn and benefit a lot from gaming online.
