Am I the only one? NO Videogames!

[Colleen27]

Three is just too young to me. I'm not anti-video game at all, in fact I'm a gamer myself, but I don't see any reason to start that young. It can wait until the desire is child-driven rather than parent-driven, IMO.

My kidshave been exposed to video games practically from birth because DH & I both game (on the PC mostly, though we do have a PS2 around here somewhere), and still neither of the older kids (8 & 11) had much interest until they were school-aged. Even then, at first it was just things like Starfall.com and they lost interest quickly; neither had any sustained interest in video games until 7-8yo, and even now it is more of a cold/rainy weather thing than a constant interest.

 

[msmama]

I don't like the Leapster/V-tech stuff personally. I don't know why, I'd just rather not have my kid playing with them (he's a little young still - only 18 mos).

I'd rather sit and read/play with him than have a machine do it.

That said, when I think he's ready (2-4ish I'd guess) I'd rather buy him a real computer or let him play Wii with us. Not the kids version.

 

[crisi]

Three is just too young to me. I'm not anti-video game at all, in fact I'm a gamer myself, but I don't see any reason to start that young. It can wait until the desire is child-driven rather than parent-driven, IMO.

My kidshave been exposed to video games practically from birth because DH & I both game (on the PC mostly, though we do have a PS2 around here somewhere), and still neither of the older kids (8 & 11) had much interest until they were school-aged. Even then, at first it was just things like Starfall.com and they lost interest quickly; neither had any sustained interest in video games until 7-8yo, and even now it is more of a cold/rainy weather thing than a constant interest.

Agree with this. Expose your kids to a Leappad or whatever game system you are considering. See if they show any interest. Our kids grew up with it and really didn't show much interest as preschoolers - with very few exceptions. However, I've seen four year olds who LOVE their Gameboys or play a Wii or learn to read using a Leappad. Kids are individuals - you can buy one a bike and have them wear it out - going training wheel free at three - and buy the next one a bike and wonder why you bothered to assemble it.

I'd be more tempted to get them a mouse driven computer game than a game system of their own. Its a smaller investment up front to see if they interact. Or just go out to Disney and see if your kids interact with the online preschool games there.

 

[waltskids]

For our family, I think 3 is too young for video games. DS will be 3 in November and we won't be buying a gaming system until he is much older. We don't even own one, although the Wii sounds like fun. DS is very creative and loves to work on puzzles,'read' books (pretends to read or we read to him) color, draw and play outside. And of course he loves his toys. I am not against them at all, but right now it's not an option. We are just too busy to set aside time to play video games, which is probably why we don't own one yet. Maybe when he gets older, but even then it will be very limited. I do have friends who let their 3 year olds play video games but when we are together, we do other activities.

 

[RMulieri]

Everyone talks about the educational benefits. How much better off would the child be to spend time with mom or dad and learning that same information. Trading an object for a person seems to be a cop out.

it is nice we aren't being judgemental...I don't use videogames as a babysitter or a copout, and I don't know many parents that do. I am sure there are some, but no more than those who plop a kid in front of a tv or coloring book for several hours. My daughter DID learn alot of educational things on the leapster clickstart.Unless you have personally sat down with some of the more educational gaming systems and playedwith them, you really can not criticze. Videogames, computers are not evil.

 

[jodifla]

it is nice we aren't being judgemental...I don't use videogames as a babysitter or a copout, and I don't know many parents that do. I am sure there are some, but no more than those who plop a kid in front of a tv or coloring book for several hours. My daughter DID learn alot of educational things on the leapster clickstart.Unless you have personally sat down with some of the more educational gaming systems and playedwith them, you really can not criticze. Videogames, computers are not evil.

ITA. We got a Leapster for my son at 4, and used it largely when traveling ...on planes, long car drives, long restaurant visits, etc. It's still a favorite toy at 7.

And also if you have a perfectionistic child that learns best visually, computers and educational gaming systems are great! It's a low stress way for my son to learn.

And pretty much the second your kid hits K, computers are a weekly part of the curriculum.

 

[allyphoe]

My daughter does puzzle solving games. If we do puzzles together, she gets lazy and lets me solve them for her. If she does them solo, she figures them out, learns persistence and problem solving.

Mine, too. I got a phone call at work yesterday (fall break here; she was home with her grandparents, who aren't techy and don't read English well) asking how to accomplish something in Animal Crossing. "Heck if I know. You can either figure it out yourself or play something else." She figured it out herself, apparently, since she didn't ask me when I got home.

She writes (as in, expresses her thoughts in writing) at school. Likewise for a game that requires it. If I suggest she write something down, I get an eyeroll and a groan.

Another thing is that my school uses computers for all their standardized testing.

Ours does the Accelerated Reader tests starting in first grade. At the parent-teacher conference, DD6's teacher commented that she shouldn't have any trouble with using the computer. She's been using a computer for years, and can do her own minor troubleshooting and adjustments.

She got a DS when she was 6, and some days she'll play for a long time on it. But she'll also go weeks without looking at it at all, the same as with the computer.

 

[dreamer17555]

I would like to point out that having video games early does not mean you will end up with an addicted child. Cat loved her Leapster at age 4 and played with it on and off till she was 6. She used it mostly for trips and drives and so on... Now we have several game systems in the house (mostly for DH ) and she doesn't bother with any of them. She dances (a lot- 11+ hours a week, reads, draws, reads her bike) She just isn't into TV or video games anymore. Go figure.

-Becca

 

[Colleen27]

I'd be more tempted to get them a mouse driven computer game than a game system of their own. Its a smaller investment up front to see if they interact. Or just go out to Disney and see if your kids interact with the online preschool games there.

That's a good idea. Even kids' gaming systems are a lot of money to spend to discover they don't have any interest! Starfall.com has good, free, educational games for preschoolers; that might be a good place to test whether a child is even interested in "screen" games.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I am a NO-Video games mom, I do let them play Rock Band when we go to our friends house, but NO DS--I have neighbors that send their kids outside and they play with them--why send them outside then--if they are getting no exercise-or at least no physical exercise. I "try" to limit tv, but hey we all have take showers at some point, and workout, but I do limit it.

 

[AntePrincess]

Just a heads up: thanks to a class action suit settlement, all the libraries around here have a stack of educational computer games and the library computers in the children's section preset with a variety. Since the company involved in the class action suit was certainly not regional, I wouldn't be surprised if most libraries had the same.

Our "no video games, next to no screen time" child is scarily familiar with computers because both parents work at home. At a little over one year old she'd worked out how to do a few things on the smart phone! When we're at the library and there are no other children or activities going on at the time (and I need to sit down for a second rather than chase her all over the play area), she plays some of the games that are pre-installed on the computer there. Come standardized testing time, I'm certain she'll be fine if her tests are on a computer, I'm not sure that console games such as Leapster, Wii, or Playstation will be any help preparing a child for anything on a computer at school.

 

[U2_rocks!]

I'm very careful now about the amount of screen time my kids have, especially my son. He's 9 and having issues at school because his visual processing has over-developed at the expense of his auditory processing and word understanding. Also, he has huge trouble focusing on things that aren't highly interesting to him, but no trouble focusing on things that do hold his interest. i.e. he's a stimulation junkie now. He's having some special sessions now to counter-act that. They told us he shouldn't be playing most video games at all, because they are so fast and stimulating, it makes it hard for him to follow slower, less-stimulating things like written words in books. But that seems a little extreme, so instead we are limiting it to short bursts on weekends or special occasions (like our short trip this coming weekend).

Everything in moderation is my motto in life, but in this case, because my son has a known problem, "moderation" for him is different from moderation for the girls, who are showing excellent word skills now and I think they will be unaffected by video games. I would suggest that if any of you have kids who have difficulties with the written word and spelling, or difficulty focusing on things that are "boring" to them, that they think about closely watching their kids' screen time.