When you think of gaming, many parents think of their kids who seem to be hooked in the virtual world. When you try to set limits or even have restrict your kids from gaming then they seem to be detached from you and have “withdrawals”. How can this be?
Signs of too much gaming is when your kid's whole world evolves around their playing time. They lose interest in other activities like spending time with friends, family, sports. Many times they don't skip meals because they want to play games. And when they're not playing, they become moody, withdrawn and angry.
Gaming is alluring because it gives immediate feedback and is gratifying. And if they’re also playing with friends virtually then it’s a social outlet as well. Not having this excitement can cause problems for some kids.
If you take away or restrict their game time then your kids might take out their anger and disappointment on you. They might not talk to you or participate in family activities. You can’t force your kids to talk to you or participate, but you can encourage. Have a talk, tell them what you’re noticing. And what you’d like to see.
To give your kids a healthy balance of gaming, you might want to control their gaming time. For less resistance, you might want to reduce their time slowly. Reverse engineer the time, if you want to reduce game time, reduce by 30 minutes every other day until you reached the goal. The key is to come up with a list of activities your kids can do if they get bored and reduce resistance.
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